Papers relating to his military career, 1937-1972, principally comprising recruitment poster for North Staffordshire Regt, 1937; unsigned account of operations of 2 Bn North Staffs Regt, France, 12 May-1 Jun 1940, written in [1940]; unsigned account of operations of 6 Bn North Staffordshire Regt, France, 1 Jul-31 Aug 1944, written in [1944]; The Battle of Flanders by Kenneth Adam (Hutchinson and Co, London, 1940); papers relating to his service with North Staffordshire Regt in Trieste, 1951-1953, principally comprising press cuttings concerning protests against the Allied Military Government in Trieste, 1953, and official photographs of visit by Adm Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, [1952-1953]; copies of letters written to his family during his service in Korea, 1953-1954; press cuttings relating to evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, 1940. Papers relating to Bird's grandfather Gen James Lewis Bird, 1857- 1938, notably including copy of a letter from Gen James Lewis Bird to his sister Pamela, 2 Jun 1857, describing the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny at Meerut, India, May-Jun 1857.

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].