Military Archives » The Collection

Correspondence relating to leaving Burmah Oil Company and attempts to re-enlist in the Army and RAF, 1939-1940, and papers relating to promotions and appointments, 1940-1944. Papers relating to service in the Middle East and Sicily, 1942-1943, including 16 typescript reports, Staffs and Services Committee, Middle East, May-Jun 1942; typescript 'Report of Committee on Beach Organisation and Working',…

Typescript account, in French, by Leonce Dussarrat, President, Société d'Entre'aide des Membres de la Légion d'Honneur, Section des Landes, concerning French Resistance operations in Normandy and Brittany, 1944; reprint of captured German photograph of sabotaged electrical pylon on the Hendaye-Paris railway line, 1944.

Papers of Maj Gen Sir John Acland, 1979-1990, relating to his role as Commander of the Commonwealth Monitoring Force monitoring the ceasefire during elections in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Operation AGILA. Papers include general correspondence; situation reports; operational, planning and logistical instructions; maps; minutes; speeches; schedules; correspondence relating to award of operation medal…

Note on the development of the Army rearmament programme, 1937- 1939; notes for the estimates speeches in 1941 and 1943 by the Secretaries of State for War, Capt the Rt Hon David Margesson and the Rt Hon Sir James Grigg, including formation of new corps, Home Guard, Dominion troops and prisoners of war; official paper entitled 'The Use of Manpower in the Army', 1941; printed circular letters from Adjutant…

Manuscript diaries, 1939-1946, notably covering his command of 2 Corps, BEF, France and Belgium, 1939-1940, his service as Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces, 1940-1941, and as Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1941-1946, with detailed accounts of meetings and conversations, and comments on personalities. Detailed unpublished memoirs, 1883-1946, written in [1946-1960]. Personal files, 1940-1946, principally…

Papers and photographs relating to Alderson's RNVR and RN service, [1932]-1939, including photograph of Alderson as a Surgeon Sub Lt, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve [1932]; loose pages from a photograph album with 87 captioned photographs relating to Alderson's service on HMS GLORIOUS, Mediterranean Fleet, 1935-1936, notably photographs of HMS COURAGEOUS, HMS HERMES, HMS REVENGE, HMS NELSON, individual…

Papers relating to Alexander's service as Chief of Defence Staff, Ghana, 1960-1961, including correspondence from AVM Henry Algernon Vickers Hogan, Headquarters Flying Training Command, RAF, on the training of Ghanaian pilots, Aug 1960; correspondence, reports and notes on the creation of an African High Command, following a decision taken in Casablanca, Morocco to form a Charter of African States,…

Draft of a text on strategy and tactics on the Eastern Front, 1941-1945, written in [1974]; draft article describing tour of duty of battalion of Royal Engineers in Belfast, [1969-1973], written in 1974; draft of a text on the changing concept of defence, primarily concerned with the shift from positional defence to mobile defence, [1976].

Papers, 1851-1919, relating to the military career of Sir Archibald Alison, including: detailed sketch map of Lucknow Garrison, India, 1851; memoranda to Alison from Lt Gen Sir Colin Campbell, Commander of British expedition to suppress Indian Mutiny, concerning troop movements, India, and operations at Lucknow for the relief of Lucknow Garrison, India, 1857; correspondence relating to British military…

Papers relating to his life and career, 1881-1936, including letters to his family, 1890-1922, notably covering his service in UK, 1890-1896, and South Africa, 1899-1902, including operations around Colesberg, Dec 1899-Jan 1900, relief of Kimberley, Feb 1900, Battle of Diamond Hill, Jun 1900, and operations in Transvaal and Orange Free State, 1900-1902, on Western Front, 1914-1917, including the first…

Memoranda, 1941-1942, circulated to 43 Div by commanders of 12 Corps; transcripts of speeches by Allfrey, 1942-1944; papers relating to the Tunisian campaign, 1942-1943, including operational reports; Italian campaign, 1943-1944, including diaries; miscellaneous papers, 1943-1944, including texts of German propaganda leaflets; miscellaneous correspondence, mainly photocopies, 1942-1944; additional…

World War Two maps of the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy, produced by the Geographical Section, General Staff and the Army Map Service, US Army, including one inch to the one mile ordnance survey maps of England and Wales produced by the Geographical Section, General Staff, including of London, Bath and Bristol, Cardiff and the mouth of the Severn, Windsor, the Isle of…

Collection includes five postcards, four of which are of British troops from 1 Airborne Div at Hotel De Tafelberg, Oosterbeek, Netherlands, during Operation MARKET GARDEN, the Allied attempt to establish a bridgehead across the Rhine river at Arnhem, 17 Sep-25 Sep 1944, and one of the Airborne Monument at Oosterbeek, built by J Maris, 1946; and a personal account by Henk B van der Horst entitled, Paratroopers…

Thirty one captioned photographs of RAF Tebrau, Malaya, 1945; two typescript essays, written by Allwood in 1950, on improving bombing accuracy, and the advantages and disadvantages of the New Trade Structure from the airman's point of view.

Correspondence with Capt Basil Liddell Hart, 1954-1957, notably relating to Liddell Hart's papers for the Army League on army manpower requirements and divisional organisation. Papers relating to the Army League, 1955, 1965-1966, principally comprising draft and final copies of 'British defence policy in South East Asia', a report produced and published by the Army League, 1965; 'The Reserve Army and…

Collection includes manuscript memorandum by Amlot to 6 Sqn RAF Headquarters relating to the suppression of terrorist activities in Palestine, 15 Sep 1938; and press cuttings relating to the Royal Pakistan Air Force, 1948-1950, including mention of Pakistan's procurement of Dakota aircraft, Nov 1949; Amlot's inauguration of the first University Air Sqn at Dacca, East Pakistan, Nov 1949; articles written…

Papers of Lt Col Victor Dennistoun Winstanley Anderson, 1929-1946, relating to service with the Indian Army, comprising group photograph including Anderson and published material including History of the 1st Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment, Sherdil Li Paltan. [by Lt Col G H Thompson], 1946; Passing it on: short talks on tribal fighting on the North West Frontier of India by Gen Sir Andrew Skeen (Gale…

Eighteen captioned photographs of operations in Waziristan, North West Frontier, India, Jul 1930, of troops of the Durham Light Infantry and 20 Medium Battery, Royal Artillery. Eight uncaptioned photographs of parades, groups and individuals officers, UK, 1940. Papers relating to the Allied campaigns in North Africa and Italy, 1943-1945, including printed map of Tunisia, scale 1: 1, 000, 000, 1943,…

Announcement, in Russian, by Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia and Poland, Great Prince of Finland (1894-1917), of Austria-Hungary's declaration of war upon Russia, as reported by the St Petersburg Telegraph Agency in the 'Astrakhan Leaflet', 21 Jul 1914 (3 Aug 1914). Translation into English included.

Brief account of his life and career, 1908-1947, written in [1978].

Memoir covering the period 1940-1945, including details of his experiences in the Battle of Leros, Greece, 1943, as a POW, 1943 and in operations in North West Europe in 1944-1945, [1975-1983]; copy of obituary from school magazine, 1983.

Papers of Capt John Archer, 1889-1938, including: diaries, 1889-1896, 1901, 1908-1910, 1919, 1921-1922, 1925 and 1938; correspondence with family, friends and colleagues detailing his military experiences, 1893-1913; papers relating to Archer's career, including notebook containing details of service record, examinations passed, certificates gained and financial accounts, 1889-1894; list of warrant…

A themed microfiche collection relating to material produced by the Historical Detachments of the US Army during the Korean War, 1950-1953. The scope and content of the interviews and studies therein was influenced by the nature of the conflict and by the types of units employed in combat. Despite the involvement of United Nations forces and the US Marine Corps, all units interviewed by the Historical…

Armed Forces Oral Histories: US Army Senior Officer Oral Histories is a themed microfiche collection of 96 interviews of senior US Army personnel, 1971-1986. The interviews cover the entire career of the interviewee. As biographical interviews, they emphasise the significant events in which the subject took part and the personalities with whom the subject came into contact. Many of the interviewees…

Armed Forces Oral Histories; World War II Combat Interviews is a themed microfiche collection of 375 typescript combat interviews, together with narrative accounts and official supplementary materials including field orders, periodic and operations reports, statistical data, sketch maps and overlays, 22 May 1944-10 May 1945. Documents include accounts relating to US 1 Infantry Div during Operation…

Papers principally comprising text of lecture on the outbreak of hostilities between Japan and China in 1937, including a detailed account of the Battle of Shanghai as witnessed from HMS DANAE, 1937; draft of lecture recounting his experiences on board HMS DIDO during the evacuation of Crete, Apr-Jun 1941, [1945].

91 copies of photographs relating to Lewis Arnott’s service with Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA), North West Frontier, India, 1917-1919, including: captioned images of the Afghan delegation to peace talks with Britain, 1919; British forces in camp and on marches (including one dated 3 Nov 1915); views of Peshawar; fortifications; ammunition; artillery; motor cars; pack animals; gardens; daily life for…

Typescript and manuscript texts of fifteen speeches by Ash, mostly after dinner and school and college prize days relating to aspects of RN Electrical Engineering, 1955-1963, notably including apprentices' passing out parade, HMS COLLINGWOOD, Fareham, Hampshire, 1955; Admiralty Electrical Engineering Officers' annual dinner, 1955 and 1957; Devonport Dockyard Technical College prize day, 1956; inaugural…

Two reports on ordnance engineering services in Malaya during the period 1941-1942, written by Ashton following the destruction of all records at Malaya Command in 1942, [1946]; papers relating to the above reports, principally comprising Ashton's report to Air Cdre Modin on RAF Senior Training Corps mechanics attached to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Malaya, [1942-1943], an account of ordnance engineering…

Papers, photographs, publications and maps relating to Aston's service as General Staff Officer 2 (Intelligence), 121 Force in Operation IRONCLAD, the British capture, from the Vichy French, of Diego Suarez, Madagascar, May 1942, including typescript intelligence report entitled 'Special report on specified parts of Madagascar', prepared by the Inter Services Topographical Department, 24 Feb 1942,…

Photocopies of diaries, 1899-1926; newspaper cuttings relating to Army Training Reports, 1925-1932; articles including those on World War One, Marshal Ferdinand Foch and sea diplomacy and law, 1929-1930; correspondence, 1892-1933, including Dardanelles campaign, 1917.