Showing 65 results

War Cabinet Minutes (HMSO), 1939-1945 is a themed microfiche collection containing copies of the minutes of the War Cabinet Meetings, Sep 1939-Jul 1945, and Cabinet Conclusions and Confidential Annexes, 1941-1945. Meeting minutes include British plans to create discord amongst the German High Command, Nov 1939; criticism of the military campaign in Norway, May 1940; First Lord of the Admiralty Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill's criticism of the Allied propaganda campaign in France, May 1940; speculation on the ability of the German population to sustain prolonged war, May 1940; reaction to the Allied withdrawals in France and Belgium, May 1940; the debate over the possible compromise peace with Germany, 26-28 May 1940; the decision to intern all enemy aliens in the United Kingdom; May 1940; Churchill's reaction to American isolationism, May 1940; the seizing of French warships in British and Egyptian harbours and the sinking of French warships at Mers-el-Kebir, Egypt, 23 Jun 1940; straining Anglo-French relations, Jul 1940; the Anglo-American 'destroyers for bases' agreement, Aug 1940; Churchill's attempt to take to court the Sunday Pictorial and the Daily Mirror over the newspapers' alleged anti-Government editorials, Oct 1940; preparations for the possible German invasion of the Britain, 1940; civil defence precautions in Britain, 1940; the British intervention in Greece, 1941; speculation on Soviet military collapses following the invasion of the Soviet Union by German armed forces, Jun 1941; Churchill's appeals to US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for American intervention in the war, 1941; reaction over the fall of Singapore and Malaya to Japanese armed forces, Feb 1942; Anglo-American preparations for the invasion of North Africa, 1942; naval and air operations against France, 1943; the 'Beveridge Report' on social security in Britain, 1943; reports on Allied conferences at Casablanca, Jan 1943, and Washington, May 1943; the Allied decision to invade France made at the QUADRANT Conference, Quebec, Canada, Aug 1943; the planning and conduct of Operation OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of France, Jun 1944; the effect of the bombardment of London by German V1 pilotless aircraft and possible RAF reprisals against German civilian targets, Jun 1944; post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation in Europe, Jul 1944; plans for the Allied occupation of Germany and Austria, Nov 1944; British intervention in Greece in order to prevent a Communist take-over of the peninsula, Nov 1944; the establishment of the United Nations, 1945; arrangements for celebrating the end of the war in Europe, May 1945; the British General Election, Jul 1945.

Papers, 1942-1945, 1953 relating to Woodhouse's service with the Special Operations Executive (SOE), as Second in Command, and later Commander, of the British (later Allied) Military Mission to the Greek guerrillas in German occupied Greece(BMM/AMM) and the Iranian military coup, 1953. Includes correspondence between BMM and Middle East Command in Cairo comprising telegrams, operation orders, notes, minutes, reports and memoranda, Sep 1942-Jan 1945; other papers relating to BMM/AMM including Woodhouse's diaries with typescript transcript; nominal roll of Force 133 personnel, Aug 1944, articles and reports; papers on New Zealanders in BMM/AMM; maps; post-war papers on Greece including BBC Monitoring Service records, 1948-1952; publications, lectures, articles and broadcasts on Greece and the BMM/AMM by Woodhouse and others including Andreas Tzimas, EAM Central Committee member during Greek occupation and US Maj Gerald (Jerry) K Wines, Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and correspondence related to research on BMM/AMM; papers concerning funerals, memorials and decorations relating to the BMM/AMM; artefacts from the BMM/AMM. Papers on the SIS/CIA plot to overthrow Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mussadeq (Operations BOOT and AJAX), 1953. Draft translation of Panagiōtēs Kanellopoulos's History of the European Spirit from Greek to English and volumes of History of the European Spirit in the original Greek.

The television documentary _Woolly Al walks the kitty back _examines the international diplomatic efforts to prevent armed conflict between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands, 1982, focussing in particular on the shuttle diplomacy of Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr, US Secretary of State, 1981-1982. The collection includes video recordings and transcripts of interviews conducted in the making of the documentary, as well as news footage and sound recordings relating to the conflict.

Interviews were conducted with eyewitnesses from the Argentine, Britain and United State of America, and included politicians, diplomats and military personnel involved in the development of the British and American response, both diplomatic and military, to the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), 2 April 1982.

Interviewees include Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr, US Secretary of State, 1981-1982; James M Rentschler, US Special Advisor to US President Ronald Wilson Reagan, and National Security Council Western European Department, 1982; Dr Jeane Duane Jordan Kirkpatrick, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1981-1985; Caspar Willard Weinberger, US Secretary of Defense, 1981-1987; Gen Vernon Anthony Walters, US Ambassador-at-large, 1981-1985; Thomas Enders, Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs, US State Department, 1982; Brig Gen Basilio Lami-Dozo, Commander-in-Chief, Argentine Air Force, and member of the ruling Military Junta, 1982; Ambassador Gustavo Figueroa, First Secretary, Argentine Foreign Ministry, 1982; R Adm Roberto Moya, Chief of the Argentine Military Household, and Naval member of the Malvinas Working Group, 1982; Dr Nicanor Costa Méndez, Argentine Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1982; Wenceslao Bunge, Argentine industrialist and unofficial diplomatic representative of the Argentine Air Force, 1982; Estaban Takacs, Argentine Ambassador to the US, 1982; Sir (John) Nicholas Henderson, British Ambassador the US, 1979-1982; Rt Hon Sir John William Frederic Nott, Secretary of State for Defence, 1981-1983; Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym of Sandy, Bedfordshire (Lord Pym), Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 1982-1983; Rt Hon Cecil Edward Parkinson, Paymaster General and Chairman of the Conservative Party, 1981-1983, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1982-1983; AF Terence Thornton Lewin, Baron Lewin of Greenwich in Greater London, Chief of the Defence Staff, 1979-1982; and Sir Robin (William) Renwick, Head of Chancery, British Embassy, Washington DC, US, 1981-1984.

Publications, 1939-1956 relating to World War Two, comprising: 'Final report by the Rt Hon Sir Neville Henderson, GCMG, on the circumstances leading to the termination of his mission to Berlin, September 20 1939' (HMSO, 1939); 'The outbreak of war, 22 August-3 September 1939' (Ministry of Information, 1939); 'Documents concerning German-Polish relations and the outbreak of hostilities between Great Britain and Germany on September 3, 1939' (HMSO, 1939); 'The battle of Egypt' (Ministry of Information, 1943); 'The Army at war: Tunisia' (Ministry of Information, 1944); 'Nations at war' (Ministry of Information, 1945); 'German, Italian and Japanese U-Boat casualties during the war' (HMSO, 1946); 'Report by the Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean to the Combined Chiefs of Staff on the operations in Southern France, August 1944' (HMSO, 1946); 'Strength and casualties of the Armed Forces and Auxiliary Services of the United Kingdom, 1939-1945' (HMSO, 1946); 'Ships of the Royal Navy statement of losses during the Second World War' (HMSO, 1947); 'British merchant vessels lost or damaged by enemy action during Second World War' (HMSO, 1947); 'Report by the Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean to the Combined Chiefs of Staff on the Italian Campaign: Part 2, 10 May 1944 to 12 August 1944: Part 3, 13 August 1944 to 12 December 1944' (HMSO, 1948); 'The Second World War, 1939-1945: a list of British naval anniversaries' (produced by Department of Naval Information [1949]); 'Report to the combined chiefs of staff by the Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, 1943-1945' (HMSO, 1951); 'The Italian campaign, 12 December 1944 to 2 May 1945: a report to the Combined Chiefs of Staff by the Supreme Commander Mediterranean Field Marshal The Viscount Alexander of Tunis' (HMSO, 1951); and 'The official names of the battles, actions and engagements fought by the Land Forces of the Commonwealth during the Second World War, 1939-1945' (HMSO, 1956).