The collection covers Pyman's career from 1937 until 1963 when he suffered a severe stroke which forced his retirement in 1964. The earliest papers date from Pyman's work with the Royal Tank Cadre in converting the 17/21 Lancers from a cavalry to an armoured regiment. There are also papers from Pyman's period as an instructor at the Staff College in Quetta, India, 1939-1941. Pyman was involved in the World War Two campaigns by the 8 Army in the Western Desert, in 1941 as General Staff Officer with 7 Armoured Div, 30 Corps and in 1942-1943 as Commander of the 3 Royal Tank Regiment, 10 Armoured Div, 30 Corps. The papers consist mostly of Pyman's assessments of lessons learned from the ongoing campaigns particularly with regard to tanks and armoured units. In 1944-1945 Pyman was Brigidier General Staff, 30 Corps, 2 Army in the Normandy landings and the invasion of Northern Europe, with particular responsibility for organisation and planning of the Rhine crossing and advance to the Baltic. This is reflected in the papers which largely consist of planning studies and reports for the operations involved, this section also contains maps used in the campaign. Pyman's next appointment was as Chief of General Staff, Allied Land Forces, South East Asia, 1945-1946 which is documented by a series of diaries which reflect the tasks faced by Pyman in this command including dealing with the build up of tension between newly liberated former colonies keen to assert their right for independence and the former colonial powers such as France and Netherlands. Pyman spent 1946-1949 as Chief of Staff, Middle East Land Forces and kept monthly diaries which form the bulk of this section of the collection. The diary entries and additional papers reflect the debate over policy in the Middle East in the British Government and Military command, they include detail on the British withdrawal from Greece, the problem of illegal Jewish immigrants and their internment in Cyprus, the end of the British mandate in Palestine and the the effect of this on relations between Britain with Egypt and the other Arab states and the subsequent Arab Israeli conflict. This section of the collection also contains correspondence between Pyman and Maj Gen Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey on personal matters and on the Middle East. There are also papers from Pyman's work at the Ministry of Supply as Director General of Fighting Vehicles, 1951-1953, Director of Weapons Development, War Office, 1955-1956 mostly brief diary entries and lecture texts. Pyman was also General Officer Commanding, British Army on the Rhine, 1953-1955 and General Officer Commanding, 1 British Corps, 1956-1958 and the papers relating to these commands consist mostly of lectures, reports and directives reflecting his interest in armoured divisions and training. There are some papers, mostly personal correspondence and press cuttings, from Pyman's final command as Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Northern Europe in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The collection also contains correspondence relating to Pyman's role as Colonel Commandant of the Royal Tank Regiment and The Royal Armoured Corps and a series of letters covering the reorganisation of the Berks and Westminster Dragoons, of which he was Honorary Colonel. The rest of the collection consists of diaries, correspondence, speeches, writings including the draft copy and papers relating to his autobiography, some preparatory work on a history of the 2 Army and reference works. The collection also includes the Boer War diaries and other papers of Col James Redmond Patrick Gordon who commanded the 1 Cavalry Bde of the South African Field Force 1900-1901 which were given to Pyman by a friend.

Papers relating to his life and career, [1891]-1931, dated [1891]-1931, 1977, 1985, 1988, principally comprising diaries, 1899-1900, and letters to his family, 1900-1902, describing his service as Provost Marshal with the South African Field Force; memorandum to Col Duff, Assistant Adjutant General, South African Field Force, concerning the functions of the Provost Marshal, 1900; photographs, [1891-1931], mainly of Poore and his family; 'The new cavalry sword and mounted swordsmanship', copy of an article by Poore from The Cavalry Journal, Apr 1911; copies of published articles relating to his cricketing career, 1899, [1920], 1985, 1988. Papers relating to his wife Lady Flora Poore, 1899-1900, 1916, comprising her diaries, 1899-1900; lists of work completed and statements of accounts of the Jhansi Cantonments Comforts to Troops Fund, 1915-1916.

Papers relating to Gibbs' early career, 1917-1927, including typescript copies [1972] of combat reports written by Gibbs, 17 Sqn, Macedonia, 1917-1918; typescript notes by Gibbs entitled 'Service experiences', 1926; typescript Staff College essay entitled 'Leadership and morale', 1927. Nine typescript texts of lectures by Gibbs, 1948-1972, on the RAF in World War Two, post war airpower, India and the Indian Air Force and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), also 'Air power in modern war', by MRAF Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder of Glenguin, 1947. Papers relating to Gibbs' career in the RAF, 1945-1954, including correspondence and typescript notes by Gp Capt I C Bird on the war efforts of India, South Africa and the Colonies [1948]; letter andgraph by Wg Cdr J D Warne, dated 1949, on numbers of sorties flown and losses suffered by the Luftwaffe and the RAF during the Battle of Britain, 1940; typescript copies of correspondence between Gibbs and Adm Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, 1953; typescript report by Gibbs entitled 'Report on the progressand the policy problems of the Indian Air Force', 1954. Papers and correspondence, 1955-1984, including typescript article by Gibbs entitled 'The lessons of Skybolt, Britain's new defence plans', with letter from Sir Hugh (Nicholas) Linstead MP, 1963; typescript memorandum by MRAF Sir John Cotesworth Slessor entitled 'Integration of the Services within the new defence organisation', 1964;correspondence with Dr G Vincent Orange, History Department, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, dated 1982, concerning research for A biography of Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park GCB, KBE, MC, DFC, DCL (Methuen, London, 1984), with copy of letter from ACM Sir Keith Rodney Park, Air Commander-in-Chief, South East Asia to MRAF Sir Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, Chief of the Air Staff, relating to the possible replacement of Gibbs as Chief Air Staff Officer, Supreme Headquarters South East Asia Command [1945]. Copies of Gibbs' letters to the press, 1955-1982, relating chiefly to defence issues, service pensions, capital punishment, immigration and Rhodesia. Publications and articles, 1928-1961, including copy of Air Ministry Air Publication 1308 entitled 'A selection of lectures and essays from the work of officers attending the fifth course at the Royal Air Force Staff College, 1926-1927', (HMSO, London, 1928), including article by Gibbs 'Lecture on fighter squadrons in air defence'; article by Gibbs 'Aircraft types and strategical mobility', Journal of the Royal Air Force College, 1930; booklet by Gen Sir Archibald Percival Wavell entitled 'Generals and Generalship' (reprinted from The Times, London, 1941); three editions of Impact magazine, subtitled 'US Tactical air power in Europe', May 1945, 'Strategic air victory in Europe', Jul 1945, and 'Air victory over Japan', Sep-Oct 1945; restricted pamphlet by MRAF Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard of Wolfeton, entitled 'Air power', 1946; restricted pamphlet by US Gen Carl A Spaatz entitled 'American views on air power', 1947; article by ACM Sir Keith Rodney Park entitled 'Background to the Blitz, from Hawker Siddeley Review, Dec 1951; article by Gibbs 'The development of defence in NATO's second decade', The British Survey, Feb 1959; article entitled 'Maintaining the deterrent in the future', by Gibbs, The Aeroplane, Mar 1961.

Bound typescript histories of Tank Corps battalions, brigades and groups during World War One, 1914-1918, written by Tank Corps personnel in [1918-1919]. Bound volumes of official correspondence, reports, memoranda, notes, maps, photographs, operation orders, summaries of information and other papers concerning tank strategy and tactics, 1916-1918, the Battle ofCambrai, 1917, and Tanks Corps operations, 1914-1918, dated 1917-1919. Correspondence between Fuller, M Mitzakis and various military personnel relating to the use of Canal Defence Light (CDL) tanks during World War Two, 1939-1945, dated 1946. Other papers relating to his life and military career, [1889]-1965, including letters to his parents, 1897-1921, notably covering his service in South Africa, 1899-1902, and in World War One, 1914-1918; narrative diaries covering his service in South Africa, 1901-1902, and World War One, 1914-1915; book agreements, 1919, 1956-1965; correspondence with publishers, 1956, 1961-1965; newspaper cuttings, 1945, 1952, 1965-1966, including obituaries of Fuller, 1966; papers relating to the occult, notably including letters from Aleister Crowley, 1905-[1924], and manuscript and typescript texts by Fuller and others, 1910, 1926, [1930] and 1966. Bound typescript text on Gen (William) Edmund Ironside, mainly consisting of extracts from Ironside's letters to Col Roderick MacLeod, 1927-1958, compiled by MacLeod in [1959], and 'A secret service agent in South-West Africa', a bound typescript text on Ironside's service as a British agent among the Boers in German South West Africa, 1902-1904, written by MacLeod in [1965] using Ironside's notes.

Unpublished memoir of the life and military career of Maj Gen James Archibald Ferrier including: service with Royal Engineers, India, 1875-1878; Afghanistan, 1878-1880; Sudan (Nile) Expedition, 1884-1885; Sudan, 1885-1886; Tirah and North West Frontier Expedition, India, 1897-1898; Natal, 1904; Sierra Leone, 1911-1914; UK, 1915-1917. Includes epilogue and notes written by Ferrier's grandson, James Llay Ferrier, 1995.

Papers created or collected by Edmonds during the course of his life and career, dated 1827-1838, 1852, 1879-1881, 1890-1957, principally comprising typescript memoirs covering his life and career, 1861-1951, and notably concerning his work at the Royal Military Academy, 1890-1896, and in the Intelligence Division of the War Office, 1899-1901, 1904-1908, his service in South Africa, 1901-1902, and in World War One, 1914-1918, at the Geneva Conference, 1906, as General Staff Officer, 4 Div, 1911-1914, and in the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence, 1919-1949, written in [1951]; correspondence with Rt Hon Sir Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, 1922-1954, relating to Churchill's book The World Crisis, 1911-1918 (Thornton Butterworth, London,1923-1929, abridged and revised, 1931); letters from FM Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig and his wife, 1903-1939, mainly relating to Edmonds' work on the official history of World War One; correspondence with Maj Gen Sir Ernest (Dunlop) Swinton, 1919-1950; texts of lectures,[1908-1947], notably relating to the American Civil War, 1861-1865, laws of war and the organisation of intelligence and information in warfare; typescript and printed articles, 1893-1957, mainly relating to World War One; official army handbooks and reports by Edmonds and others, 1899-1918, 1945; papers related to World War One collected by Edmonds, dated 1900, 1907, 1914-[1945]; presscuttings, [1906-1943], mainly concerning political and military developments and international relations; photographs, 1895-1918, mainly of Edmonds with Army colleagues.