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Correspondence of Lt Gen Sir Robert Grant, including letters from Lt Gen Sir John Stokes, Deputy Adjutant General, Royal Engineers, concerning Grant's appointment as Commander, Royal Engineers under Gen Sir Garnet Joseph Wolseley on the First Soudan Expedition, Egypt, 1885; letters relating to Grant's career, notably his appointment as Inspector General of Fortifications, 1891, his continuation in that post for an extra two years, and his appointment as a commissioner of the Royal Hospital at Chelsea, following a plea not to be retired on grounds of non-employment, 1903; personal correspondence from Gen Sir Redvers Henry Buller, notably a letter commiserating with Grant on the death of his son, Robert Josceline Grant, at Spion Kop during the Second Boer War, South Africa, and discussing Buller's part in future operations, 1900; notes by Grant on the policy of national defence during his tenure as Inspector General of Fortifications, [1898]; papers and correspondence relating to Grant's chairmanship of a committee to enquire into armaments in British fortresses, 1900; papers relating to evidence given by Grant to a Committee on Decentralisation, 1898. 8 items.

Letters to Charles John Cecil Grant from various correspondents, notably Lt Gen Sir George Sidney Clive, Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, on the recent actions of French Marshal Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain in signing an armistice with Germany, 22 Jun 1940; the Hon Harold (George) Nicholson on the actions and personalities of Pétain and French Gen Maxime Weygand, and the attitude of the French populace in general to German occupation, 1940; FM John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, High Commissioner and Commander in Chief for Palestine and High Commissioner for Transjordan, on the difficulties of maintaining peace in Palestine, 1945; General Sir John Theodosius Burnett-Stuart, giving his opinions on various commanders of the armed forces, including Gen Sir John Greer Dill, Chief of Imperial General Staff, and FM Sir Archibald Armar Montgomery-Massingberd, 1941; French Gen Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny, commenting on the friendship between France and Britain, [1945]. 27 items.

Letters to Charles John Cecil Grant from Lt Gen Sir Oliver William Hargreaves Leese, 3rd Bt, during World War Two, describing military operations in Italy whilst Leese was commanding 8 Army, notably Operation DIADEM, including the Fourth Battle of Monte Cassino, 11-18 May 1944, and the successful attack by Allied forces on the Hitler Line (Winter Line), 14 May 1944; operations leading to the occupation of Rome by the US 5 Army, 4 Jun 1944, and a description of the city itself; the secret move of 8 Army forces across the Apennines to the Adriatic sector (Operation OLIVE) in order to commence the Gothic Line Offensive, Aug-Sep 1944, and an outline of how the Polish, Canadian, British and Indian forces broke through into the Po Valley, 20 Sep 1944. An earlier letter briefly describes the part played by Leese and 30 Corps at the Battle of El Alamein, Egypt, Oct-Nov 1942, and the advance following the battle. 13 items.

Letters to Charles John Cecil Grant and Lady Sybil Myra Caroline Grant, mainly from French Gen Maxime Weygand and his wife Renée Weygand, mostly social correspondence relating to visits to Britain and making arrangements for an annual dinner to mark the November armistice, but also including comments by Weygand on the recommendations of FM Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, 1st Bt, concerning methods of enforcing the clauses of the Versailles Treaty on the Germans, 1919, and his personal views on the problems of the peace process; correspondence concerning the death of French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, 1929, notably articles written by Weygand and Grant on his career, and the merits of The Biography of the late Marshal Foch (Hutchinson & Co, London, 1929) by Gen Sir George Grey Aston; a letter from Weygand written in 1939 expressing his confidence in the ability of the Allied forces to win the war against Germany. The file also contains two letters from French Gen Maurice Gustave Gamelin, Commander in Chief of the French army, notably praising the solidarity of Great Britain and France in the coming conflict with Germany, 1940. 36 items.

Various military papers, mainly dating from the nineteenth century, including standing orders, despatches and a paper by Gen Sir Frederick Roberts on Russia, all probably collected by Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1805-1811, 1871-1885, 1918-1921. Correspondence and papers relating to Lt Gen Sir Robert Grant (see above), including material concerning his career, and correspondence from Gen Sir Henry Redvers Buller, 1900. Letters and papers of Charles John Cecil Grant, notably correspondence with Rosebery, mainly letters written whilst on active service on the Western Front, World War One, 1914-1927, French Gen Maxime Weygand, including comments on the Versailles Treaty and the death of French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, 1919-1948, and Lt Gen Sir Oliver William Hargreaves Leese, 3rd Bt, on military operations in Italy during World War Two, 1943-1944. Copies of diary entries and notes written by Charles John Cecil Grant whilst serving as a liaison officer to French Headquarters on the Western Front, World War One, Mar-Nov 1918.

Correspondence, mainly between Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, and Charles John Cecil Grant, his son-in-law, during World War One, notably brief descriptions of conditions and events on the Western Front, including the Battles of Neuve Chapelle, Mar 1915, Verdun 1916, the Somme, Jun-Nov 1916, and Second Ypres, Apr-May 1917; discussions regarding the necessity for general conscription in Britain and Grant's belief that resources should be concentrated on the Western Front as opposed to the Eastern; Grant's estimation of the net results of the Allied autumn offensives of 1915. Also including letters to and from Capt Albert Edward Harry Mayer Primrose, (Lord Dalmeny), Lady Sybil Myra Caroline Grant, and Capt the Hon Neil James Archibald Primrose, notably papers relating to the part played by the latter in an action at Agagiya, Egypt, 1916, where a charge by The 1/1 Queen's Own Dorsetshire Yeomanry resulted in the capture of the Turkish leader Jaafar Pasha. 41 items.

Copy of diary entries and notes written by Charles John Cecil Grant, describing events during his temporary post as Liaison Officer between Gen Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and French Gen Ferdinand Foch, Allied Commander in Chief, notably meetings with FM Sir Douglas Haig, Commander in Chief, British Armies in France, Foch, French Gen Maxime Weygand, French Chief of Staff, and Gen the Hon Sir Herbert Alexander Lawrence, Chief of General Staff, relating to operations on the Western Front; discussions and negotiations between the above concerning preparations for the German attacks on the Aisne during May 1918 (Third Battle of the Aisne), especially relating to plans for the relief of troops on the front lines, the utilisation of US troops, the allocation of reserves, and the proposed reduction of the number of British divisions; comment upon the attitude of British General Headquarters to the French staff and armies, the clashes between Foch and the British War Office, and relations between the British and French higher commands. 27pp.

Copy of diary entries and notes written by Charles John Cecil Grant, describing events during his temporary post as Liaison Officer between Gen Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Allied Commander in Chief, notably preparation for, and events of, the Battle of Amiens, Aug 1918; description of the Battle of St Mihiel, 12 Sep 1918; preparations for a general Allied offensive, incorporating the Battle of Meuse-Argonne, 26 Sep-11 Nov 1918, an attack on the Hindenburg Line, Cambrai, by the BEF (British Expeditionary Force), 27 Sep-17 Oct 1918, and the final Battle of Flanders, 28 Aug-11 Nov 1918; discussions between Foch and FM Sir Douglas Haig, Commander in Chief, British Armies in France, concerning the control of British 2 Army, Nov 1918; negotiations between Foch, V Adm Sir Rosslyn Erskine Wemyss, representing the Allied navies, and several German delegates regarding an armistice, 6-11 Nov; a description of the Armistice celebrations in Paris, 24 Nov; description of a private discussion between Grant and Foch, concerning the proposed Allied winter offensives, had the Armistice not been signed. 25pp.

Military papers mainly dating from the nineteenth century and probably collated by Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, father-in-law of Charles John Cecil Grant, including a draft despatch to Sir Arthur Paget on the surrender of Ulm, Germany, Oct 1805, during the War of the Third Coalition, Napoleonic Wars; the standing orders of the Cinque Ports Regiment of Local Militia, 1811; a paper by Lt Gen Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts, Commander in Chief Madras, India, on the military weaknesses of Russia and the effect of recent events on British Afghan Frontier Policy, forwarded to the Earl of Rosebery, by Major Reginald Pole Carew, 1885. 1 file.