The Desert Battalion

In the spring of 1942, Gladys "Robbie" Robinson, wife of the great actor Edward G. Robinson, formed the "Desert Battalion," a service organization with the purpose of providing entertainment to U.S. military servicemen stationed in California.

Mrs. Gladys Lloyd "Robbie" Robinson poses with film and television producer Collier Young at a gala event in the Robinson home. The painting overtop the mantle is a Renoir, part of Edward G. Robinson's renowned art collection.

The "feminine battalion" of so-called "brigadears," was composed of women between the ages of 18 and 25. During the week these young women contributed to the war effort on the home front, where they worked in offices, factories and war plants. On weekends they paid their own bus fare and traveled to desolate military bases, where they danced non-stop for hours in the sweltering heat with lonesome G.I.'s.

Women volunteering for the battalion worked under strict guidelines: they had chaperones; were not allowed to drink alcoholic beverages; were not allowed to engage in any sexual activity including kissing; and they had to promise not to divulge military information. Over the course of the organization's two year existence, the 600 young women of the Desert Battalion covered some 350-thousand miles.


In 1944, Mrs. Robinson and Jack Preston published a soft-cover book titled, The Desert Battalion. Mrs. Robinson personally phoned Walt Disney asking if he would be willing to supply the illustrations. As with many dozens of other home front requests, Disney obliged. At least two Disney artists, (Roy Williams and Freddie Moore, as noted in a copy of a letter from Mrs. Robinson to Don Douglas), created 12 india ink illustrations for use in the book. The book's dust jacket and several other illustrations were created by famed newspaper strip artist Milt Gross.

Original Disney Studio illustration found in the book.

According to an inter-office communique, in order to avoid legal problems with their existing publisher, Disney agreed to have the drawings marked "c WDP." The acknowledgment in the front of the book also stated: "The Walt Disney drawings in this book were produced and contributed by the staff of Walt Disney Productions - supervised by Don Douglas."

Original Disney Studio illustration found in the book.

In a December 2, 1944 letter to Mrs. Robinson, Disney wrote:

"Dear Mrs. Robinson.

Many, many thanks for the very handsome cigarette case which you sent to me through Don Douglass.[sic] It is extremely elegant and I hardly know how to thank you for it.

Mrs. Disney and I regretted our inability to come to your party but we had some out-of-town guests with us that week which made it necessary for us to decline your invitation.

I want to thank you, too, for the generous supply of autographed copies of THE DESERT BATTALION. I am sending them out to friends and members of our staff who I know will enjoy them. I think the finished book turned out very well and the fellows who worked on it got quite a kick in doing the sketches.

Thank you again for the beautiful case, and my best wishes for your continued success in the splendid work you are doing. I am,

Sincerely,

Walt Disney"

Letter sent by Walt Disney to Mrs. Robinson regarding a gift and the book.

The Robinson's granddaughter recently decided to dispose of her collection of material related to the Desert Battalion, which was passed down to her through the family. The group includes 11 original Disney illustrations; two original Gross illustrations; an original letter from Walt Disney to Mrs. Robinson; two original copies of the book; a shadow box display of insignia of the units the Battalion entertained; 95 patches, pins ribbons and wings; six scrapbooks containing over 425 related photographs; over 350 letters from servicemen, press, parents and military officers (including one from Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight David Eisenhower); a Disney ad for the book; and numerous other pieces of ephemera.


The pre-auction estimate of lot number 334 in sale number 52 is $40,000 - $50,000. The auction will occur in the offices of Goldberg Coins in Beverly Hills, on April 25th, 2009. The start time of the auction, which also includes two other non-WW II Disney autographed items, is 10am. All items pictured in this post are courtesy goldbergcoins.com

It will be interesting to see where the bidding settles when the hammer drops on this lot.