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WALL, Lt Col Richard Gittins (1906-1995)

  • WALL
  • Collection
  • [1939-1945]

Undated typescript account of his military service, 1940-1944, principally comprising a diary of his work as Landing Officer, 3 Canadian Div, Normandy, on and around D-Day, 5 Jun-5 Sep 1944.

Wall, Richard Gittins, 1906-1995, Lieutenant Colonel

TURNER CAIN, Maj Gen George Robert (1912-1996)

  • TURNER CAIN
  • Collection
  • 1944-1946

Typescript memoir, written in 1992, as Commanding Officer, 1 Bn, Herefordshire Regt, 11 Armoured Div, 21 Army Group, North West Europe, 1944-1945, entitled '1st Bn The Herefordshire Regiment route and battles from the Normandy bridgehead to the R Elbe in Germany, June 1944 to April 1945, including route maps and CO's pocket maps for specific incidents', with seven printed maps of France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, annotated with routes taken and unit dispositions. Papers relating to Turner Cain's tenure as Chief Instructor, Tactical Wing, School of Infantry, British Army of the Rhine, Sennelager, Germany, 1946-1947, including typescript training notes on exercises, tactics of armoured forces and river crossing techniques, with manuscript explanatory notes written by Turner Cain in 1992.

Cain, George Robert Turner, 1912-1996, Major General

PYMAN, Gen Sir Harold English (1908-1971)

  • PYMAN
  • Collection
  • 1860-1901

The collection covers Pyman's career from 1937 until 1963 when he suffered a severe stroke which forced his retirement in 1964. The earliest papers date from Pyman's work with the Royal Tank Cadre in converting the 17/21 Lancers from a cavalry to an armoured regiment. There are also papers from Pyman's period as an instructor at the Staff College in Quetta, India, 1939-1941. Pyman was involved in the World War Two campaigns by the 8 Army in the Western Desert, in 1941 as General Staff Officer with 7 Armoured Div, 30 Corps and in 1942-1943 as Commander of the 3 Royal Tank Regiment, 10 Armoured Div, 30 Corps. The papers consist mostly of Pyman's assessments of lessons learned from the ongoing campaigns particularly with regard to tanks and armoured units. In 1944-1945 Pyman was Brigidier General Staff, 30 Corps, 2 Army in the Normandy landings and the invasion of Northern Europe, with particular responsibility for organisation and planning of the Rhine crossing and advance to the Baltic. This is reflected in the papers which largely consist of planning studies and reports for the operations involved, this section also contains maps used in the campaign. Pyman's next appointment was as Chief of General Staff, Allied Land Forces, South East Asia, 1945-1946 which is documented by a series of diaries which reflect the tasks faced by Pyman in this command including dealing with the build up of tension between newly liberated former colonies keen to assert their right for independence and the former colonial powers such as France and Netherlands. Pyman spent 1946-1949 as Chief of Staff, Middle East Land Forces and kept monthly diaries which form the bulk of this section of the collection. The diary entries and additional papers reflect the debate over policy in the Middle East in the British Government and Military command, they include detail on the British withdrawal from Greece, the problem of illegal Jewish immigrants and their internment in Cyprus, the end of the British mandate in Palestine and the the effect of this on relations between Britain with Egypt and the other Arab states and the subsequent Arab Israeli conflict. This section of the collection also contains correspondence between Pyman and Maj Gen Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey on personal matters and on the Middle East. There are also papers from Pyman's work at the Ministry of Supply as Director General of Fighting Vehicles, 1951-1953, Director of Weapons Development, War Office, 1955-1956 mostly brief diary entries and lecture texts. Pyman was also General Officer Commanding, British Army on the Rhine, 1953-1955 and General Officer Commanding, 1 British Corps, 1956-1958 and the papers relating to these commands consist mostly of lectures, reports and directives reflecting his interest in armoured divisions and training. There are some papers, mostly personal correspondence and press cuttings, from Pyman's final command as Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Northern Europe in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The collection also contains correspondence relating to Pyman's role as Colonel Commandant of the Royal Tank Regiment and The Royal Armoured Corps and a series of letters covering the reorganisation of the Berks and Westminster Dragoons, of which he was Honorary Colonel. The rest of the collection consists of diaries, correspondence, speeches, writings including the draft copy and papers relating to his autobiography, some preparatory work on a history of the 2 Army and reference works. The collection also includes the Boer War diaries and other papers of Col James Redmond Patrick Gordon who commanded the 1 Cavalry Bde of the South African Field Force 1900-1901 which were given to Pyman by a friend.

Pyman, Harold English ('Pete'), 1908-1971, Knight, General

MULLENEUX, Cdr Hugh Headworth Hubback (1911-1990)

  • MULLENEUX
  • Collection
  • 1939-1946

Copies of detailed narrative diaries and transcripts of Naval signal messages on RN operations, 1939-1945, including service at RN Gunnery School, Chatham, Kent, 1939, on HMS JERVIS in the North Sea, 1940, with the Mediterranean Fleet, 1940-1941, with Combined Operations Command, Dieppe and Normandy, 1942-1944, and the British Pacific Fleet, 1945-1946. Also, typescript copies of operational orders for Operation NEPTUNE, Normandy, 1944.

Mulleneux, Hugh Headworth Hubback, 1911-1990, Commander RN

MILLS-ROBERTS, Brig Derek (1908-1980)

  • MILLS-ROBERTS
  • Collection
  • [1942-1981]

Papers relating to his service with the Commandos, 1942-1945, dated [1942-1981]comprising:

papers on service with No.4 Commando, May-Dec 1942, principally on the Dieppe Raid, Aug 1942, including report by Mills-Roberts on training exercise on the Isle of Arran, 25-26 Jun 1942; reports on Orange Beach landing; report on destruction of 6 inch gun battery at Varangeville; detailed report 'Lessons Learned on Combined Operations'; and letters of congratulation on award of MC;

papers on service with No.6 Commando, Apr-May 1943, North Africa, including letters from General Dwight D Eisenhower and Maj-Gen Robert Laycock and letters of congratulation on award of DSO;

papers on service with 1st Special Service (Commando) Bde, Jun 1944 - May 1945 including: account of part taken by No 1 Special Service Brigade in Operation OVERLORD, 6 Jun - 26 Aug 1944; narrative by Mills Roberts on action from 16-21 Aug 1944; report of No 1 Special Service Bde operations around Dozule and L'Epine, 19-21 Aug 1944; report of operations by 1st Commando Bde east of the River Maas, 19 Jan - 1 Feb 1945; 'Five Rivers' - account of 1st Commando Bde in Germany, 1945, on the advance from the Meuse to the Baltic, crossing the Meuse, Rhine, Weser, Aller and Elbe; 'United We Stand' diary of L Cpl Cliff Morris, No 3 Troop, 6 Commando, detailed personal account of action from 6 Jun 1944 - 7 May 1945; papers relating to the arrest of FM Erhard Milch in 1945, dated 1946, 1969; maps of Ouistreham, St Aubin, Caen, Dozule;

papers on commando training, 1942-1950 including account of 6 Commando training by Mills-Roberts, 1943-1944;

manuscript of Clash by Night (William Kimber, London, 1956) and notes to Simon Christopher Joseph Fraser Lovat, 17th Lord Lovat, concerning Lovat's book March Past (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1978), dated 1977-1981;

photographs, 1942, 1944-1945, 1947, including German propaganda photographs of Dieppe Raid, 1942, and photographs relating to Commando service in World War Two, 1944-1945, dated 1944-1945, 1947, including Normandy, Jun 1944, and Germany, 1945.

Roberts, Derek Mills-, 1908-1980, Brigadier

LEAKEY, Maj Gen Arundell Rea (1915-1999)

  • LEAKEY
  • Collection
  • 1963

Papers relating to his life and career, 1915-1991, dated 1963, 1969 and [1991], principally comprising 'Nine lives, a soldier's story', a typescript memoir covering the period 1915-1991, including his service in North Africa and the Western Desert, 1939-1942 and 1943, the Middle East, 1942-1943 and 1954-1956, Normandy, 1944, and France, Belgium and Germany, 1945-1947, and hiswork as Director General of Fighting Vehicles, 1964-1966, and General Officer Commanding, Malta and Libya, 1967-1968, written in [1991].

Leakey, Arundell Rea, 1915-1999, Major General

LAMPEN, Lt Cdr Ambrose Maynard Dudley (1931-1978)

  • LAMPEN
  • Collection
  • [1978]

Photocopy of typescript draft of 'Naval reminiscences, 1941-1944' covering his service in the Mediterranean, 1941 and 1943, notably the Battle of Crete, May 1941, and in the Arctic Ocean, 1942-1943, and his role in the construction of the Mulberry harbours, Normandy, 1944, written in [1978].

Lampen, Ambrose Maynard Dudley, 1931-1978, Lieutenant Commander RN

HART DYKE, Brig Trevor (1905-1995)

  • HART DYKE
  • Collection
  • 1946

The peace divided', an account of his life and career, 1905-1948, notably his service in India with the Queen's Royal Regt, in Africa with King's African Rifles, and in UK, 1938-1940, 1941-1944, Gibraltar, 1940-1941, South East Asia, 1945, East Africa, 1946-1947 and Berlin, 1948, compiled in 1970 by Ben Lockwood, Hart Dyke's stepson, from notes left by Hart Dyke and printed in1995. 'Normandy to Arnhem, a story of the infantry', an account of his service with 4 Bn, (Hallamshire Bn), York and Lancaster Regt in the UK, 1943-1944, and North West Europe, 1944-1945, written using regimental war diaries in 1946 and originally printed in 1966, reprinted by 4 Bn, Yorkshire Volunteers in 1991.

Dyke, Trevor Hart, 1905-1995, Brigadier