54
112
A Rokuoh-Sha Type 89 WWII Era Japanese
Machine Gun Camera.
This rare gun camera was captured at the end of the second world war
by Bail Ashmead Gotto when he had served as a Pilot Officer with 100
Squadron RAF (December 1941 – February 1942), after the evacuation
of 100 Squadron to Java (January 1942) and, after the Dutch surrender,
he subsequently escaped by flying a Vildebeest to Sumatra where he was
taken prisoner of war (POW) by the Japanese (March 1942) imprisoned
in Palembang, Sumatra, where he remained a POW until August 1945.
Basil Gotto was the son of the well Known Sculptor Basil Gotto.
€1500-2000
The following nine lots, lots 114-122 relate to the Ashmead Bartlett Family
Sir Ellis Ashmead Bartlett (1849-1902)
was born in New York, the son of Ellis Bartlett and Sophia Ashmead.
The family claimed to have been descended from Richard Warren of Hertford, England, one of the passengers on
the Mayflower. Family folklore also links them to Dr. Josiah Bartlett (1729-1795) one of New Hampshire’s three
signatories of the Declaration of Independence. Interestingly ‘Ellis’ is the name of a river in New Hampshire, -
Bartlett country.
After the death of his father in 1852 Ellis and his family moved to England. He graduated in Law and History from
Oxford in 1871 and was called to the Bar in 1877. In 1880 he was elected as MP for Eye in Suffolk and remained a
Member of Parliament until his death in 1902. His eldest son Ellis, born in 1881 became a British war correspond-
ent during the First World War. Through his reporting of the Battle of Gallipoli, he was instrumental in the birth
of the Anzac legend which still dominates military history in Australia and New Zealand. He was intensely critical
of the campaign and described the final offensive as “the most ghastly and costly fiasco in our history since the
Battle of Bannockburn.” Through his outspoken criticism of the conduct of the campaign, he was instrumental
in bringing about the dismissal of the British commander-in-chief, Sir Ian Hamilton — an event that led to the
evacuation of British forces from the Gallipoli peninsula.
Pilot officer Bail Ashmead Gotto. R.A.F
