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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as Commandant, Empire Test Pilots' School, 1945-1947, including three flying log books, 1928-1944; typescript copy of unpublished memoir entitled 'Icy calm.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].

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 relating to his RAF career, 1942-[1953], principally comprising correspondence relating to the development of a submersible target at RAF St Eval, Cornwall, 1942, dated 1948; manuscript notes on the problems of establishing Coastal Command Station, Nassau, Bahamas, as a training centre for Coastal Liberator crews, 1942; official report on the RAF occupation of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, 5-11 May 1945; printed reports on the progress of air disarmament in Germany in 1944-1946, produced by British Air Forces of Occupation, 1945-1947; correspondence relating to his work as Director of Air Branch, Control Commission, Berlin, 1947-1949, and to the planning of the Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949; official report on organisation and structure of Berlin Airlift administration; RAF training course notes and papers, 1950; papers relating to his service as Assistant Chief of Staff, Allied Air Forces Central Europe, [1951-1953], notably including photographs of Waite, [1951-1953]; published RAF manuals, 1948, 1950.

Typescript bound report by AVM William Derek Hodgkinson entitled 'The report of the Committee on the Officer structure of the RAF', Ministry of Defence, London, 7 May 1969, with bound 'Annexes to the report of the Committee on the Officer structure of the Royal Air Force', 1969. Typescript official correspondence relating to Rooney's service as Deputy Air Officer, Administration, Headquarters, Maintenance Command (later renamed Support Command), RAF, Andover, Hampshire, mostly concerning RAF pay and conditions of service, Apr 1973-Sep 1976, also letters of congratulation on his retirement from the RAF, 1976.

Papers relating to the RAF Levies (Iraq), 1955-1959, including typescript copy of speech by Sir Michael (Robert) Wright, British Ambassador to Iraq at the RAF Levies (Iraq) disbandment parade, RAF Habbaniya, 2 May 1955; typescript copy of report to the Air Ministry by Riall entitled 'The Royal Air Force Levies (Iraq) [1955]; typescript 'The RAF Regiment bulletin report on the RAF Levies (Iraq) - the final two years', 15 Jun 1955; typescript 'Iraq Levies - history prior to disbandment', 1955; edition of The Arab World with article entitled 'The Aden Protectorate Levies', Jun 1959. Papers relating to RAF training, 1950-1958, including edition of Air Ministry Restricted booklet 'Manual of ground defence for the Royal Air Force. Volume 1, Active defence', Jun 1950; typescript course notes, Senior Officers Course, Civil Defence Staff College, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berkshire, Feb 1958; typescript notes on nuclear, biological and chemical warfare, Mar-Dec 1958. Papers relating to the Royal Exodus Hunt, Iraq, 1937-1938 and 1953-1954, including correspondence, bills and accounts, May 1937-Feb 1938; manuscript hunting diary and typescript accounts, 15 Nov 1953-7 Feb 1954.

Copies of papers relating to his service with the RAF, 1936-1950, principally comprising log books, 1936-1949, notably covering his service in World War Two, UK, 1939-1945, and North Africa, 1943; notebook containing descriptions of his active service, 1939-1943, notably his involvement in the defence of the Forth Road Bridge, Oct 1939, and the Battle of Britain, Jul-Oct 1940;press cuttings relating to the RAF in World War Two, dated [1940-1946].

Papers collected or created by Menaul, 1950-1986, principally comprising journal articles, press cuttings, US and UK government and defence industry press releases and public relations pamphlets relating to nuclear weapons, 1962-1985, including the politics and doctrine of nuclear strategy and deterrence, Cruise, Pershing and Polaris missiles, and the research and development of nuclear delivery systems; to arms control, 1973-1985, including the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties (SALT) 1 and 2; to ballistic missile defence, 1974-1986, including anti-satellite weapons and the High Frontier and High Frontier Europe organisations; to US, Soviet and European space programmes, 1976-1986; to land, sea and air weapons systems and warfare, 1973-1984; to defence budgets and arms procurement, the international arms industry, global strategy, collective security and NATO strategy, 1967-1986; to military technology, 1967-1986, including the comparative capabilities of Western and Soviet technology, chemical and biological warfare, electronic warfare, and the military uses of lasers and radar; to the study and history of warfare, 1970-1984, including the principles and morality of warfare and the history of the RAF; to national and international defence issues, multilateral agreements and military actions, 1969-1986; manuscript, proof, reviews and correspondence relating to Countdown: Britain's strategic nuclear forces (Hale, London, 1980), [1976-1981]; unpublished manuscripts by Menaul, 1969, [1972], [1978-1979], 1987; audiocassette recordings of radio interviews with Menaul, 1979-[1983]; copies of journals to which Menaul contributed, 1969-1985; papers relating to or generated by organisations and companies of which Menaul was a member or with which he was associated, 1966-1985, including Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies (formerly Royal United Service Institution), Centre for Policy Studies, Stanford Research Institute and Hughes Aircraft Company; correspondence and published papers relating to conferences on foreign policy and defence issues, 1970-1986; personal and business correspondence, 1956-1987, notably with Gen Sir Walter Walker, 1968-1987, Foreign Affairs Research Institute, 1976-1984, and Aims for Freedom and Enterprise, 1976-1986; personal papers, 1950-1959, 1971, 1973, [1978-1987], including newspaper cuttings relating to Menaul's RAF career, 1950-1959, notably his command of the British Atomic Trials Task Forces, Monte Bello and Maralinga, Australia, 1955-1956.

Official papers relating to Air Council powers to regulate Air Force Establishments, 1920-1924; flying log books, 1933-1958 and photographs relating to the RAF, 1930s; papers dated 1934-1985 relating to service as Commanding Officer at the Marine Craft Detachment in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, including notes and photographs relating to T E Lawrence; papers relating toWorld War Two, including organisation of RAF in Northwest Africa, 1943; papers dated 1946-1953 including lecture notes relating to RAF organisation and management.

Royal Naval Air Service/RAF pilot's flying log book, 1918-1924; three RAF pilot's flying log books, 1924-1926, 1934-1936 and 1937-1946. Four photograph albums, with many captioned photographs of Lynch's service in Turkey and southern Russia, 1919, and Iraq, 1931-1934, also 51 photographic negatives, mostly of southern Russia, 1919. Personal papers and photographs,1917-1946, including printed RAF certificate for the completion of a course in 'Aerial gunnery and bombing, Eastchurch, Kent, 1924, congratulatory letter to Lynch, concerning a successful air display, from AVM Cyril Louis Norton Newall, Air Officer Commanding Wessex Bombing Area, 1931, and printed service history, compiled by Lynch's son, 1994.

Papers relating to his service in the RAF, [1939-1945], 1948, principally comprising official photographs of radar installations, [1939-1945] and RAF operations rooms, [1939-1945], including photograph of operations room of HQ Fighter Command, RAF Bentley Priory, Stanmore, Middlesex, 1939; typescript notes and diagrams about layout and organisation of RAF sector controloperations rooms, [1939-1945]; official photographs of [RAF station], Wunstorf, Germany, 1948.

Papers relating to his RAF career, 1939-1951, dated [1939-1951], 1984-1985, [1987], 1991, 1993, particularly his service in the USSR, 1941, and Sweden, 1948, principally comprising photographs of Haw and his RAF colleagues, [1939-1951]; press cuttings, 1941, [1946], 1948, 1956, [1987], 1991, [1993]; 'Pilot's notes for Spitfire 22 and 24 Griffon 61 engine' (Air Publication 2816 B andC), prepared by the Air Ministry, 1947, with amendments list, 1950. Audio tape of interview with Paul Hamlin, 1993, concerning Haw's service at Coolham Airfield in 1944.

From pillar to post (Newton, Swindon, 1995), a memoir of his life covering the period 1939-1978, notably his service in the RAF in the UK and East Africa, 1939-1945, and his political career in Kenya, 1945-1961, as Mayor of Nairobi, Nairobi City Councillor, Elected Member of the Legislative Council and Minister of the Crown for Information and Broadcasting, written in 1994 andpublished in 1995.

Papers and publications of Maj Gen Edward Fursdon, 1942-2000. Material relating to Fursdon's career in the Royal Engineers including: research on Army equipment inventions, 1942-1960; orders, instructions, reports, staff lists, duties, returns and aquisitions logs for Headquarters, 19 Infantry Brigade, Operation MUSKETEER, Port Said, Egypt, 1956; The Assault River Crossing in Nuclear War , a dramatic dialogue by Fursdon, 1959; research and reports produced for the War Office Working Party on Infantry Field Defences, 1958-1960; report by Fursdon on an Explosives Course arranged by the Swedish Army at Gyttorp, May-Jun 1960; papers and photographs relating to Operation VANTAGE, Kuwait, Jul-Oct 1961; report by Fursdon on reconnaissance for Exercise VIKING WAY: The Randsfjord Road Project, Norway, 1969; photographs of Royal Engineer activities including the 34 Independent Field Squadron, Kenya, 1961; training including demolitions course, Sweden, 1960; trials, equipment and experiments including trials of digging machines, Sept 1958; explosive and drill excavation; design and materials for battle shelters and mobile roadblocks.

Papers on academic topics including research and interviews for Fursdon's MLitt thesis The European Defence Community Experience: Relevance and Failure, 1950-1989 ; and report entitled MBFR (mutual and balanced force reductions) Talks: the Preliminaries and the First Half Year , 1974.

Papers relating to Fursdon's activities as a journalist including original drafts and cuttings of articles written for various publications including The Daily Telegraph , 1980-1986; Army Quarterly , 1948-1998; Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter , 1982-1995; Navy International , 1986-1994; Salut: Journal of the South African National Defence Force , 1995-2000.

Audio cassette tapes of radio interviews and programmes, 1980-1994, including interviews with Fursdon on the Falklands War for the British Forces Broadcasting Service and BBC World-at-One, 1982; interviews with Fursdon on the aftermath of the Falklands War for Radio Kent, Radio Devon and the British Forces Broadcasting Service, 1988; Fursdon speaking on National Service for the British Forces Broadcasting Service, nd, and on conscription for LBC, London, nd; interviews conducted by Fursdon including with a Swedish Defence Official, 1982 and with Captain Rod Bell on the Falklands War, 1982; a programme on Iraq for the BBC World Service, 1991.

Research files (including press cuttings, field notebooks, photographs, press releases, correspondence, publicity material and maps) relating to the Iran Iraq war, 1980-1985, including photographs taken during Fursdon's time as a reporter embedded with the Iraqi Army showing: British, American and Soviet tanks, armoured personnel carriers and self propelled guns captured from Iran on display in Baghdad; captured Iranian mine clearing tanks, small arms, mines and other weaponry; an Iranian POW camp, Ramadi; desert battlefields north-east of Basra; Iraqi artillery deployed near border east of Basra; Maj Gen Maher Abed Al-Rashid, Commander 3 Iraqi Corps; Qasr-e-Ahirin, Iran; the battle for Khorramshahr docks, Shatt-al-Arab, Iran; Khorramshahr City, Iran, after capture; oil fires at Abadan, Iran; the first battle of the Howzeh (Al-Hawzah) Marshes at Al-Baydha; troops of the Presidential Guard Special Forces; Iranian attack craft and rubber assault boats; wounded cattle; village women waiting to be evacuated; Carol Jerome, Canadian journalist; Iraqi war memorial and military museum, Baghdad; and the aftermath of the Battle of Al-Azair, Iraq.

Research files (including press cuttings, field notebooks, photographs, press releases, correspondence, publicity material and maps) relating to topics including: the Falklands War and aftermath, 1982-1997; the first Gulf War, 1990; the Bosnian and Kosovan Wars and their aftermath, 1992-2000; post-war Europe, including the fall of the Iron Curtain, peacekeeping and arms control, 1979-1998; the 15th and 20th National Day of Oman, 1985 and 1990; the 50th anniversary of NATO, 1999; Northern Ireland, 1981; the Far East Pilgrimage Remembrance Trip to Burma, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, 1985; the European Defence Community, 1990; British Military Advisory and Training Team, Namibia, 1991; Swedish Naval Forces, 1992, Army Cadet Force Association, 1992; Royal Air Force Red Arrows, 1995; Reserve Forces Act and the Territorial Army, 1996; Royal Air Force Innsworth, 1996; Royal Navy and Marine Reserves, 1996; University Air Squadrons, 1997; University Royal Navy Units (URNUS), 1997; Royal Air Force Cadets (ATC), 1997; University Officer Training Corps, 1997; Army Cadet Force, 1997; Royal Navy Sea Cadets, 1997; Royal Navy and Royal Marines Combined Cadet Force, 1997; Boer War Centenary, 1997; Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, 1998; Royal Marines, 1998; Women in the Armed Forces, 1998; Joint Service Diving, 1998; Royal Air Force St Mawgan and Exercise BRILLIANT FOIL, 1998; simulation of battle including Direct Fire Weapons Effects Simulation (DFWES) and tactical engagement systems (TES) equipment, 1998; 21st Century Warfare, 1999; Joint Force 2000, 1999; Defence Systems and Equipment, 1999; Royal Air Force Kinloss, 1999; Royal Engineers Combat Engineer School, 1999; the efforts of HMS OCEAN and Commando Brigade to provide assistance following Hurricane Mitch, Honduras, 1999; The Regular Commissions Board, 1999; Army Air Corps, 1999; Army School of Logistics, Deepcut, and School of Army Catering, Aldershot, 2000; Defence Animal Centre, 2000; British Army Training Unit, Canada, 2000; Royal Military Police Training School, Chichester, 2000; 'Soaring and Sailing into the Next Millennium', Royal Navy and Royal Air Force potential future ships and aircraft, 2000.

The collection includes approximately 450 of Fursdon's collected books, journals, pamphlets and brochures on military topics.

Papers relating to his RAF career, [1914-1939], principally comprising log book covering his service in the UK and Middle East, 1929-1939; photographs of aircraft, notably flying boats, [1914-1939].

Papers relating to his service in the Royal Naval Air Service and RAF, 1917-1918, dated 1917-1918, 1955, 1990, principally comprising log-book covering his flights in the UK, 1917-1918; photographs of aircraft and personnel, including Cunliffe. Texts and notes for lectures relating to photography, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1932. Photographs of Cunliffe in his service uniform and with colleagues from King's College London, [1915-1922].

Flying log books covering service in Egypt, UK and South Africa, 1928-1958, and obituary by Gp Capt George Roberts Montgomery, 1985.

Typescript memoir by Cadell, edited by his son Ian V Cadell in 1997, relating to his RAF career, 1925-1945, including details of the establishment of 80 Wing, RAF Countermeasures Unit, 1940, the establishment of the intelligence listening station, Chicksands, Bedfordshire, 1941-1943, and Cadell's role in the development of radar, 1939-1940.

Copy of text by Flight Sgt S Byrne on 'The Ferry Flight at Henlow and Cardington' during the period 1935-1939, ND.