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Chief of Imperial General Staff semi-official file 6m: including letter to Brooke from FM Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, Commander-in-Chief, 21 Army Group, 10 Sep 1944, expressing his concern at the lack of progress in operations in North West Europe and the poor system of command of Allied forces; telegrams from Montgomery to Brooke, 12-28 Sep 1944, reporting on the progress of operations in North West Europe, Sep 1944, notably the Battle of Arnhem, 17-26 Sep 1944; correspondence between Montgomery and US Gen Dwight David Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, Western Europe, 4-20 Sep 1944, on plans for the invasion of Germany.

Reports, telegrams and memoranda chiefly relating to a visit by Taylor (code name ‘AD’) to Turkey as Director of Overseas Groups and Missions, SOE, December 1942, and preparations for a visit to South Africa, January 1943. File includes: a directive summarising the purpose and organisation of SOE activities in East Africa; a report on SOE organisations in South and East Africa by ‘DZ 4’ [Lt Col R L Broad] two memoranda by ‘AD/U’ [William Johnston ‘Tony’ Keswick] on SOE personnel in the Durban Mission; letters from ‘WS’ [Lt Col A W Smith], relating to the command of the Durban Mission and the development of special operations in Portuguese East Africa, including possible SOE anti-submarine activities; reports by Taylor, with related correspondence, concerning his visit to the SOE office, Turkey, including SOE operations in Turkey, the morale of SOE personnel, relations with the SOE Cairo office, negotiations with the Turkish government over the sale of chromite (used in the production of chrome) to Germany, the Goeland Company (a fictitious company created by the British government to reduce German access to Danube shipping), potential demolition targets in Turkey in the event of Axis occupation, and possible future actions of the Turkish government; letters by Taylor relating to SOE operations in Hungary, the Hungary Section in London, the deployment of an operative with expert knowledge of Hungary, named ‘Hindle’, and negotiations with OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the US counterpart to SOE) over possible co-operation in the Middle East.

Telegrams to Taylor (‘AD’) from SOE Headquarters, London, on topics including: the situation in southern Africa; surveillance of Axis activities in Portuguese East Africa (PEA); a meeting between the British Ambassador to Lisbon and the Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio de Oliveira Salazar concerning recent attacks on Allied shipping off the coast of Portuguese East Africa; a meeting with FM Jan Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa, concerning SOE activities in the region; relations between SOE and SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) in southern Africa; Taylor’s proposals for future operations in southern Africa. See also 1/3/2 for Taylor’s replies.

Telegrams from Taylor (‘AD’) to SOE Headquarters, London, on topics including: the situation in southern Africa; the morale of individual SOE agents; reports on meetings with FM Jan Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa; the potential for expansion of SOE activity in southern Africa; difficult relations between SOE and SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) in southern Africa; the transfer of responsibility for SOE work in Angola to the South African Mission. See also 1/3/1 for telegrams from SOE Headquarters, London.

Telegrams between Taylor (‘AD’) and personnel of the SOE West Africa Mission, Lagos, Nigeria, on topics including: the transfer of administrative personnel and wireless equipment from the West Africa Mission to the South Africa Mission; possible involvement of the West Africa Mission in the internal affairs of French West Africa; relations between SOE and SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) in western Africa; intelligence agents in Angola working with both the West Africa Mission and the South Africa mission.

Telegrams between SOE personnel in Durban and Cape Town, South Africa, on topics including the possibility of deploying personnel from French Indochina (FIC, now Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) presently serving in South Africa and Madagascar on future SOE operations in French Indochina.

Telegrams between Taylor (‘AD’), South Africa, and SOE personnel in Cairo, Egypt, on topics including: the deployment of an operative with expert knowledge of Hungary, named ‘Hindle’; the appointment of a new head, ‘WS’ [Lt Col A W Smith] taking over South Africa Mission from ‘DZ 4’ [Lt Col R L Broad]; air resources for the South Africa Mission; staff transfers and personnel recruitment.

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, 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).

Briefing notes on SOE operations in Yugoslavia, Greece and Albania, including locations, code names, personnel, leadership, and signals equipment.

Correspondence and memoranda relating to SOE policy and activities in East and South East Asia (SEA) and elsewhere, including: details of the range, capabilities and potential modifications of Liberator heavy bombers and other aircraft for SOE India; notes on the need for a military Chief of Staff to ‘BB 100’ [Colin Mackenzie], Commander of the SOE India Mission; routine documents concerning SOE administration, communications, personnel, and security issues; correspondence relating to the SOE West Africa Mission; a letter from ‘CD’, head of SOE, on SOE co-operation with Soviet NKVD personnel and Operation Pickaxe missions to infiltrate Soviet agents into occupied Europe; report on SOE India's organisation, actions, and integration with SEAC (South East Asian Command); letter to ‘BB 100’, with related code key, concerning a scheme to convey information from ‘G’ [William Stephenson], Head of British Security Co-Ordination (BSC), USA, to Lord Mountbatten, SACSEA (Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia); a directive to Capt G A Garnons-Williams as co-ordinator of SIS, OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the US counterpart to SOE), SOE and the PW (Political Warfare) Section in SEAC (South East Asia Command).

Correspondence and memoranda relating chiefly to SOE policy and activities in East and South East Asia (SEA) and elsewhere, including: draft instructions on working with Soviet NKVD personnel; notes on a meeting with Sir Reginald Dorman Smith, Governor of Burma, on negative attitudes towards the personnel of the Burma administration; notes on Thai resistance personnel (‘Free Siamese’) working with Allied intelligence and special operations groups in India and in Chunking (Chongqing), China; letters relating to the provision of Liberator heavy bombers to SOE India; correspondence relating to Wing Cdr C C Bell's visit to SOE London Headquarters and SOE co-operation with the Far Eastern Liaison Office (‘FELO’, a propaganda and field intelligence unit in the South West Pacific); a proposal by F W Kendall for infiltration into the Hong Kong area for subversive activities.

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.

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.

Memoranda and related papers concerning SOE policy, organisation, protocols, equipment, personnel and operations in East Asia and South East Asia (‘SEA’) and elsewhere. File includes; a telegram from Taylor (‘AD’) on the work of the [secretly British-run] radio station at Sharq-El-Adna, broadcasting pro-Allied propaganda in Arabic; memoranda on the establishment of a China Mission; memorandum by Taylor on a recent meeting with actor/US naval officer Douglas Fairbanks Jr concerning Fairbanks’ proposals for special forces units [‘Beach Jumpers’] to create diversionary deceptive beach landings for Allied amphibious assaults; telegram on the need for personnel able to undertake covert political activity in Iraq; telegram on training and support for local partisans in Yugoslavia; memoranda on equipment required for operations in East Asia, South Asia and Australia; memorandum on British relations with Siam (Thailand); memorandum on a proposed restructuring for SOE Asia and SOE Middle East; memoranda by Taylor on the impact of decisions made at the recent Allied conference at Cairo (codenamed Sextant) upon SOE operations in South East Asia and in China; brief report on Operation GUSTAVUS, to establish an intelligence network in Malaya and Singapore.

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.

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 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).

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.

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.