Key Information
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1982-1996 (Creation)
- 1922-1941 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent
2 boxes (0.2 cubic metres)
Scope and content
Correspondence and papers of Sqn Ldr Anthony Thorburn Irvine, 1922-1941, including; letters to his parents from Eton and Oxford, 1922-1935; letters to his parents from flying training, Yorkshire, 1935; letters to his parents from RAF Amman, Transjordan, 1939; letters to Katherine Lowick (subsequently Katherine Irvine) and to his parents, 1940, including an account of his unauthorised raid on the Italian naval base at Massawa, Eritrea, June 1940; telegrams to Katherine Irvine from Egypt, Feb-Mar 1941; letters of condolence to family, 1941; family correspondence with Red Cross and with Air Ministry, 1941-1942, concerning Irvine's death. Also papers relating to research on Irvine by James Irvine (son), including: correspondence, 1982-1996, relating to 211 Squadron in Greece, 1941; account of Irvine family history by James Irvine, with detailed account of Irvine's last raid, Parymythia, Greece, Apr 1941; autobiography by Diana Athill, Instead of a letter (this edition Granta, London 2001), detailing her relationship with Irvine (whom she names 'Paul').
System of arrangement
The files are arranged chronologically, as described in scope and content.
General Information
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born, 1914; educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford; joined RAF, 1936; service with 211 Sqn, UK and Egypt, 1937-1938; on staff, RAF Headquarters, Amman, Transjordan, 1938; service with 14 Sqn, Ismailia, Egypt, 1938; service with 14 Sqn at Port Sudan, Sudan, 1940; made an unauthorised raid on Italian naval base, Massawa, Eritrea, June 1940; service with 113 Sqn, Western Desert, 1940-1941; service with 211 Sqn, Greece, 1941; killed in action, Parymythia, Greece, Apr 1941
Repository
Custodial history
Placed in the Centre by the family in 2002.
Conditions governing access
Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification, to include one photographic ID.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied from open material for research purposes only.
Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, via the Archives.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Finding aids
This collection level description.
Existence and location of originals
Please note: We require 7 days notice to retrieve this collection as part, or all of it, is held off-campus. Read more ›
Alternative identifier(s)
Place access points
People and Organisations
- Irvine, Anthony Thorburn, 1914-1941, Squadron Leader (Subject)
- Athill, Diana, b 1917, publisher and author (Subject)
- Irvine, James, b 1941, son of Sqn Ldr A T Irvine (Subject)
- Irvine, Katherine, wife of Sqn Ldr A T Irvine (Subject)
- Eton College, public school (Subject)
- RAF, Royal Air Force (Subject)
Genre access points
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000.
Script(s)
Archivist's note
Compiled by Kate O'Brien