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Transcripts of 45 interviews recorded for The Berlin Airlift , a television documentary produced by 3BM Television for Channel 4's Secret History series and broadcast on 29 June 1998. Those interviewed include individuals and or relatives of individuals connected with the airlift operation which took place in response to the Berlin blockade, 24 June 1948 - October 1949, notably members of the armed forces of UK and USA including the RAF, RN and WAAF, a representative of the Foreign Office, journalists and authors, German interpreters, German civilians and children, members of Soviet administration and relatives of servicemen. Attention is given to direct roles and experience of the airlift but also seeks views of its historical significance to them personally and to the wider world. Topics covered in the interviews relate to causes of the blockade, Stalin's aims for Germany after 1945, the potential threat of war in 1948, British and US responses to the blockade, Soviet intelligence gathering and espionage in the UK Foreign Office, attitudes of British servicemen to American servicemen in Germany and vice versa, German experience of the Soviet conquest of Berlin in 1945 and ensuing occupation, living conditions at the air bases in West Germany and in Berlin, food and fuel shortages, rationing, operation of the black market, prostitution, relations between conquered and occupying forces, 'no fraternisation' rule, the logistics of the airlift operation - aircraft maintenance, loading and unloading of supplies, Soviet harassment, experience of pilots and crew, incidents such as air crashes, evacuation of Berliners including children, and Operation Little Vittles. The role of significant individuals such as Ernest Bevin (1884-1951), British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at the time, and Gen. Lucius D. Clay (1897-1978), Military Governor of Germany 1947 - 1949, are also discussed. Notable participants include Sir Frank Kenyon Roberts (1907-1998) diplomat and Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs during 1948 - 1949, Mrs Jessamy Waite, widow of Air Cdre Reginald Newnham Waite (1901-1975), who devised and organised the airlift operation, and Col Gail S Halverson who became known as the 'Candy Bomber' for his drops of packages of candy attached to miniature parachutes to the children of Berlin. Transcripts include questions and answers, and the tape counter numbering has been logged. The interviewer is not identified. Where interviews were translated this has been noted. Some names, places or phrases have been guessed at, or spelled phonetically by the transcriber. No information is given about the date or identity of the transcriber.

Account of his work as Scientific Adviser, Combined Operations, in relation to D-Day, covering the period 5-8 June 1944, France.

Papers relating to early naval career, 1872-1907 including midshipman's log books; papers relating to service as Director of Naval Intelligence, 1909-1912, Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, 1911-1918, commander of Royal Naval War College, Portsmouth, 1913-1914, commander of 3 Battle Fleet and Channel Fleet, 1914-1915 and Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, 1916-1918; correspondence with Adm Sir Alexander Duff, 1917-1918, AF Lord Fisher, 1909-1918 and AF Lord Jellicoe, 1913-1918; personal papers and correspondence, 1865-1932; miscellaneous papers, 1901-1911; correspondence between the family and researchers using the papers, 1935-1979.

Papers relating to Bethell's life and career, [1898]-1927, and to his death in action, near Epehy, France, 21 Sep 1918, including letters and telegrams of condolence to Bethell's parents, notably from HM King George V, Brig Gen Charles Robert Graham Mayne, commanding 19 Infantry Bde, and Brevet Lt Col Percy Charles Esdaile, Commanding Officer, 1 Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regt), 1918; photograph of Bethell's grave, Epehy Wood Farm Cemetery, France [1920]; seven photographs of Bethell [1898-1918]; Capt Bethell's Record of Services book, 1911, and the official scroll, sent to the next of kin of servicemen killed in action [1919]; letters from the War Office, the Directorate of Graves Registration and Enquiries, and the Imperial War Graves Commission relating to Capt Bethell's death, gravestone and location of cemetery and grave, 1918-1927; letter to Adm Hon Sir Alexander Edward Bethell from Maj George Nowers Dyer, Commanding Officer, Depot, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regt), Guildford, Surrey, relating to the collection of photographs of the Regiment's officers killed in World War One, for inclusion in the Regimental Museum, Nov 1923.

Records of the Belgrave Hospital for Children, 1902-1948, comprising minutes of the medical sub-committee, 1902-1921 (1 volume); case notes, 1904-1948 (216 volumes); admissions register, 1929-1931, including an index (1 volume). Two bound volumes of out-letters, 1874-1875, minutes of a meeting of the hospital’s General Council, 1901, and printed items including fundraising leaflets, 1899-1902, a pharmacopoeia, 1937, and an annual report, 1946.

The collection comprises three registers of student nurses at Belgrave Hospital for Children, including details of name and address of nurse, rank, location of previous training, age, date of entering, date of leaving, description of work undertaken, reasons for leaving, and comments on suitability of candidate, 1903-1950.

Copy of single letter from Biddulph to a Mr Fanshawe, 13 Jun 1904, commenting on recent administrative changes at the War Office, in comparison with reforms to the British Army proposed by Edward Cardwell, Viscount Cardwell, Secretary of State for War, 1868-1874.

Printed 'Report of the Board of Enquiry appointed to enquire into the circumstances in which the German Battle Cruisers (SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU) and Prinz Eugen proceeded from Brest to Germany on 12th February, 1942, and on the operations undertaken to prevent this movement', Mar 1942, relating to Operation CERBERUS or the 'Channel dash', with typescript covering letter from Binney to AF Sir (Alfred) Dudley (Pickman Rogers) Pound, Mar 1942.

Papers relating to his military career, 1937-1972, principally comprising recruitment poster for North Staffordshire Regt, 1937; unsigned account of operations of 2 Bn North Staffs Regt, France, 12 May-1 Jun 1940, written in [1940]; unsigned account of operations of 6 Bn North Staffordshire Regt, France, 1 Jul-31 Aug 1944, written in [1944]; The Battle of Flanders by Kenneth Adam (Hutchinson and Co, London, 1940); papers relating to his service with North Staffordshire Regt in Trieste, 1951-1953, principally comprising press cuttings concerning protests against the Allied Military Government in Trieste, 1953, and official photographs of visit by Adm Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, [1952-1953]; copies of letters written to his family during his service in Korea, 1953-1954; press cuttings relating to evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, 1940. Papers relating to Bird's grandfather Gen James Lewis Bird, 1857- 1938, notably including copy of a letter from Gen James Lewis Bird to his sister Pamela, 2 Jun 1857, describing the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny at Meerut, India, May-Jun 1857.

Look back with pleasure', typescript memoirs covering his life and career, 1897-1965, notably his service in Mesopotamia and Palestine, 1915-1918, India, 1919-1925 and 1957-1962, Africa, 1939-1944, Germany, 1945-1950, and Cyprus, 1964-1965, written in 1971.

Texts of lectures and related letters on military government in Tripolitania, Eritrea and Ethiopia, given at the School of Military Government, University of Virginia, 1943; papers relating to the 50th Annual and 2nd War Conference, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Detroit, 9-11 Aug 1943, including lecture notes on military government in Tripolitania; lecture notes dated 1943 relating to pre-World War Two administration in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Copy out-letter book kept by Blackley as Area Intelligence Officer, 5 Indian Division, Ethiopia, 1941.

Two albums of black and white photographs relating to service in Iraq with No 1 Armoured Car Company, 1936, including images of sailing aboard the HMS DORSETSHIRE, Mar 1936; Port Said and the Suez Canal, Egypt, Apr 1936; No 1 Armoured Car Company on deployment in the desert near Salman Pak, Iraq; reconnaissance trip to Kurdistan, Aug 1936; landscapes and snapshots of local life, Iraq; the streets of Baghdad, Iraq; armoured vehicles and aeroplanes at headquarters; biplanes in flight; snapshots of Blackton and colleagues at headquarters and at an athletics event; accommodation and recreation facilities at headquarters. Also loose photographs of the battleship HMS RODNEY and of seaplanes being tested, including the Saro Windhover, [1933].

Copies of papers relating to her work as an WRNS administrator at Bletchley Park Decoding Centre, notably two drafts of a text on WRNS at Bletchley Park, [1945], an account of the employment of WRNS at Bletchley Park and outstations, [1945]; copy photograph of Blagrove and her assistant Doreen Scott, [1944], and photocopies of photographs of buildings and WRNS personnel at Walton Hall, Wavenden, Gayhurst and Eastcote, 1944-1945; copies of papers relating to a reunion of ex-HMS PEMBROKE V WRNS personnel, 1978, notably a text of Blagrove's speech on HMS PEMBROKE V and an attendance list; copy of obituary from The Wren, Jun 1979.

Copies of papers relating to his service in the Boer War, 1899-1901, notably two letters from E A Wiggin, giving an account of operations around Greylingstad, July 1900, sketches and notes on scenes of action, [1900], including Spion Kop; notes by way of transcript of statements of witnesses, including Kriegler himself, in the trial of S G Kriegler, a Boer spy, [1899-1901], war news bulletins published by the Boers, 1899-1900, two letters to Col Blagrove from Lt C E Jenkins, a prisoner in Piet Retief Jail, 1900, and printed minutes of Burgher Peace Committee meeting, 20 Dec 1900.

Copies of papers relating to his service in France, 1917, principally comprising orders and summaries of operations for Royal Field Artillery, 12 Div, 1917, orders, maps and timetables relating to trench mortar batteries on the Somme front, Jul-Sep 1917, and General Staff publications on wiring, signalling, the employment of guns and trench mortars captured from the enemy, and 2 Army operations, 1917; copies of correspondence, 1915-1917, 1969-1970, mainly letters written by Blagrove from the Somme front to his father, Col Henry John Blagrove, 1916-1917.

Detailed memoir, 'I'd live it again', covering his life and military career, 1898-1945, notably his service in France, 1918, Egypt, 1919-1921 and 1939-1941 and East Africa, 1941-1942, written in 1947 and privately published in pamphlet form.

Copies of two reports on actions of 9 Armoured Bde Group during the second Battle of El Alamein, Egypt, Oct-Nov 1942.