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.

Pre-war papers and correspondence, 1898-1914, including lectures, texts and notes written whilst Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley, Surrey. Papers relating to his service as Quartermaster General to the BEF (British Expeditionary Force), Western Front, 1914-1915, including correspondence with Maj Gen Sir Stanley Brenton von Donop, Master General of the Ordnance, and Maj Gen Sir John Steven Cowans, Quartermaster General to the Forces, relating to supplies of equipment, provisions and munitions. Papers and correspondence, 1915, as Chief of General Staff, BEF (British Expeditionary Force), Western Front, principally comprising reports and memoranda prepared for the War Office and the War Council by General Headquarters Staff, 1915; memoranda relating to general military strategy, 1915, notably in the Balkans, Dardanelles, Gallipoli and Egypt; papers in French concerning the Allied Conference at Chantilly, 1915. Papers relating to service as Chief of the Imperial General Staff during World War One, 1915- 1918, principally comprising Army Council and War Cabinet papers relating to manpower, 1915-1918; papers of FM Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome, Secretary of State for War, given to Robertson following Kitchener's death in Jun 1916; personal telegrams, 1916- 1917, mainly comprising unofficial messages to and from various army commanders and military attachés in Salonika, Russia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Italy, Romania, Palestine and the Western Front; memoranda and papers on military operations in the Middle East, 1915-1917, and general strategy, 1917-1918, prepared by Robertson for the War Cabinet; documents relating to the creation of the Allied Supreme War Council, and its various powers and functions, 1917-1918. Papers created as Commander in Chief, Eastern Command and Home Forces, 1918-1919, consisting of inspection reports of various depots and units in the UK, and general correspondence. Papers created as General Officer Commanding in Chief, BAOR (British Army of the Rhine), 1919-1920, including printed memoranda by French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Allied Supreme Commander on the Western and Italian Fronts, on the conditions required to ensure peace in Europe, 1918-1919; papers relating to the organisation and functions of the British Zone of Occupation in Germany, 1919; correspondence with Gen Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, the Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Secretary of State for War, and Maj Gen Sir Charles 'Tim' Harington Harington, Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1919; inspection reports of BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) units, 1919. Private correspondence, mainly relating to Robertson's work during World War One, including correspondence with Lt Col Arthur John Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham, Private Secretary to HM King George V, 1914-1918; Maj Gen Charles Edward Callwell, Director of Military Operations at the War Office, 1915; Gen Sir Archibald (James) Murray, Chief of the Imperial General Staff and General Officer Commanding in Chief, Egyptian Expeditionary Force, 1915-1916; the Rt Hon David Lloyd George, Secretary of State for War, 1916, and Prime Minister, 1916-1918; FM Sir Douglas Haig, Commander in Chief, British Armies in France, 1915-1918; Maj Gen Frederick (Barton) Maurice, Director of Military Operations at the War Office, 1917-1918; and the Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Secretary of State for War, 1919-1920. Also including correspondence, memoranda and notes concerning the events leading up to the resignation of Robertson as Chief of the Imperial General Staff in Feb 1918, dated Jan-Feb 1918. Semi-official papers and private correspondence, 1915-1918, collected by Brig Gen Cecil Courtenay Lucas, Robertson's Aide de Camp, mainly comprising correspondence between Robertson and Gen Sir Archibald (James) Murray, Gen Sir Beauchamp Duff, Gen Sir Charles Carmichael Monro, and Gen Sir Edward Henry Hynman Allenby, relating to military operations in India, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Palestine, 1916-1918; Lt Col Sir Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, Secretary to the War Cabinet and the Committee of Imperial Defence, 1916-1917; Lt Gen the Rt Hon Jan Christian Smuts, South African Representative on the British War Cabinet, 1917; Gen Sir (Francis) Reginald Wingate, Governor General of the Sudan, 1916, and High Commissioner of Egypt, 1917; and Lt Col Charles A'Court Repington, Military Correspondent of The Times, 1916-1917. General correspondence with various on military matters, 1916-1918, including Reginald Baliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, Lt Gen George Francis Milne, French Gen Robert Georges Nivelle, Italian Gen Luigi Cadorna, Lt Gen Sir Frederick Stanley Maude, and Gen Sir Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer.

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 aviation and transport, dated 1910-1928, principally comprising papers relating to Joint War Air Committee (Inter-Departmental Committee on the Air Service) chaired by Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, 1916, Committee on the Administration and Command of the Royal Flying Corps, 1916, and Air Boards chaired by Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, 1917, and George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Earl Curzon of Kedleston, [1916]; correspondence, 1915-1916, 1920, notably including correspondence with Herbert Henry Asquith, 1916, Curzon, 1916, Derby, 1916, the Imperial Defence Committee, 1916, the Parliamentary Aviation Committee, and George Sydenham Clarke, 1st Baron Sydenham of Combe, 1916; printed books, pamphlets, memoranda, notes and texts by Douglas-Scott-Montagu and others, 1910-1920, mainly relating to aviation technology, anti-aircraft defence and the organisation of the air services; memoranda, official reports, notes and texts relating to his work as Adviser on Mechanical Transport Services to the Government of India, 1915-1919; manuscript account of service of No 1 Armoured Motor Unit, North West Frontier, India, 1915-1916, by Capt A J Clifton, 68 Durham Light Infantry, 1915-1916, dated 1917, including photographs and preface by Montagu. Other papers relating to his life and career, 1914-1926, dated 1914-[1926], 1948, principally comprising letters relating to his service with 7 Hampshire Regt in Egypt, 1914, and India, 1915; photographs and photographic negatives, 1915-1922, mainly relating to his service in India, 1915-1919. Typescript draft of A strange war. Burma, India and Afghanistan, 1914-1919 (Sutton, Gloucester, 1988), an account of 2/5 Bn, Somerset Light Infantry and 2 Mechanical Transport Company by Chris P Mills, based on the recollections of Col B G L Rendall, the diary of Edward William Ewens and research into the Montagu papers, dated 1987.