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Papers of MRAF Sir John Slessor, 1965-1968, including: correspondence regarding the Defence Review on Naval Airpower with Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Elworthy; W M Mills, Ministry of Defence; Edward Shackleton, Ministry of Defence; Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd; Air Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross, Transport Command; and others, 1965-1968, particularly debating the use of aircraft carriers. Correspondence regarding the Battle of the Atlantic with Vice Admiral Sir Peter Gretton; Capt Stephen Roskill, historian; the Air Historical Branch; the Naval Historical Branch; and others, 1966-67, including statistical analysis of efficacy of RAF and information and statistics from Air History Branch regarding U-Boat destruction, 1955. Correspondence with Capt B H Liddell Hart, 1965; with Rear Admiral Samuel Morison, USNR, 1968; with Professor Arthur Marder, 1966. Articles by Slessor relating to the Defence Review on Naval Airpower, including: 'An Integral part of the Fleet', 1964; 'The Capital Ship Complex', 1965; 'Air Power - Seabourne or Shore-based', 1965; 'Naval Air Power - Is it Worth It?', 1965; 'The Story of Jutland: Some reflections on Vol. 3 of "From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow" - Arthur J Marder', 1966; 'Air Power and the Defence Review', 1966; 'Air Power East of Suez', 1966; 'The Purchase of the F111', 1966; 'Meeting Today's Defence Needs: Virtues of Shore-Based Planes', letter to The Times , 1968; and 'The Air League's Memorandum on Defence - January 1967', 1967. Also articles by others including: 'The case for the Aircraft Carrier' by Fletcher Pratt, and response 'The Case for Land-Based Air Power' by Francis V Drake, The Reader's Digest , 1949; German, Italian and Japanese U-Boat Casualties during the War: Particulars of Destruction , (HMSO, 1946); A memorandum on Defence , The Air League, 1967; and 'Merchant Aircraft Carriers' by Kenneth Poolman, Air Pictorial , Oct 1968.

Collection includes four copies of printed leaflets, 'No 1 Workshop Group, REME, Chillwell', relating to the organisational structure of the Royal Electical and Mechanical Engineers, 1945; printed leaflet, 'The Part a British Oil Company played in the War', reprinted from the Petroleum Times, 28 Apr 1945, concerning asbestos compound waterproofing of Allied tanks and vehicles for Operation OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of France, 1944; reprint of photograph of US Sherman tank approaching French beachhead, 1944

Papers of Ralph Thrale, 1916-1984, mainly relating to the Royal Observer Corps, including: memoir 'Seaborne', co-authored by Thrale, detailing experiences of Thrale and a colleague while Royal Observer Corps 'Seaborne' volunteers posted to merchant shipping as aircraft identifiers, 1944; Thrale's Royal Navy certificate of service, 1944, and Royal Observer Corps certificate of war service, 1946.The collection also includes publications collected by Thrale on related topics, including books: Aircraft of the fighting powers by H J Cooper and O G Thetford (Harborough Publishing Company, Leicester, 1941); Britain's wonderful Air Force edited by Air Cdre Peregrine Forbes Morant Fellowes (Odhams Press, London, 1942); Forewarned is forearmed: the authorized history of the Royal Observer Corps by T E Winslow (William Hodge & Co, London, 1948) and Observers' tale: the story of Group 17 of the ROC edited by H Ramsden Whitty, Commandant, 17 Group, Royal Observer Corps (London, 1950). Journals: The Journal of the Royal Observer Corps Club, Oct 1941-Nov 1942 and an incomplete run of Aircraft recognition Sep 1942-Sep 1984. Ministry of Information publications: The Battle of Britain, August-October 1940 (HMSO, 1941); Coastal Command (HMSO, 1943) and Combined Operations, 1940-1942 (HMSO, 1943). Also The Bystander's Fragments from France, volumes of cartoons by Bruce Bairnsfather detailing life in the trenches (numbers 1-6, c 1916-1918) and article, 'The reply to English propaganda' by Joseph Paul Goebbels, translated from German and reprinted from Völkischer Beobachter, 14 Jul 1939.

Papers relating to his service as Third Sea Lord 1915-1916, principally comprising 'History of armoured cars, juggernauts, land battleships, tanks', a memorandum on the development of an armoured car force, 1914-1916, written [for Tudor and other Sea Lords] by Murray F Sueter, Sep 1916; 'Report on the design and construction of first land ship (tank)', written for Tudor by E H Tennyson D'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, Sep 1916. Biographical notes on Tudor, compiled for members of the family by his great nephew, A B T Davey, with covering letter, 1976.

Typescript text of talk by Tyrrell to Wimbledon Literary and Scientific Society [1985], entitled 'Some recollections of a prisoner of war of the Japanese', relating to his experiences as a POW in Zentsuji Camp, Shikoko Island, Japan, 1942-1945. Copies of eight certifications on Tyrrell by Commanding Officers of RN ships and establishments, 1933-1955, with copy of Tyrrell's Mention in Despatches citation for service on HMS ENCOUNTER, Mar 1942, copy of letter relating to the award of the Dutch Order of Orange Nassau, Aug 1948, and copy of newspaper cutting relating to Tyrrell's wedding, Dec 1947. Typescript address by R Adm William Terence Colborne Ridley at Tyrrell's memorial service, Jan 1995.

The Soviet Estimate: US Analysis of the Soviet Union, 1947-1991 is a themed microfilm collection which presents an integrated record of US intelligence estimates and studies relating to Soviet strategic projections, military capabilities, science and technology, economics and internal politics, 1946-1991. The estimates and studies were produced either collectively as national intelligence products or by individual agencies, and include contributions from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); the Director of Central Intelligence; the US Defense Intelligence Agency; and, the US State Department. The collection includes CIA and British Secret Intelligence Service debriefing transcripts of former Soviet Gavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravleniye (GRU), Chief Intelligence Directorate, Soviet General Staff, operative Oleg V Penkovskii, relating to Soviet military organisation and plans for nuclear war, Soviet nuclear targets and deployments in Europe, missile technology and launch sites, Soviet military personnel, the capture of Capt Francis Gary Powers, US Air Force U-2 High Altitude Reconnaissance Aircraft pilot, 1 May 1960, profiles of Soviet military officers, locations of Soviet nuclear weapons tests, Soviet intelligence organisations and Soviet chemical and biological weapons programs, Soviet development and deployment of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), positions of Soviet divisions in East Germany, and the Berlin Crisis (1958- 1962), 20 Apr-14 Oct 1961; yearly US estimates of Soviet strategic capabilities, 1947- 1983, including the 'missile gap' National Intelligence Estimates, 1957-1961; detailed estimates of the Soviet space program, including National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) relating to lunar exploration, manned space flight, reconnaissance satellites, space exploration, space weapons and weapons development, 1962-1967; US Air Force report entitled 'A History of Strategic Arms Competition: Volume 3, A Handbook of Selected Soviet Weapons and Space Systems', including data relating to Soviet air to surface missiles (AS), Tupolev bomber aircraft, M-4 / Mya-4 / 2M Myasishchev ('Bison') aircraft, space weapons, communication satellites, electronic intelligence capabilities, surface to surface (SS) theatre missiles and ICBMs, Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs), Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), Jun 1976; US intelligence community experiment in competitive analysis conducted by the CIA 'B Team' relating to US misperceptions of Soviet strategic objectives and offensive and defensive forces, Dec 1976; report from the US Department of State entitled 'History of the Strategic Arms Competition 1945-1972, parts 1 and 2', including detailed surveys and analyses of Soviet and US decision making on nuclear forces, force deployments, and nuclear strategies, Mar 1981; Special National Intelligence Estimate relating to Soviet support for international terrorism and revolutionary activities, including mention of arms transfers, military training, political violence, and terrorist activities in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, May 1981; reports from the CIA concerning Soviet perspectives on research and development in energy-directed weapons and involvement in space weapons and Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) research, 1985; National Intelligence Estimates relating to General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev's prospects for reforming the Soviet economic and political system, including mention of his economic agenda and its implications for the Soviet military program, the dynamics of Soviet civil-military relations, the impact of reforms on labour production, health, standards of living and technological development, and the rise of civil unrest and nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1985- 1989; CIA report concerning the probabilities of a coup d'etat in the Soviet Union and the growing influence of Chairman of the Russian Republic Supreme Soviet, Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, May 1991.

Edition of US Naval Experience in the North Pacific during World War II: Selected Documents (Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy, Washington, DC, 1987), a collection of reprinted US Navy documents relating to naval operations against the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Bering Sea generally and the Aleutian Islands, the Kurile Islands, and Alaska specifically, 1943-1945

The Papers of the President's Science Advisory Committee, 1957-1961 are microfilmed copies of meeting minutes, correspondence, agenda, scientific reports and studies from the President's Science Advisory Committee (PASC), 1957-1961. The records of the PASC in the Eisenhower administration detail science policy, 1957-1961, primarily relating to arms control and disarmament through nuclear power; space; medical research; and particle physics. The PASC records include minutes and agenda from PASC's regular monthly meetings; minutes from the annual meetings with Eisenhower, compiled by PASC Executive Officer David Beckler; reports, speeches, studies and correspondence relating to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Space Project, US Strategic Air Command; satellite communications; nuclear testing; nuclear propulsion; early warning defence systems; US and Soviet biological and chemical warfare capabilities; US aircraft development, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lunar Program; ocean surveillance projects; the Television Infrared Observation Satellite Program; the Apollo lunar Program; US anti-submarine warfare capabilities; Soviet scientific progress, 1957-1961; US missile programs and radar and radio astronomy advancements. Microfilm also includes correspondence and memoranda between PASC and Eisenhower; Emanuael Piore, PASC consultant and research director for IBM; Alan Waterman, President of the National Science Foundation; Senator Henry M Jackson; and presidential adviser Gen Andrew Jackson Goodpaster.

US Strategic Bombing Survey, Civil Defense Division, report entitled Target Report of Civilian Defense Division Field Team No 82, covering air-raid protection facilities and allied subjects in the city of Hamburg, Germany, 1945. The report is in two volumes. The first volume contains the field report of the US Strategic Bombing Survey, Civil Defense Division, and includes information on the organisation and operation of German civil defence, including fire control and incident control precautions; German passive defence installations and precautions, including gas protection and camouflage; information on German evacuation techniques and civil defence training measures. The second volume contains photographic, manuscript, and typescript exhibits for the first volume. Included in the second volume are population figures of Hamburg, 1940-1945; damage statistics for dwellings, cultural buildings, and industrial buildings, 1940-1945; statistics on those killed during the bombing of Hamburg, 1940-1945; organisation of German anti-aircraft divisions; organisational chart of German air raid personnel; photographs of oil refinery and storage fires caused during Allied bombing raids in Jul 1943; photographs of civilians killed during Allied bombing raid in Jul 1943; translation of German instructional regulations on how to handle the dead; report on the activities of German medical and emergency personnel; statistics on the heavy raids on Hamburg, 24 Jul-3 Aug 1943; reports of interviews with German civil servants, police and fire personnel, and air defence personnel.

Copy of memoir covering the period 1914-1921, including his service in World War One in the Mediterranean, 1914-1915 and 1917-1918, and the North Sea, 1916-1917, notably the Battle of Jutland, 1916, in the Baltic during the Russian Civil War, 1918, and on fishery duties in the English Channel, 1920, written in [1920-1921].

One hundred and three photographs relating to Wardman's RAF service, [1932-1944], including eighty three, mostly captioned, aerial photographs of North West Frontier Province, India [1932]-1934; photographs of RAF aircraft including Westland Wapiti Mk IIA, Avro Tutor, Hawker Hector [1932-1939]; three photographs of Wardman in No 3 (Indian) Wing RAF sports teams, Quetta, India, 1934; group photograph with Wardman and RAF pilots '46th Flying Instructors Course, Central Flying School, September-December 1935'; group photograph captioned 'No 612 (County of Aberdeen) (AC) (Army Co-operation) Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force, July 1938'; group photograph captioned '1935 600 City of London Fighter Squadron', group photograph captioned 'Brough [Yorkshire], January 1939', group photograph in front of Bristol Blenheim bomber [1940], Airspeed Horsa upon Salisbury plain [1944], group photograph captioned '296 Sqn Airborne Forces Headquarters', photograph of 296 Sqn badge, group photograph of RAF officers 1944, group photo of RAF Officers with Italian badge captioned 'East Colne 1945', two photographs of Handley Page Halifax bombers from towing gliders on crossing of Rhine March 24 1945, group photo of Norway visit, photo of Halifax taking off captioned ''R' for Mo, Joe' [1945], group photo captioned 'Celebration! promotion to Wg Cdr'. Also small Union flag displayed on the first British truck taken to France, and later used by the French Army, Aug 1914, (the flag originally belonged to a relative of Wardman who worked for Vulcan Motor and Engineering Company, Crossens, Southport, Lancashire).

Papers relating to Watts' RN career, training of RN Engineers and meteorology, 1945-1990, including three telegrams relating to the German and Japanese surrenders, May and Aug 1945, and to the signing of the Japanese surrender, Tokyo Bay, Japan, Sep 1945; lectures and talks by Watts relating to RN Engineer training, 1960-1962; typescript lecture notes entitled 'The Instructor Branch' [1961]; typescript address to Royal Naval Reserve Instructor Officers, [1964]; correspondence with R Adm Sir William (Alfred) Bishop, R Adm Christopher John Howard, Capt John Athol Burnett, RN, Capt Arthur Ernest Johnston, RN, Capt Alexander Malcolm Morrice, RN, Cdr William Nimmo Bowman, RN, and Richard J Ogden, Apr-Nov 1988, relating to research for a lecture by Watts on 'Meteorology in the Royal Navy in World War Two' to the History Group of the Royal Meteorological Society, Oct 1988, with edition of Meteorology and World War II. Second conference, October 1988, edited by Brian Douglas Giles (Royal Meteorological Society, School of Geography, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, 1989); typescript account of German bombing of HMS ILLUSTRIOUS off Pantelleria, Mediterranean, 10 Jan 1941, entitled 'A day to remember', with two sketch maps of the operation [1990]; typescript lecture notes on the organisation of the RN Meteorological Service in World War Two [1990].

Two manuscript narrative diaries by Webb-Bowen, detailing the voyage of HMS IRON DUKE to the Crimea, Russia, via Gibraltar, Malta, Suda Bay, Crete, and Constantinople, Turkey, and subsequent operations in the Black Sea and Turkey, 21 Mar 1919-30 Nov 1920; typescript orders by Adm Sir John Michael de Robeck, 1st Bt, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, for officers and men of HM Ships IRON DUKE, MARLBOROUGH, BENBOW, MONTROSE, SPEEDY and SPORTIVE, relating to landing operations against Nationalist Turkish forces, Gemlik and Yeni Keui, Turkey, Jul 1920.

Papers relating to Weston's career, 1916- 1945, including manuscript notes by Weston entitled 'Some notes on the discipline of Imperial troops in convoy on HM Transport LLANSTEPHAN CASTLE from Durban to Suez', 1941; notebook containing manuscript 'Standing orders for POWs', 1943; typescript report on the sinking of the EMPRESS OF CANADA, 1943; typescript instructions and duties of Draft Conducting Officers on board troopships [1943]; typescript memorandum by Weston on the co-ordination of Movement Control in South Africa, 1944, with typescript reports on officers attached to Imperial Movement Control, South Africa (IMPCON), 1944; printed material including memorandum on the German attack near Givenchy, Western Front, 1918, with printed map annotated with dispositions of German 4 Ersatz Div during attack north of Cuinchy, France, 9 Apr 1918, scale 1: 10, 000; trench map entitled France. Sheet 57D SE. Edition 3A, scale 1:20,000 (GSGS 2742, 1916), annotated with features near La Boisselle, Pozieres and Courcelette, Battle of the Somme, 1916, Field Service Pocket Book, Orders and intercommunication (HMSO, London, 1939), Rifle Drill illustrated (Gale and Polden, Aldershot, 1940), Restricted War Office booklet 'Standing instructions for Officers Commanding units and drafts ordered overseas', 1943.

Papers of ACM Sir Neil Wheeler including training account, report, press cuttings and photographs, 1939-1991, notably a comprehensive report on the Royal Air Force Operations in Malaya, June 1948-March 1949, produced by Air Headquarters, Royal Air Force Malaya, May 1949; text for talk by Wheeler on early aerial photographic reconnaissance, delivered at a Royal Air Force Historical Society seminar, 1991; undated detailed account of training for, planning and leading wing strikes against shipping convoys, 1942-1943. Cutting of article 'Cameramen of the Air: Photographing bomb damage - vital work of RAF PRU'S (Photographic Reconnaissance Units)', from The Times, 1 Sept 1943. Printed maps of Norwegian, English, French and German coastlines, [1942], with handwritten annotations. Album of Photographic Reconnaissance Unit photographs, 1940-1941, many with captions, showing locations in France, the Netherlands, Germany and Norway including: Brest harbour; anti-aircraft fire over Cherbourg; Morlaix; Brest; Chateau Bougon Aerodrome, Nantes; Nantes; St Nazaire; La Rochelle; La Pallice; Rochefort; Bordeaux; Dunkirk, showing wrecks on beaches; Le Havre; Zeebrugge; Boulogne; railway yards near Calais; Vlissingen Aerodrome; Antwerp; Ter Neuzen; Flushing; St Inglevert Aerodrome; Knickerbein W/T beam stations; Amsterdam; Ijmuiden; Gravelines; the Nordzee Canal; Caen; Schipol aerodrome; Stavanger; Bergen; Egersund Port; convoys in the Skaggerak area; Herl-Herdla Aerodrome; Lista aerodrome; Kiel; Bremerhaven; Brunsbuttel; Wilhelmshaven; The Hague; Dieppe; Rotterdam; Poix Aerodrome; Ostend; also photograph of shelling damage in Guernica, Spain, 2 Jun 1941; photograph of office showing maps and operations board for 8 Apr 1941; printed map with drawn annotations showing the ranges in nautical miles of medium range, long range, super long range and extra super long range Spitfires from Wick, St Eval and Heston. Loose photographs, 1939-1943, many with captions, showing: aircraft including a Maryland, a Swordfish, a Hawker Fury and a Heyford; Wheeler and colleagues at airfields in Wick, Scotland and St Eual, Cornwall, 1941; Wheeler and aircrew of 236 Squadron, 1943. Also painting of the insignia of 236 Squadron.

Papers and photographs relating to Wilson's career, 1928-1990, especially his service as test pilot for British and captured German aircraft, 1937-1945, setting the world air speed record, 1945, and his role as Commandant, Empire Test Pilots' School, 1945-1947, including three flying log books, 1928-1944; typescript copy of unpublished memoir entitled 'Icy calm. Recollections of a wartime test pilot', written in [1972]. One hundred and seventy four official and personal photographs relating to Wilson's career, 1930-[1950], including damaged Bristol Bulldog fighter, crash landed by Wilson, UK, 1931; captured German aircraft Heinkel He111, Junkers Ju88, Messerschmitt Me109, Messerschmitt Me110 and Italian Fiat CR42 [1941-1945]; testing of CAM (Catapult Assisted Merchantman) aircraft launch apparatus and tests on Fairey Fulmar, Blackburn Shark and General Aircraft Hotspur gliders with RATOG (Rocket Assisted Take-Off Gear), 1941-1942; Empire Test Pilots' School students under instruction and in flight, 1945-1947; photographs of De Havilland Mosquito, Avro Lancaster, Hawker Tempest, Supermarine Spitfire, Gloster Meteor and De Havilland Vampire, 1945-1947; prototype of Planet Aircraft Satellite, 1948-1949. Contemporary reports, memoranda and official and personal correspondence, 1937-1990, including typescript memorandum by Wilson entitled 'Pilot's impressions of the [Blackburn] Botha', 1940; typescript report by Wilson entitled 'Observations of fighter requirements', 1940; typescript report by Wilson entitled 'Tactical trials and other observations on the De Havilland E6/41 (known as the DH100 Spider-Crab, later renamed Vampire) with Halford H1 engine', 1944, and Empire Test Pilots' School student's confidential report for Sqn Ldr J G Mann, RAF, Course No 3, 1946; typescript report by Cyril Francis Caunter entitled 'A historical summary of the Royal Aircraft Establishment 1918-1948', 1949; correspondence with potential publishers for Wilson's memoir, 1972-1990. Publications, 1946-1972, including two editions of The Times, 1946 and 1947, edition of The Aeroplane with article on the Empire Test Pilots' School, 1946, and booklet entitled 'Empire Test Pilots' School Personnel Supplement. List of graduates 1943-1972 and present staff' [1972].