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Papers of Major General Sir Frederick Barton Maurice, relating to his letter to the press concerning the government's statements about the strength of the British Army, May 1918, dated 1917-1971, principally comprising Maurice's diary, Jan-May 1918; printed and typescript texts by Maurice, 1918-1919, 1922, notably including 'The story of the crisis of May 1918', dated 1918; correspondence with family and colleagues, 1918-1922, 1925, 1934, 1936; newspaper cuttings, 1918, 1936, 1939; copies of Parliamentary and War Cabinet papers, 1918; correspondence relating to The Maurice Case (Leo Cooper, London, 1972) by Nancy Maurice (Nancy Spears, wife of Maj Gen Sir Edward (Louis) Spears, 1st Bt), 1967-1971. Papers collected by Maurice during the writing of The life of General Lord Rawlinson of Trent (Cassell and Co, London, 1928) and Haldane (Faber and Faber, London, 1937, 1939), comprising letters received by Rt Hon Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, 1894, 1898, 1902, 1915-1916, 1919, 1928; letters received by Henry Seymour Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson of Trent, 1888, 1914-1916, 1918, 1921, notably including letters from Maj Gen Henry Hughes Wilson and Gen Sir Alexander John Godley concerning the Battle of the Aisne, Sep 1914 and operations at Gallipoli, 1915.

Other papers relating to his life and career, 1888-1951, dated 1888-1971, principally comprising letters to his wife describing his service in South Africa, 1899-1900, and as General Staff Officer, 3 Div, France, 1914-1915, and Director of Military Operations, Imperial General Staff, 1915; correspondence, 1915-1919, relating to his service as Director of Military Operations, 1915-1918, notably including letters from Maj Gen Archibald Armar Montgomery-Massingberd, Maj Gen John Humphrey Davidson, Lt Gen Sir George (Norton) Cory, Lt Gen Sir William Raine Marshall, Maj Gen Sir Arthur Lynden Lynden-Bell concerning operations on the Western Front, 1916-1917, and in the Balkans, 1916-1917, Mesopotamia, 1917-1918, and Palestine, 1917; correspondence with Gen Sir Charles Harington Harington, [1923], 1925, 1932, 1934; printed and typescript articles, lectures and other writings, 1913-1943, notably including text of 'On the uses of the study of war', his inaugural lecture as Professor of Military Studies, London University, 1927, text of Maurice's Lee Knowles lecture 'Public opinion in war', and articles on arms limitation, 1921, 1926, the Graeco-Turkish War, 1922, the Corfu Incident, [1923], and the possibility of war between the USA and Japan, 1925; newspaper cuttings, 1912-1919, 1924-1927, 1938, 1945, 1951, principally comprising reviews of his books. Family papers, [1806-1812], principally comprising papers relating to Maurice's grandfather, Frederick Denison Maurice, [1833-1869], 1927; papers relating to his wife's family, [1806-1812], 1874-1879, 1896, 1909-[1915], 1921, notably including personal letters written by her great-grandfather, Spencer Perceval, [1806-1812], and an account of a day during the Paris Commune, written in [1871] by [Norman Spencer].

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.