This is a specially produced glossy bookplate bearing the rare signature of Battle of Britain Pilot Flt Lt Maurice Mounsdon. Mounsdon was one of the very last of The Few to survive but signed very little.
Maurice "Mark" Mounsdon started training on 24 August 1939 and joined 56 Squadron on 3 June 1940 during the Battle of Britain. Flying a Hurricane, he participated in shooting down a Dornier Do 17 bomber on 3 July and was later credited with the probable destruction of a Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka". In mid-August he destroyed two Messerschmitt fighters and a likely third. He shot down or damaged about seven German aircraft before being downed by German fighters over Colchester on 31 August 1940. He survived but was badly burned and spent nine months in hospitals including Black Notley and the Queen Victoria Hospital – famous for its specialist work on burns and the Guinea Pig Club.