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Privately printed book, ‘Special Operations Executive, 1940-1945: papers of Colonel George Frances Taylor’, by Jeremy Taylor (son), written for the family, with information drawn from the papers and from additional historical research. Includes three photographs of Taylor.

Three photocopy documents: ‘Report on German SO2 activities in Yugoslavia’, 1941; memorandum from ‘CD’ to ‘AD 3’, 1943, concerning contact with partisans in Yugoslavia; a report, ‘The Goeland Transport and Trading Co Ltd’, 1944 (on the fictitious company created by the British government to reduce German access to Danube shipping), with a covering letter from A V Anderson to Maj Gen W H Oxley, Commissioner of the Allied Control Commission to Bulgaria (with original National Archives reference code WO 220/109). Poor quality copies.

Printed diagram detailing the reporting structure of the SOE directorates, with individual names, from Sir Charles Hambro down to heads of individual country sections. Includes Intelligence, Operations, SOE missions in different geographic areas, Services and Finance & Administration.

Annotated printed maps of Greece and Yugoslavia, showing locations of SOE Missions, areas under the control of resistance groups and areas under the control of Axis forces, as at October 1943.

Memoranda by Taylor (‘AD’) on SOE India Mission's organisation and current naval, air, and training resources, with recommendations for future requirements.

Typescript draft obituary for Taylor, by Col Bickham Aldred Cowan Sweet-Escott, outlining Taylor’s SOE work in Europe, 1940-1943.

Correspondence and memoranda relating chiefly to SOE policy and activities in East and South East Asia (SEA) and elsewhere, including: draft instructions on working with Soviet NKVD personnel; notes on a meeting with Sir Reginald Dorman Smith, Governor of Burma, on negative attitudes towards the personnel of the Burma administration; notes on Thai resistance personnel (‘Free Siamese’) working with Allied intelligence and special operations groups in India and in Chunking (Chongqing), China; letters relating to the provision of Liberator heavy bombers to SOE India; correspondence relating to Wing Cdr C C Bell's visit to SOE London Headquarters and SOE co-operation with the Far Eastern Liaison Office (‘FELO’, a propaganda and field intelligence unit in the South West Pacific); a proposal by F W Kendall for infiltration into the Hong Kong area for subversive activities.

Correspondence and memoranda relating to SOE policy and activities in East and South East Asia (SEA) and elsewhere, including: details of the range, capabilities and potential modifications of Liberator heavy bombers and other aircraft for SOE India; notes on the need for a military Chief of Staff to ‘BB 100’ [Colin Mackenzie], Commander of the SOE India Mission; routine documents concerning SOE administration, communications, personnel, and security issues; correspondence relating to the SOE West Africa Mission; a letter from ‘CD’, head of SOE, on SOE co-operation with Soviet NKVD personnel and Operation Pickaxe missions to infiltrate Soviet agents into occupied Europe; report on SOE India's organisation, actions, and integration with SEAC (South East Asian Command); letter to ‘BB 100’, with related code key, concerning a scheme to convey information from ‘G’ [William Stephenson], Head of British Security Co-Ordination (BSC), USA, to Lord Mountbatten, SACSEA (Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia); a directive to Capt G A Garnons-Williams as co-ordinator of SIS, OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the US counterpart to SOE), SOE and the PW (Political Warfare) Section in SEAC (South East Asia Command).

Memoranda and related papers concerning SOE policy, organisation, protocols, equipment, personnel and operations in East Asia and South East Asia (‘SEA’) and elsewhere. File includes; a telegram from Taylor (‘AD’) on the work of the [secretly British-run] radio station at Sharq-El-Adna, broadcasting pro-Allied propaganda in Arabic; memoranda on the establishment of a China Mission; memorandum by Taylor on a recent meeting with actor/US naval officer Douglas Fairbanks Jr concerning Fairbanks’ proposals for special forces units [‘Beach Jumpers’] to create diversionary deceptive beach landings for Allied amphibious assaults; telegram on the need for personnel able to undertake covert political activity in Iraq; telegram on training and support for local partisans in Yugoslavia; memoranda on equipment required for operations in East Asia, South Asia and Australia; memorandum on British relations with Siam (Thailand); memorandum on a proposed restructuring for SOE Asia and SOE Middle East; memoranda by Taylor on the impact of decisions made at the recent Allied conference at Cairo (codenamed Sextant) upon SOE operations in South East Asia and in China; brief report on Operation GUSTAVUS, to establish an intelligence network in Malaya and Singapore.

Letters and memoranda chiefly concerning SOE operations and organisation in East Asia and elsewhere. File includes further drafts of briefing notes on SOA (Special Operations Australia) for Prime Minister Winston Churchill; memoranda on British policy on SOE operations in China; a letter to ‘BB 100’ on future SOE organisation and operations in China, Operation Remorse (to raise money via covert currency transactions on the black market in China), and comment on Remorse personnel including Lionel Davies, and Derek George Gill-Davies.

Letters, instructions and related papers chiefly concerning SOE operations and organisation in South Asia and East Asia. File includes: draft instructions for a forthcoming tour of China and India by Taylor (‘AD’), written by Taylor himself, covering a planned conference for SOE and OSS (the US Office of Strategic Services) during a visit to East Asia by Gen William Donovan, head of OSS, and the possible use of Operation Remorse (the raising of funds via covert currency transactions on the Chinese black market) for SOE operations aside from its financial activities; a letter concerning SOE/OSS co-operation in China, the planned control of all British and US clandestine operations in China by Gen Albert Wedermeyer (commander of US forces in China) and the possible future control of SOE by the British Foreign Secretary; a memorandum on the role of the ‘Deputy Director Operations Division (Irregular)’ or ‘DDOD(I)’ and special forces marine operations.

Letters, notes and related papers chiefly on SOE activities in South Asia and South East Asia, including: notes on the need to create devices specifically for operations in East Asia; telegrams on possible operations in South America and Latin America; a telegram concerning the relay of information between ‘G’ [William Stephenson, Head of British Security Co-Ordination] in Washington DC, journalist Ian Morrison in Australia, and Lord Mountbatten, South East Asia Command, on US plans in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA); a telegram on the deployment of personnel of the Free Thai Movement (FTM); correspondence with the Shell Petroleum Company relating to the oil refinery at Balikpapan, Dutch East India (Indonesia); instructions for a planned visit to Washington DC by Maj E Grut (an SIS operative seconded to SOE) to make contact with Siamese (Thai) nationals in the USA; meeting minutes on the possible overthrow of Romanian leader Ion Antonescu; telegrams on the closure of the SOE South Africa Mission; biographical notes on Maj Leopold (‘Len’) Manderstam, an SOE specialist on the USSR; a telegram on the possible use of the BBC and US radio stations for transmitting messages to SOE operatives in the field; telegrams on training for SOE India personnel; telegram on the necessity of building an SOE organisation in China, relations with Australia and on joint Allied special operations in the Philippines and elsewhere, following the Allied conference at Cairo (codenamed Sextant); instructions for a tour of SOE India by ‘AD 4’ [Col Bickham Aldred Cowan Sweet-Escott]; list of SOE personnel and their locations in China, Turkey, Ecuador, Colombia and Chile.

Correspondence, reports and memoranda on topics including policy, organisation, equipment, personnel, co-operation with OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the US counterpart to SOE), and with SOA (Special Operations Australia), and SOE operations in East and South East Asia (‘SEA’). File includes: telegram and report concerning SOE activities in China in relation to Chinese and American authorities; a memorandum on a conservation policy and protocols for commodities and equipment in enemy-occupied territory that would be required in the post-war period; a detailed memorandum by Taylor (‘AD’) on the possible use of Welfreighters (customised marine craft) by SOE in South East Asia; a report by Taylor on the co-ordination of SOE, SIS (Special Intelligence Service), OSS, and Political Warfare (PW) activities in South East Asia Command (SEAC); notes on French involvement in SEAC and the decision to establish a French volunteer special forces unit in French Indochina; letter of condolence from Taylor to Lady Patricia Milnes Gaskell on the death of her husband, Lt Col Charles Thomas Milnes Gaskell [‘D/P 104’, SOE Russian Section]; report by Taylor on J Arthur Duff, an OSS (Office of Strategic Services) operative in China; a telegram by Taylor on relations with the Free Siamese Movement (FSM, also known as the Free Thai Movement, FTM), and the necessity of a Foreign Office statement on the post-war independence of Thailand; a telegram from ‘AD 7’ on the selection of either Welguns or Sten guns for Operation Oblivion (for the infiltration of SOE personnel into Kwangtung (Guangdong) and Hong Kong, China.

Memoranda and related papers concerning SOE operations, organisation, personnel, policy and equipment in South East Asia, East Asia and elsewhere. File includes: draft briefing notes for Prime Minister Winston Churchill on SOA (Special Operations Australia), its relations with SOE, NEFIS (Netherlands Forces Intelligence Service) and the US high command in SWPA (South West Pacific Area); notes on the present and possible future activities of the British Army Aid Group (BAAG) in South East China; a memorandum on the decision to hand over some Russian POWs to Soviet control, and the resulting attempted suicide of one POW; telegrams relating to personnel and recruitment, including the use of Dutch operatives for service in East Asia.

Memoranda and related papers concerning SOE operations, organisation, personnel, policy and equipment in South East Asia, East Asia and elsewhere. File includes: notes for discussion at a conference of Directors of Military Intelligence; notes on British policy towards French Indochina; a memorandum on the attitude of South East Asia Command (SEAC) and the British government towards future SOE activities in Siam (Thailand); correspondence concerning allegations against SOE China made by Gen William Donovan, Director of OSS (the US Office of Strategic Services); an account by Taylor of his SOE service in the Balkans and Greece, 1940, including the loss of his files at sea after the Allied evacuation from Greece, 1941; a memorandum on the present and possible future status of SOE China; telegrams on problems with Operation Hornbill (for amphibious sabotage operations in South East Asia); an account of the development of SOE sea transport in Europe and Asia.

Papers relating chiefly to SOE operations in South East Asia, East Asia and South Asia, Aug 1944
Memoranda and related papers concerning SOE operations, organisation, personnel, policy and equipment in South East Asia, East Asia and South Asia. File includes: a memorandum on Operation Belief (to drop Francois de Langlade into French Indochina to make contact with Vichy French personnel sympathetic to the Allies), its political implications, and the need to avoid questions over the post-war status of French Indochina; papers relating to the deployment of Soviet POWs to subvert Russians serving with German forces, to work with the French Resistance, and to work in locating secret weapons; correspondence relating to personnel and training for ‘Sleeping Beauty’ motorised submersible canoes; draft letter from ‘CD’ to Adm Lord Mountbatten concerning the relationship between South East Asia Command (SEAC) and SOE China; notes on the acquisition of Japanese Army uniforms in Burma (Myanmar) to aid the production of accurate copies; letters by Taylor on proposals to transfer SOE ‘Jedburgh’ teams from France to South East Asia for possible deployment in Burma (Myanmar); a memorandum on Operation Oblivion, to drop Chinese-Canadian agents into Japanese-occupied China.

Correspondence, charts, reports and minutes, chiefly relating to SOE policy and administration in Asia, including: correspondence and memoranda relating to SOE personnel, organisation, stores and equipment in India, South East Asia (SEA) and Australia; a proposal for SOE sabotage missions along the China coast; minutes of a policy meeting, SOE India Mission; report on Operation Longshanks (to sabotage Axis shipping off Portuguese Goa); correspondence on transport issues affecting SOE India; material relating to SOE personnel and operations in South East Asia; letters and memoranda by Taylor reporting on his tour of India, his interpretation of SOE India's role, future plans, and his recommendations for SOE India's organisation and policy; memoranda on aircraft and naval resources and personnel available for SOE India and Taylor's negotiations with senior air and naval commanders; letters from ‘AD 4’ [Col Bickham Aldred Cowan Sweet-Escott] reporting on events at SOE Headquarters, London; papers relating to a memorandum signed between ‘BB 100’ [Colin Mackenzie], Commander of SOE India Mission, and Gen Cheng Chieh-Min, Chinese Director of Military Intelligence (DMI).