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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).

Papers relating to SOE activities in India, China and South East Asia, Apr-Jun 1943
Correspondence, notes and memoranda relating to SOE policy, organisation, protocols, equipment, stores, air and naval resources, and operations in India, China, and South East Asia, produced before and during a visit to India by Taylor (‘AD’). File includes: a memorandum from ‘SO’ (Roundell Cecil Palmer, third Earl of Selborne), Minister of Economic Warfare, requesting information on Operation Longshanks (an SOE operation to sabotage Axis shipping off Portuguese Goa); an organisational chart and list of code names for the SOE India Mission; routine administrative, travel and expenses documents for Taylor; a directive for Taylor's tour from ‘CD’ [Sir Charles Jocelyn Hambro], head of SOE, April 1943; correspondence and memoranda on Operation Mickleham (an SOE operation intended to smuggle rubber from enemy-occupied South East Asia); a report from ‘BB 134’ [Lt Lionel Ormandy Davis] to ‘BB 300’ [Walter Fletcher] on Davis' tour of southern China, covering Anglo-US co-operation in China and South East Asia, the financial situation in China, the availability of commodities in Japanese-occupied South East Asia, and SOE personnel and resources in China; letters from ‘AD 4’ [Col Bickham Aldred Cowan Sweet-Escott and ‘CD’ [Charles Hambro], London, on the re-organisation of senior SOE personnel, negotiations in London on co-operation with American clandestine organisations in China and India, and developments in South Africa; records of meetings held between Taylor and military and intelligence personnel in India on the status, organisation, future operations and resource requirements of the SOE India Mission; memoranda and correspondence on procedures for launching SOE operations in India by sea and air, current signals, material, stores, and personnel provision for the India Mission and anticipated requirements; a review of SOE activities and requirements in Malaya (Malaysia) and Burma (Myanmar); a memorandum on proposed SOE activities in the Karenni region of Burma and Operation Harlington (to parachute SOE personnel into Burma); correspondence and memoranda concerning co-operation with OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the US counterpart to SOE) in Asia, and the provision of para-naval and aircraft resources for SOE, SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) and MI9 (a British clandestine organisation assisting the escape of British prisoners of war) in India and South East Asia; a report on training for parachuting and field work at Chaklala, India (now Pakistan); a list of personnel in SOE India's Burma Section, their locations and signals equipment; an organisational chart of staff structure, SOE India.

Correspondence, memoranda and reports after Taylor’s return from China, chiefly relating to planned operations in China, British-American co-operation in East and South East Asia (SEA), policy towards resistance groups in South East Asia and SOA (Special Operations Australia). File includes: a memo by ‘SO’ [Lord Selborne, Minister of Economic Warfare], on SOE and Allied relations in East Asia; correspondence on the failure of Operation Rimau (to sabotage Japanese shipping using submersible canoes); a memo by Maj W W Chapman on resistance in Burma; papers relating to Taylor’s planned visit to USA and Australia to discuss the future of the SOA; correspondence about Operation Robin (also known as Operation Platypus 1, to infiltrate SOA personnel into Borneo); correspondence about the possible appointment of Brigadier Eric Mockler-Ferryman as Head of SOA; memos on resistance and Chinese propaganda in Malaya; an organisational chart, ‘Proposed establishment, Far Eastern Directorate’.

Correspondence, notes, reports and memoranda, relating chiefly to the visit of Gen William Donovan to China, India, and South East Asia (SEA), for meetings with Gen Albert Wedemeyer (Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai Shek) on increased clandestine operations in China, and meetings with Lord Mountbatten (Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, SACSEA) on Allied intelligence in China and South East Asia Command (SEAC). File includes: letters from ‘AD4’ [Col Bickham Aldred Cowan Sweet-Escott], reporting on events at SOE London Headquarters and commenting on proposed SOE activity in China; letters from ‘CD’ [Maj Gen Colin McVean Gubbins, Head of SOE] about a proposed Sino-British resistance force in China; note by Lt Col Ambler on planned SOE activity in Sumatra; memo by ‘AD 4’ [Col Bickham Aldred Cowan Sweet-Escott] on Force 136 in East Asia; correspondence about French Indochina (FIC, now Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos), including a letter from French Admiral Raymond Albert Fenard to the Combined Chiefs of Staff on the French Resistance in FIC; correspondence about SOA (Special Operations Australia), its poor relations with South West Pacific Area (SWPA) Headquarters and with the British Government.

Letters, telegrams and memoranda received by Taylor during his tour of India and South East Asia, on topics including an increased SOE role in China and preparations for forthcoming meetings between US Gen William Donovan and Lord Louis Mountbatten (Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, SACSEA). Also briefings and policy documents on Siam (Thailand), French Indochina (FIC, now Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos), clandestine Allied activities, Operation Remorse (for illicit currency trading and commodity smuggling in China), and Taylor’s recommendations for personnel and resources for SOE activities in South East Asia Command (SEAC) and China. File includes: an update on Allied military progress in the Asia-Pacific region by Sir William Stephenson (G, head of British Security Co-ordination, BSC, in New York); correspondence, draft proposals and policy documents on the formation of a joint Anglo-American authority in China to co-ordinate clandestine activities; letters from ‘AD 4’ [Col Bickham Aldred Cowan Sweet-Escott] reporting on events at SOE London, discussing proposals for Anglo-American co-operation in clandestine activities in China and South East Asia, and concerns over the effectiveness and future of Special Operations Australia (SOA); a memo on future Force 136 operations on the China coast; draft telegrams from Mountbatten to General Albert Wedemeyer about clandestine Allied operations in China; ‘A summary of the negotiations between Force 136 and the Central Government of China'; ‘SOE plans for Burma, Siam, Malaya’, including comment on intelligence received from Pridi Banomyong (aka Ruth, Thai Prince and resistance leader) and British and American policy towards Siam.

Correspondence, memoranda, and minutes, relating chiefly to meetings in Chungking (Chongqing) and Kandy, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), January 1945, to plan covert operations in China and South East Asia Command (SEAC). File includes a report by Taylor, ‘SOE activity in China’; a list of SOE personnel and locations in China; notes on negotiations with Gen Albert Wedemeyer (Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai Shek); a list of members of the Kuomintang (Guomindang) Government in China, with their positions.

Correspondence, notes, and memoranda relating chiefly to British proposals to unify clandestine operations in China under a single authority, including a memo on the proposed co-ordination of SOE, SIS and OSS in China; an overview of proposed SOE activities in China; notes on meetings with Gen Albert Wedemeyer (Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai Shek).

Memoranda relating to SOE policy, organisation, personnel and equipment in South Asia, South East Asia and East Asia. File includes: memoranda on Operation Hornbill (to use Chinese junks and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ motorised submersible canoes to sabotage Japanese operations in South East Asia); a memorandum on working relations between SOE and OSS (the US Office of Strategic Services) in the Mediterranean; a 3pp report on Prince Capt Subha Svasti and the Free Siam Movement (FSM, also FTM, Free Thai Movement); notes on the necessity for senior SOE personnel to undertake local tours around regions; instructions and itinerary for a tour of India; a memorandum on the future merger of FELO (the Far Eastern Liaison Office, a propaganda and field intelligence unit in the South West Pacific) and SOA (Special Operations Australia).

Letters, memoranda and a report relating to SOE policy, organisation, personnel and equipment, chiefly in South Asia, South East Asia and East Asia. File includes: a 34pp report compiled for ‘CD’ before a tour of India, on Allied strategy in South East Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, the ‘Axiom’ mission to London and Washington DC to urge for a greater role for Britain in the war against Japan, and the possible impact on future SOE operations and British prestige in the region; memoranda on the use of booby traps and firefly bombs for fuel tanks; memoranda on staff appointments in SOA (Special Operations Australia); memorandum on SOE operative Prince Capt Subha Svasti and political strategy in Siam (Thailand); briefing notes on French Indochina.

Memoranda and related papers on SOE operations, organisation, personnel, policy and equipment in South Asia, South East Asia, East Asia, Australia and elsewhere. File includes: a letter to Taylor from Moshe Shertok, of the Jewish Agency for Palestine (later Moshe Sharett, Prime Minister of Israel, 1954-1955), enclosing copy correspondence between Shertok and Randolph Churchill on proposals to assist and train Jewish resistance fighters in eastern Europe; a letter from Taylor to Cdr Ian Fleming, Naval Intelligence, requesting assistance with the surreptitious acquisition of information on French Indochina (FIC) in Paris; memorandum on relations between the Globe News Agency and Reuters News Agency in India and the Middle East; letter from Taylor to Fleming concerning relations between SOE, SOA (Special Operations Australia) and the US High Command; letter from Taylor to ‘FO’ [G Young], concerning SOE and OSS (the US Office of Strategic Services) relations in Burma (Myanmar); discussion of camouflage provision in India; equipment and training for SOE naval operations, Australia; request for French submarines to operate off French Indochina; an exchange between Taylor and Hubertus van Mook, Acting Governor General of the Dutch East Indies concerning special forces operations in the South West Pacific Area (‘SWPA’) and the work of Maj Egerton Mott; a memorandum on the recruitment of Soviet POWs for work in France; memorandum on Operation Belief, to drop Francois de Langlade into French Indochina to make contact with Vichy French personnel sympathetic to the Allies, and the subsequent complaints from OSS; brief telegram on plans to arm Czech partisans, and consequent problems with the SAM Mission to the USSR.

Memoranda and related papers on SOE operations, resources and requirements, in South Asia, South East Asia, East Asia, Australia and elsewhere. File includes: memorandum on the organisation of naval sections in India and Australia; memoranda and telegrams relating to the planning and equipping of Operation Hornbill (to use Chinese junks and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ motorised submersible canoes to sabotage Japanese operations in South East Asia); memoranda on the possible impact of the Allied invasion of France upon Japanese policy in French Indochina (FIC); negotiations with OSS (the US Office of Strategic Services) over operations in Burma (Myanmar), and OSS China’s infringement of the agreed boundary line between OSS and SOE spheres of operation at the Taping River.

Memoranda and notes relating to SOE policy, organisation, protocols, equipment, personnel and operations in East Asia and South East Asia (‘SEA’) and elsewhere. File includes memoranda on Maryland (SOE operations in Italy), including the deployment of Soviet MKVD personnel in Italy; telegrams on diamond smuggling; problems with the potential SOE deployment of Soviet POWs in Axis territory; notes on the relationship between SOA (Special Operations Australia) and SOE; training schedule and notes for Operation Oblivion, to drop Chinese-Canadian agents into Japanese-occupied China.

Memoranda and related papers concerning SOE policy, organisation, personnel and equipment chiefly in South East Asia, South Asia, East Asia and Australia. File includes: a memorandum on the air and naval resources available for operations in Malaya (Malaysia) and SOE relations with the Army in India; a letter detailing the poor relations between the SAM Mission (to improve Anglo-Russian relations) and the SOE London Headquarters; a memorandum on the deployment of Welfreighters (customised marine craft) in East Asia; brief communiques relating to Operation HORNBILL (to use Chinese junks and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ motorised submersible canoes to sabotage Japanese operations in South East Asia); instructions and memoranda on the supply of SOE personnel and specialised naval equipment to Australia; papers relating to Dutch personnel operating within the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD, used as a cover name for Special Operations Australia, SOA); notes on SOE naval requirements in East Asia and South East Asia.

Correspondence, memoranda, and reports relating to a visit to South Africa by Taylor (‘AD’), including: letter from ‘WS’ [Lt Col A W Smith], Cape Town, relating to concerns over the security and possible future of the SOE Mission in South Africa; correspondence and memoranda relating to co-operation with SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) in West Africa and the problematic behaviour of ‘DZ’ [Lt Col J S E Todd]; letters from ‘AD 4’ [Col Bickham Aldred Cowan Sweet-Escott], London, relating to recent events in London, North Africa, West Africa and the Middle East, and the Arab News Agency (ANA); correspondence concerning negotiations with SIS about SOE/SIS co-operation in southern Africa; correspondence on the deployment of an operative with expert knowledge of Hungary, named ‘Hindle’, in Cairo; reports and correspondence relating to Taylor's negotiations with FM Jan Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa, on the development of the SOE East Africa Mission based in South Africa. Also a list of the names, code names and locations of present and former personnel of the SOE East Africa Mission, notes by Taylor on SOE hierarchy and organisation, and a report by ‘DFA’ to ‘D/Fin’, Chief Financial Officer, SOE [Wing Cdr John Venner], on the accounts of the SOE offices in Tehran and Baghdad.

File of material relating to the London Conference on Yugoslavia, 26-28 August 1992, including: addresses to the conference; press releases; letters and background documents. Includes addresses to the conference by: Rt Hon Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington (Lord Carrington), European Community peace envoy; Dr Klaus Kinkel, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Germany (Language: German with English translation); Hekmet Cetin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Turkey; András Ágoston, President, Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Vojvodina; Alfred Serreqi, Albanian Minister of Foreign Affairs; Kiro Gligorov, President of the Republic of Macedonia; Milan Panic, Prime Minister of Yugoslavia; Kiro Gligorov, President of the Republic of Macedonia; Josef Moravcik, Chairman in Office of the CSCE Council of Ministers; Hon Barbara McDougall, Secretary of State for External Affairs, Canada; Dr Alois Mock, Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria; Willy Claes, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Belgium; Uffe Ellemann-Jenson, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Denmark; Roland Dumas, French Foreign Minister (Language: French); H van den Broek, The Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs;Boutros Boutros-Ghali, UN Secretary General (Language: French). Press releases from the following: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania on compliance with the sanctions against Yugoslavia decided by the Security Council Resolutions, 22 Aug 1992; the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 27 Aug 1992 relating to 'Panic proposal for UN Observers on Yugoslav/Bosnian Border endorsed by Milosevic and Izetbegovic', and 'Major and Hurd praise Panic principles for peace'; statement by US Acting Secretary of State, Lawrence Eagleburger following the London Conference, 27 Aug 1992; and transcript of press conference given by John Major, British Prime Minister, Cyrus Vance, Boutros Boutros Ghali and Douglas Hurd, 27 Aug 1992; joint statement by the Index on Censorship and Faith Asylum Refuge, 26 Aug 1992; statement from the spokesman for the UN Secretary General [1992]; and statements from Bosnia-Herzegovina Information Centre [1992]. Letters include: Milan Panic, President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to Li Diaoyu, President of the UN Security Council, 17 Aug 1992; Joseph J DioGuardi, US Member of Congress to Douglas Hurd, British Foreign Minister, 21 Aug 1992; Members of the Parliament of the Republic of Kosova to the London Conference on Yugoslavia 26 Aug 1992; Background material includes: bound copy of European Community Conference on Yugoslavia. Background documents pack; 'Serbia and Montenegro', paper by the Co-Chairman; draft statement on Serbia and Montenegro, 27 Aug 1992; abstract to articles 'The opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee, A second breath for the self-determination of peoples' Alain Pellet, European Journal of International Law, Firenze, Vol 3 No 1 1992, and 'Faillite: le sort des crianciers', Jean-Reni Edighoffer, Chroniques d'actualité de la deseis, Paris T22, No 10, 15 Oct 1985; copy of speech of President Jacques Delors at the Special Session of European Parliament Committees on the Former Yugoslavia, Brussels, 10 Aug 1992; copy of article 'Development in Eastern and Central Europe: a new challenge for the community' [1992]; copy of article 'The Serbian policy of genocide against the Albanians in war and peace', Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms [1992].