War Cabinet Minutes (HMSO), 1939-1945 is a themed microfiche collection containing copies of the minutes of the War Cabinet Meetings, Sep 1939-Jul 1945, and Cabinet Conclusions and Confidential Annexes, 1941-1945. Meeting minutes include British plans to create discord amongst the German High Command, Nov 1939; criticism of the military campaign in Norway, May 1940; First Lord of the Admiralty Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill's criticism of the Allied propaganda campaign in France, May 1940; speculation on the ability of the German population to sustain prolonged war, May 1940; reaction to the Allied withdrawals in France and Belgium, May 1940; the debate over the possible compromise peace with Germany, 26-28 May 1940; the decision to intern all enemy aliens in the United Kingdom; May 1940; Churchill's reaction to American isolationism, May 1940; the seizing of French warships in British and Egyptian harbours and the sinking of French warships at Mers-el-Kebir, Egypt, 23 Jun 1940; straining Anglo-French relations, Jul 1940; the Anglo-American 'destroyers for bases' agreement, Aug 1940; Churchill's attempt to take to court the Sunday Pictorial and the Daily Mirror over the newspapers' alleged anti-Government editorials, Oct 1940; preparations for the possible German invasion of the Britain, 1940; civil defence precautions in Britain, 1940; the British intervention in Greece, 1941; speculation on Soviet military collapses following the invasion of the Soviet Union by German armed forces, Jun 1941; Churchill's appeals to US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for American intervention in the war, 1941; reaction over the fall of Singapore and Malaya to Japanese armed forces, Feb 1942; Anglo-American preparations for the invasion of North Africa, 1942; naval and air operations against France, 1943; the 'Beveridge Report' on social security in Britain, 1943; reports on Allied conferences at Casablanca, Jan 1943, and Washington, May 1943; the Allied decision to invade France made at the QUADRANT Conference, Quebec, Canada, Aug 1943; the planning and conduct of Operation OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of France, Jun 1944; the effect of the bombardment of London by German V1 pilotless aircraft and possible RAF reprisals against German civilian targets, Jun 1944; post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation in Europe, Jul 1944; plans for the Allied occupation of Germany and Austria, Nov 1944; British intervention in Greece in order to prevent a Communist take-over of the peninsula, Nov 1944; the establishment of the United Nations, 1945; arrangements for celebrating the end of the war in Europe, May 1945; the British General Election, Jul 1945.

Copy of typescript memoir covering the period 1914-1918, including his service with 3 Bn, London Regt in Sudan, 1915, Gallipoli, 1915, and France and Belgium, 1916-1918, notably the Battle of the Somme, 1916, dated 1935. Includes transcript of an extract from the diary of Private W Law covering his service with 3 Bn, London Regt in Gallipoli, Nov-Dec 1915.

Copies of papers, 1940-1982, including narrative manuscript diary covering service with 3 Div Royal Engineers, Belgium and France, May-Jun 1940, with printed map entitled Lille-Ghent, North West Europe, sheet No 2, scale 1: 250, 000 (GSGS 4042, War Office, 1938); narrative manuscript diary covering service with 51 Highland Div Royal Engineers, North West Europe, Oct 1944 and Feb-May 1945, with typescript nominal roll of officers, list of casualties between Jun 1944 and May 1945, and typescript programme for the 51 Highland Div victory parade, Bremerhaven, Germany, May 1945; five printed maps of North West Europe entitled 'Brussels and Liege', 'Walcheren and Amsterdam', 'Osnabruck', 'Hamburg', 'Hannover' (no publication details or scale), with printed map of the Rhine entitled 'Outline of 51(H) Div RE plan, Operation PLUNDER', annotated with dispositions of Royal Engineers units for the Rhine crossing, 1945; correspondence with Maj Karol John Drewienkiewicz, 25 Field Sqn Royal Engineers, 1982, concerning operations of 3 Div Royal Engineers (May 1940); typescript text of lecture, given at Antwerp, 1982, on operations to clear the Scheldt Estuary, 1944.

Typescript memoir, written in 1992, as Commanding Officer, 1 Bn, Herefordshire Regt, 11 Armoured Div, 21 Army Group, North West Europe, 1944-1945, entitled '1st Bn The Herefordshire Regiment route and battles from the Normandy bridgehead to the R Elbe in Germany, June 1944 to April 1945, including route maps and CO's pocket maps for specific incidents', with seven printed maps of France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, annotated with routes taken and unit dispositions. Papers relating to Turner Cain's tenure as Chief Instructor, Tactical Wing, School of Infantry, British Army of the Rhine, Sennelager, Germany, 1946-1947, including typescript training notes on exercises, tactics of armoured forces and river crossing techniques, with manuscript explanatory notes written by Turner Cain in 1992.

Papers of John Patrick Ryland, comprising papers relating to the Home Guard, 1940-1944 and collected material relating to World War One, 1916-1918, Home Guard papers, 1940-1944, comprise published material including Home Guard instructions on training 1940-1944; regulations, 1942, and training manuals, 1940-1944 and unpublished material including instructions for training exercises; notes from training courses and Home Guard examination papers; map of 'Hazebrouck 5a, Belgium', edition 2, scale 1:100,000, Geographical Section, General Staff, No. 2364, published by Ordnance Survey ,1916; map of the Somme, France entitled 'Special Sheet, edition 2 A' showing British and enemy trenches corrected from information received up to 24 Jun 1918, scale 1:20,000, published by the Field Survey Co. No. 3790; German map of France, Belgium and the Netherlands entitled 'Spezialkarte der Nördlichen Westfront' Flemmingskriegskarte No 23, scale 1:320,000, 1916 and 120 degree panoramic photograph Number 304 of the Somme from North North West to East created for the Fourth Army, 16 Nov 1916 and Daily Telegraph War Map of Europe, World War Two, specially prepared for The Daily Telegraph by the London Geographical Institute, displaying neutral and belligerent countries, scale 50 miles = 1 inch.

Papers and maps chiefly concerning the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, [1918]-1959, including typescript copy of war diary, 1 Armoured Reconnaissance Bde, British Expeditionary Force (BEF), Belgium and France, 30 Mar-30 May 1940, with typescript recommendations for awards, 1940; typescript account, dated Jun 1942, of dispositions and operations of B Sqn, 1 Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, Belgium and France, 14 May-1 Jun 1940; typescript list entitled '1 Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, nominal roll of casualties sustained in France, 1940'; article by Maj Otho Munton Bullivant, Adjutant, 1 Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, entitled 'With the BEF [British Expeditionary Force] in Flanders', from The Tank [1941]; typescript 'Precis of activities of 1st Fife and Forfar Yeomanry', British Liberation Army, North West Europe, Oct 1944-Feb 1945, and 'Details of activities of 1st Fife and Forfar Yeomanry', 1-31 Mar 1945; correspondence with various officers concerning Regimental affairs, 1943-1945, including Col James Younger, 2nd Viscount Younger of Leckie, Honorary Col, Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 1945; correspondence, dated 1944-1945, relating to the return of the Regimental band instruments, abandoned by the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry during the retreat to Dunkirk, 1940, and kept by the local townspeople, France, 1940-1944; official correspondence concerning Prain's Army pension and war disablement compensation, 1946-1956; correspondence, dated 1947-1959, relating to the writing and publication of The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 1919-1956 by Robert James Batchen Sellar (William Blackwood, Edinburgh and London, 1960). Twenty five photographs relating to the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 1923-1945, including group photograph of Armoured Car Company, Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, Annesmuir camp, Scotland, Jul 1923; five photographs of Fife and Forfar Yeomanry Vickers Light Tanks Mark VIB and Universal carriers, France, 1940; official photograph of Infantry Tank Mark IV Churchill Crocodile flame-throwing tank, storming of the Senio river, Italy, Apr 1945.

Papers relating to Gallipoli (Faber and Faber, London, 1936), 1927-1967, principally comprising original typescript, [1936]; correspondence, 1927-1967, notably with Brig Gen Cecil Faber Aspinall-Oglander, 1933-1939, Gen Sir Ian (Standish Monteith) Hamilton, 1934-1941, Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart, 1936-1937, AF Sir Roger John Brownlow Keyes, Bt, 1934-1939, and Maj Gen Arthur Cecil Temperley, 1935-1939; newspaper cuttings, [1915]-1966, including reviews of Gallipoli, 1936-1937, and cuttings relating to the Gallipoli campaign, [1915]-1966; 'Gallipoli', [script of radio programme] by Val Henry Gielgud, 1936; photographs of Gallipoli taken by North, [1936]. Papers relating to North West Europe (HMSO, London, 1953), 1943-1961, including original typescript, [1953]; correspondence, 1944-1957, notably with Liddell Hart, 1953-1954, and FM Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, 1954-1955; press cuttings, 1943-1961, comprising reviews of North West Europe, 1944-1945, dated 1953-1954, and cuttings relating to World War Two, dated 1943-1961; official US Government and HMSO publications relating to World War Two, 1945-1946. Papers relating to The Alexander memoirs (Cassell, London, 1962), dated 1941, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1959-1964, including draft copy, [1962], and published copy, 1962; correspondence, 1961-1964, notably with FM Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, 1961-1963, Liddell Hart, 1961-1962, and Montgomery, 1962; newspaper cuttings, 1945-1946, 1948, 1959-1963; photographs taken by North and Alexander on a visit to the Middle East and Italy, 1960. Other papers, [1931-1968], including articles by North, [1939-1966], notably concerning training, tactics and weaponry; correspondence, [1933-1960]; maps of UK and North West Europe, 1931-1944; press cuttings, 1939-1966, including reviews of Men Fighting (Faber and Faber, London, 1958), 1958-1959; 'Diary of the Belgian Campaign, May 1940', typescript text by AF Sir Roger John Brownlow Keyes, dated [1940].

Papers of Maj Gen Charles Wake Norman, notably on armoured warfare, 1938-1965, including copy of war diary, May 1940, France and Belgium; report of the Massy Committee on the military education of the army officer, 1938, and first progress reports; papers on armour, including discussion on armoured tactics, 1941, notes on the early history of 9 Armoured Div, order of battle, Jul 1942 for 1 Armoured Div; instructions; extract of letter from Maj John Scott, 12 May 1943; copies of correspondence with Correlli Barnett for on his book Desert Generals, 1961-1965, including copies of contemporary documents and typescript extract of war diary of James Taylor-Whitehead in France, 1914.

Copy of official printed message by Gen Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, Commander in Chief, 21 Army Group, to British troops relating to the establishment of an Allied bridgehead in France, 10 Jun 1944; copy of official message by FM Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, Commander in Chief, 21 Army Group, to British troops relating to the liberation of Belgium and France, 17 Sep 1944

Papers relating to his military career, [1930]-1945, principally comprising official printed 21 Army Group report on the clearing of Scheldt Estuary, Belgium, Oct-Nov 1944, written in [1944]; typescript copy of article on the Tunisian campaign, 1942-1943, from The Times, 22 May 1943; two silk maps of Western Europe, [1939-1945].

Papers relating to his work with the military police, Provost Service, 1939-1945, notably including official notes and operation orders concerning the evacuation of the BEF from France and Belgium, 1940.

Photocopy of typescript account of service of 2 Lancashire Fusiliers in France and Belgium, 14 May-2 Jun1940, notably their evacuation from Dunkirk, 30 May-2 Jun 1940, dated 14 Jun 1940.

Papers relating to service as Quartermaster General of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) in France and Belgium during World War Two, including narratives, war diaries, reports and memoranda, 1939-1941; papers relating to service as Lt Gen in charge of Administration in the Middle East, including narratives, a volume compiled by the Q Staff entitled Maintenance of the Eighth Army...from El Alamein to Tunisia , 1943, and memoranda and newscuttings on the Middle East Base in Egypt, 1943-1948; papers relating to service as Principal Administrative Officer to the Indian Command, comprising texts of speeches and articles on Indian economy and the India Base, 1943-1945; papers relating to post-war life and career, mainly texts of lectures and articles and newspaper cuttings on international relations in the Middle East, especially the Suez Crisis of 1956.

Papers relating to his life and career, 1915-1991, dated 1963, 1969 and [1991], principally comprising 'Nine lives, a soldier's story', a typescript memoir covering the period 1915-1991, including his service in North Africa and the Western Desert, 1939-1942 and 1943, the Middle East, 1942-1943 and 1954-1956, Normandy, 1944, and France, Belgium and Germany, 1945-1947, and hiswork as Director General of Fighting Vehicles, 1964-1966, and General Officer Commanding, Malta and Libya, 1967-1968, written in [1991].

Letters dated 1909-1914 from FM Earl Haig, Chief of General Staff in India and Commander-in-Chief at Aldershot, including potential candidates for appointments and Indian Army policy including reorganisation and recruitment; letters dated 1914-1918 from Haig, General Officer Commanding 1 Corps and Commander-in-Chief, British Armies, France, referring to operations including Dardanelles, Verdun; letters dated 1914-1918 from FM Sir Henry Wilson, British military representative at SupremeWar Council, Versailles, including French war effort; correspondence dated 1915-1921 with FM Sir William Robertson, General HQ British Armies in the Field including shortage of supplies and troops; Kiggell's demi-official correspondence when Chief of General Staff, 1916-1919, with various commanders on subjects including administration, planned operations, supply of guns and ammunition to Belgium, France and Russia and staff appointments; recollections dated 1919 of Chantilly conference, Nov 1916, to consider planned operations in 1917.

German socialist propaganda leaflet Die Feldpost, including articles relating to rising commodity and food prices in Germany and the necessity of German troops in the Balkans, Dec 1915; edition of German newspaper for German prisoners of war in France, Grüsse an die Heimat, May 1917; Central Powers propaganda leaflet, in English, calling for a cessation of hostilities, 1917; four Allied leaflets bearing photographs of HM Albert, King of Belgium and HM Elisabeth, Queen of Belgium, 1918.

Material relating to military career of Lt Col Col Reginald Horace Fielding-Mould, 1917-1945, comprising audio cassette recordings of his reminiscences about his service in France and Belgium, 1918, Turkey, 1922-1923, Hong Kong, 1930, India, 1935, 1942-1945, including 5th Afghan War, 1935, and France, 1940, including the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, May-Jun 1940, and his experiences in the Territorial Army, 1936-1940, ND; four photographs relating to Chanak Crisis, 1922; two manuscript obituaries of Fielding-Mould, written by Henry Thoresby, Fielding-Mould's nephew, for [regimental and school magazines], 1987.

Papers relating to his military career, 1944-1952, dated [1944-1953], [1960-1980], comprising account of advance of 2 Bn, Essex Regt through Northern France and Belgium, June-Oct 1944, notably covering the attack on Le Havre, 10 Sep 1944, written in [1945], with appendix dated [1960-1980]; account of withdrawal of 2 Infantry Bde from Belgium and Northern France, May 1940,culminating in their evacuation from Dunkirk on 1 Jun 1940, written in [1944-1945]; notes on the allotment and loading of vehicles, Operation OVERLORD, June 1944; map of German defences at Le Havre, issued by [the War Office], 1944; map showing position of 51 and 49 Div to the north of Le Havre, 7 Jun 1944, issued by the War Office, 1947; two accounts of the work of 1 Bn, The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regt, in Malaya, 1952, written in [1953].