Papers relating to his service in World War Two, dated 1941-1946, 1941-1946, 1951, principally comprising semi-official and personal correspondence, 1941-1946, including letter to his wife describing events leading up to his dismissal from command of 7 Armoured Div, 1942; pamphlet on the Battle of Keren, Mar 1941, produced by Maj Gen Sir Nigel Trapp, HQEritrea District, for visit of Commander-in-Chief, Middle East Land Forces, to Keren battlefield, Eritrea, Mar 1947; Report to the Combined Chiefs of Staff by the Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, 1943-1945 by AF Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (London, HMSO, 1951); operational notes and training instructions for 7 and 9 Indian Divs during the Burma campaign, 1943-1945; 'Warfare in undeveloped countries. Part 1: desert warfare', War Office publication written by [Messervy] in 1954; printed histories by Messervy and others describing operations in Burma by 12 Army, 14 Army, 4 Corps, 15 Indian Corps, 23 Indian Corps, and 25 Indian Div; Ministry of Information publications, dated [1945], concerning campaigns in the Middle East and Far East, 1941-1945, the Merchant Navy, 1939-1944, Combined Operations, 1940-1942, Britain's anti-aircraft defences, 1939-1942, and civil defence in the UK, 1940-1941, and the war effort on the Home Front, 1942-1944; Government of India publications,dated [1944-1946], describing the service of various divisions of the Indian Army during World War Two.

Copies of editions of World War Two newspapers, including Daily Express; Daily Sketch; Daily Mail; Daily Mirror; Daily Herald; Evening Standard; and Union Jack, 1940-1945, with articles relating to the withdrawal of British and French forces at Dunkirk, France, May 1940; the German occupation of Athens, Greece, Apr 1941; German and Italian frontier assaults across the Egyptian border, Apr 1941; US naval protection of British merchant routes across the Atlantic, Apr 1941; the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, United States, Dec 1941; the Japanese declaration of war on Britain and the United States, Dec 1941; the US naval victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy at Midway Island, Jun 1942; the establishment of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force in London, under the commander of US Gen Dwight David Eisenhower, Jan 1944; the Allied capture of Rome, Italy, Jun 1944; the Allied invasion of Northwest France, Jun 1944; the surrender of the German armed forces in Paris, France, Jun 1944; the unconditional surrender of all German armed forces in Italy, May 1945