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Papers of Paul Willert mainly on his wartime service, 1939-45; including letters (6 files) to his wife, Brenda (nee Pearson), daughter of Weetman Harold Miller Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray, 1936-1946, from Germany, New York and Paris, c.1936-1940; during RAF training, 1941; from the Isle of Man [c.1942]; from Northern Ireland [1943-44], and from Paris, 1944-1945; file on propaganda work, in London and Paris, 1940-41, including detailed note, 'Report of a conversation on the evening of January 7, 1940' with pencil addition, 'Georges Mandel, Colonial Minister', re German-Soviet relations, the dismissal of Isaac Leslie Hore-Belisha as Secretary of State for War, morale in France, British propaganda in France, and propaganda in enemy; detailed notes on the present political situation in France, 10 Feb 1940; note criticising British propaganda to France, with suggestions for improvements, [c. 1940]; notes on the government of Paul Reynaud, France, dated Mar 1940; notes on 'France and its government, 27 May 1940'; 'Notes on the situation in France, May 14, 1940'; two letters to Willert from [?signature illegible], Political Warfare Executive (PWE), Electra House, London, re the staffing of Electra House and Willert's Paris office, and Willert's secret service activities in France, 31 May and 6 Jun 1940; correspondence (2 items) with Col Dallas Brooks, head of Electra House, 2 Jun and 6 Jun 1940, re arranging a military commission for Willert, and details of changes in the political situation in France; formal letter of introduction for Willlert from the British Embassy, Paris, signed by Donald Maclean, 9 Jun 1940; notes on the formation and operations of 'Department EH', Jul 1940, with criticisms of the division between Department EH (based at Electra House) and the Ministry of Information in disseminating propaganda to Europe; two letters, 26 Nov 1940 and 11 Dec 1940, re suggestion that PW should be appointed as representative of Special Operations Executive (SOE) at Gibraltar, working initially on propaganda, and his reasons for declining the post; detailed notes on the future of British relations with the USSR, c 1940; letter (to 'Sammy') [probably Samuel Hood, 6th Viscount Hood] re the organisation of propaganda and the deployment of the BBC overseas services, c 1941; letter to Dr Hugh Dalton re Willert's leaving SOE, 1941; two letters, from 'Sammy', [Samuel Hood, 6th Viscount Hood] 3 Jul 1941, and 'Gerald', 15 Jul 1941, both Ministry of Information, re suggestion that Willert should take charge of propaganda to France and Germany, and his refusal; detailed note on morale in the RAF, c 1942; file containing notes on individual members of the French resistance, [c 1944]; note on Gaston Bergery, 1930s pro-German French politician; official documents (3 items) re his post as Air Attaché (17pp) re service Sep 1939 - Jul 1940 (attached to propaganda mission in Paris, led by Noel Coward; details of work with co-operative Germans in Paris, for anti-German propaganda, subsequently helping some of them escape to England, after the German invasion of France; Willert's own escape and call up by RAF in Jan 1941; file of copy correspondence with and about Arthur Koestler, on the French resistance 1941-1943; file of copy documents from the former Public Record Office (PRO), now The National Archives, re planning, May 1940, for the evacuation of the French government and of the British Embassy from Paris; copy PRO documents re the evacuation of British civilians from France, Jun 1940; two signed photographs of Lord Northcliffe, 1913 and 1917, [friend of Willert's father, Sir Arthur Willert, _Times _correspondent, Washington DC, 1910-1920); manuscript diary, 21 Apr - 4 June1940, kept while serving with propaganda mission in Paris, attached to British Embassy.

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].