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BERLIN AIRLIFT, THE: television documentary archive

  • BERLIN AIRLIFT
  • Collection
  • 1997 - 1998

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.

3BM Television

BERLIN CRISIS, THE: US Government papers

  • MFF12
  • Collection
  • 1953-1988

The collection presents an integrated record of US decision making during the 1958-1962 confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States over the situation of Berlin specifically, and Germany generally. The collection includes primarily records of Eisenhower's telephone conversations with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and Under Secretary of State Christian Archibald Herter and minutes of Eisenhower's discussions with Gen Andrew Jackson Goodpaster, Defense Liaison Officer and Staff Secretary to the President and, for the Kennedy administration, records mainly prepared by McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and Laurence J Legere, Assistant to the Military Representative of the President, 1961-1962 and Senior National Security Council Staff Member, 1962-1963. The collection also includes records of East-West negotiations over Berlin and Germany, including US-Soviet 'exploratory discussions', 1958-1962; material relating to Allied efforts to develop a co-ordinated negotiating position during the first months of 1959 and the subsequent protracted talks in Geneva, Switzerland, May-Aug 1959; material relating to LIVE OAK, the tripartite American-British-French Berlin military contingency planning group under the direction of Gen Lauris Norstad, Commander- in-Chief US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Apr 1959; papers relating to US and Soviet nuclear capabilities, 1959-1962; Berlin checkpoint crises, 1959-1961; a complete record of the summit meeting in Sep 1959 between Eisenhower and Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev at Camp David, Maryland, USA; papers relating to Western preparations for discussions on Berlin at the aborted summit of May 1960; papers relating to the 'Wall Crisis', including material relating to the refugee problem in the German Democratic Republic and US and Allied reactions to the construction of the Berlin Wall, Aug 1961; US and Soviet confrontations at US zone checkpoint, 'Checkpoint Charlie', Oct 1961; minutes of conversations between Soviet and US policy makers during the Kennedy administration, including a compete record of the talks between (David) Dean Rusk, US Secretary of State, and Andrei Andreevich Gromyko, Soviet Foreign Minister, Gromyko and Llewellyn E Thompson, US Ambassador to the Soviet Union, and Rusk and Anatoly Federovich Dobrynin, Soviet Ambassador to the US, 1962. It should be noted that papers of major Kennedy administration officials remain closed due to security processing delays at the John F Kennedy Library. Thus, files after Sep 1961 in the National Security Files remain largely sealed. Moreover, documents from files that have been reviewed continue to be withheld or heavily excised. Also, many of the Central Intelligence Agency and US Department of Defense files from 1961-1962 continue to be withheld or heavily excised.

BISHOP, Maj Gen Sir Alexander (1897-1984)

  • BISHOP
  • Collection
  • 1971

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.

Bishop, Sir William Henry Alexander, 1897-1984, Major General

BLAGROVE, Capt Peter (1889-1969)

  • BLAGROVE, P
  • Collection
  • 1915-1917

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.

Blagrove, Peter, 1889-1969, Captain

BLOUNT, Lt Col Hubert (1910-1979)

  • BLOUNT
  • Collection
  • 1942

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

Blount, Hubert, 1910-1979, Lieutenant Colonel

BONHAM-CARTER, Victor (1913-2007)

  • BONHAM-CARTER
  • Collection
  • [1960-1964]

Papers relating to Soldier true, the life and times of FM Sir William Robertson, 1860-1933 (Frederick Muller, London, 1963), dated [1960-1963], principally comprising Bonham Carter's corrected proof of the book, together with his typescript and notes. Papers relating to BBC television series The Great War , broadcast in [1964], dated [1963-1964], principally comprising programme summaries, Bonham Carter's notes, his drafts of the script and a joint script with Antony Jay.

Carter, Victor, Bonham-, 1913-2007, author

BOYLE, Lt Col Robert Verelst (1907-1988)

  • BOYLE, RV
  • Collection
  • 1897-1943

Papers of Lt Col Robert Verelst Boyle, 1897-1943, including: Battalion standing orders of the 1st Battalion The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) (Gale & Polden, Aldershot, 1930); notes and correspondence regarding the Combined Operations Training Centre, Comox, Vancouver Island, Canada, 1942-1943; papers relating to lectures given while GSO1, HQ Combined Chiefs of Staff, USA, including: text of lecture on commandos, Economic Society, Detroit, 4 May 1942; article on commandos in Military Review, Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Jul 1942; text of lecture considering how to attack a strongly defended coast, Junior Staff College, RMC Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Aug 1942; text of lecture on commandos given to the Annual Convention of American Newspaper Editors, New York, 1942; text of lecture on ship-to-shore operations, given at the US Army Amphibious Training Centre, 1942; text of lecture on preparations for the resumption of the land offensive, given to US Army Armoured Training Centre, 1942.

Formal photographs of Combined Chiefs of Staff events at Fort Benning and Fort Jackson, USA, including photographs of FM Sir John Dill, General George Marshall, Chief of Staff, US Army, Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Chief of Combined Operations, Lt Gen Mark Clark and Lt Col Dennis Price, meeting troops, watching parades, demonstrations and exercises, and inspecting weaponry. Also photograph labelled 'My official yacht whilst I started and commanded the Canadian Combined Operations Training Centre at Comox, Vancouver Island, 1942-43'.Photograph album, invitation and programme of events for the Presentation of New Colours to the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire), in Famagusta, Cyprus, 7 Oct 1949.

Also items belonging to Boyle's father in law Lt Col Adrian Grant Duff: The Pathan Revolt in North-West India by H Woosnam-Mills (Civil and Military Gazette Press, Lahore, India, 1897) and Razmak station standing orders (Commercial Steam Press, Dera Ismail Khan, India, 1931).

Boyle, Robert Verelst, 1907-1988, Lieutenant Colonel

BOYS-SMITH, Capt Humphrey Gilbert (1904-1999)

  • BOYS-SMITH
  • Collection
  • 1983 (1904-1983)

Autobiography of Capt Humphrey Gilbert Boys-Smith From the Cradle to Within Sight of the Grave (1983). Including childhood and education; service in Merchant Navy, 1922-1934; account of Invergordon Mutiny, 1931; appointment to command of anti submarine corvette, HMS ANEMONE, 1940; evacuation from Dunkirk, making 6 crossings in requisitioned boats; service in HMS ANEMONE, Atlantic convoys, Jun 1940- Feb1942, including HMS ANEMONE'S sinking of Italian submarine NANI, 1941; comment on shortcomings of Asdic, 1940-1941; patrol against possible approach of the German battleship TIRPITZ, Arctic Circle, 1941; promotion to Cdr, Dec 1941; appointment to command of frigate HMS SPEY, Atlantic convoys, Mar 1942; service in Support Groups, Atlantic, autumn 1942- summer 1943 (hunting U boats, not protecting convoys); invasion of North Africa, late 1942; Capt, 1943-1945, in Officer Appointments, Second Sea Lord's Office, Admiralty; Marine Superintendent, Colonial Office service, South Seas islands, 1946-1950; Senior Officers' War Course, RN College Greenwich, 1950-1951; Staff Recruiting Officer, Courtaulds Ltd, 1951-1968; retirement, 1968-1982 Also file of copies of correspondence and press cuttings on honours and awards and report by Boys-Smith on marine policy in the Western Pacific, Sep 1946

Smith, Humprey Gilbert Boys-, 1904-1999, Captain RNR

ALLENBY, FM Edmund (1861-1936)

  • ALLENBY
  • Collection
  • 1881-1950

Papers relating to his life and career, 1881-1936, including letters to his family, 1890-1922, notably covering his service in UK, 1890-1896, and South Africa, 1899-1902, including operations around Colesberg, Dec 1899-Jan 1900, relief of Kimberley, Feb 1900, Battle of Diamond Hill, Jun 1900, and operations in Transvaal and Orange Free State, 1900-1902, on Western Front, 1914-1917, including the first battle of Ypres, Oct-Nov 1914, Battle of Arras, Apr 1917, and in Palestine and Egypt, 1917-1922, including third Battle of Gaza, Oct-Nov 1917, capture of Jerusalem, Dec 1917, Battle of Megiddo, Sep 1918, and fall of Damascus, Oct 1918; correspondence relating to Allenby's role as High Commissioner for Egypt and the Sudan, 1919-1925, including telegrams exchanged by Allenby and the Rt Hon (Joseph) Austen Chamberlain, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, over Nevile Meyrick Henderson's appointment as Minister Plenipotentiary and Allenby's resignation as High Commissioner for Egypt and the Sudan, 1924-1925; manuscript, typescript and printed texts of speeches, lectures and articles, [1929-1936]; newspaper cuttings, 1899-1936, including obituaries of Allenby, 1936; photographs, 1881-1936. Papers collected by Gen Archibald Percival Wavell during the writing of Allenby: a study in greatness (Harrap and Co, London, 1940) and Allenby in Egypt (Harrap and Co, London, 1943) principally comprising correspondence and notes written by Allenby's army colleagues, 1936-1943; notes and letters from Gerald Delany concerning Allenby in Egypt, [1940-1943]; letter from Gen Sir Henry George Chauvel to Director of Australian War Memorial concerning Seven pillars of wisdom by Thomas Edward Lawrence (also known as Thomas Edward Shaw) (Jonathan Cape, London, 1935), 1936, and printed appreciation of Lawrence by Allenby, 1935.

Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman, 1861-1936, 1st Viscount Allenby of Megiddo and of Felixstowe, Field Marshal

ARNHEM, BATTLE OF: memorabilia, 1944-1946

  • MISC19
  • Collection
  • 1944-1946

Collection includes five postcards, four of which are of British troops from 1 Airborne Div at Hotel De Tafelberg, Oosterbeek, Netherlands, during Operation MARKET GARDEN, the Allied attempt to establish a bridgehead across the Rhine river at Arnhem, 17 Sep-25 Sep 1944, and one of the Airborne Monument at Oosterbeek, built by J Maris, 1946; and a personal account by Henk B van der Horst entitled, Paratroopers Jump, Fury over Arnhem (Boekhandel Romijn, Oosterbeek, 1946), relating to the Allied airborne offensive at Arnhem, 17 Sep-25 Sep 1944.

ANWYL, Rev Reginald A (1911-1983)

  • ANWYL
  • Collection
  • [1975]-1983

Memoir [written 1975-1983] covering the period 1940-1945, including details of his experiences in the Battle of Leros, Greece, 1943, as a POW, 1943 and in operations in North West Europe in 1944-1945 [second part of memoir is dated '1943-1945', but covers events of Jul 1944-1945]; copy of obituary from school magazine, 1983.

Anwyl, Reginald A, 1911-1983, Reverend, Army Chaplain

ARCHER, Capt John (1871-1954)

  • ARCHER
  • Collection
  • 1889-1938

Papers of Capt John Archer, 1889-1938, including: diaries, 1889-1896, 1901, 1908-1910, 1919, 1921-1922, 1925 and 1938; correspondence with family, friends and colleagues detailing his military experiences, 1893-1913; papers relating to Archer's career, including notebook containing details of service record, examinations passed, certificates gained and financial accounts, 1889-1894; list of warrant and non-commissioned officers at School of Musketry, Hythe, Oct 1895; printed map of Mashonaland, 1896; issues of The Rhodesia Herald, 1896, concerning the Mashonaland Uprising; general instructions for non-commissioned officers, 1897; timetable for movement of Archer's unit from Omdurman, 1898; poem 'The Night Attack on Surprise Hill', by Pte J Gibbons, 1899; sketch map of Lydenburg and the surrounding countryside, South Africa, by R Verney, 2 Lieutenant, Rifle Brigade, [1899]; lithograph map of Cairo, War Office, 1901; special orders announcing proclamation of peace, June 1902; Intelligence summaries, Jan and April 1902; order of service for Military Thanksgiving Service for the Restoration of Peace, Pretoria, Jun 8 1902; order of service for Coronation Day, 26 Jun 1902; parade service for visit of the Amir of Afghanistan to Agra, Jan 1907, with map showing locations of troop billets and plan of organisation of troop review; papers relating to Archer's time as POW, Germany and Holland, 1914-1918, and press cuttings, correspondence and reports relating to Archer's job as Superintendent of Prisons, Nyasaland, 1920-1936.Rifle and athletic meeting programmes, with press cuttings recording Archer's successes, 1898-1914. Photograph album showing manoeuvres, Malta, 1897; Crete, 1898; punitive raids on Transvaal farms, including taking Boer women into concentration camps, 1901; Middleburg and Groot Oliphant Camps, 1901-1902; views of Egypt including parades, inspections, sports and camps, 1902-1905; photographs of groups of POWs, Merseburg Camp and examples of paper money used in the Merseburg Camp, 1914-1919. Also copy of A Fine Chest of Medals: The Life of Jack Archer, Colin Baker (Mpemba Books: Cardiff, 2003).

Archer, John, 1871-1954, Captain

US ARMY ORAL HISTORIES: senior officers

  • MFF8
  • Collection
  • 1971-1987

Armed Forces Oral Histories: US Army Senior Officer Oral Histories is a themed microfiche collection of 96 interviews of senior US Army personnel, 1971-1986. The interviews cover the entire career of the interviewee. As biographical interviews, they emphasise the significant events in which the subject took part and the personalities with whom the subject came into contact. Many of the interviewees had long careers that spanned World War Two, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. However, many of the interviews relate to non-combat roles, including the formulation of major doctrinal and policy programmes for the US Army. Included in the collection are interviews with Gen Mark Wayne Clark, relating to his service as Commander, US 2 Corps, and liaison duties with French forces in North Africa, 1942, his position as High Commissioner of Austria, 1945-1947, and his services as Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command in Korea, 1952-1953; Gen Lucius DuBignon Clay, relating to his service as Deputy Military Governor of Germany, Commander-in-Chief, US Military Forces Europe, and Military Governor of US Zone in Germany, 1947-1949; Gen William E Dupuy, relating to the establishment of US Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) following the Vietnam War; Gen Andrew Jackson Goodpaster, relating to his staff positions with Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), his services with US Special Forces in Vietnam and Laos, and his role as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR); Gen Lewis B Hershey, relating to the US selective service system operation during World War Two and the American debate over the draft; Gen Lyman L(ouis) Lemnitzer, relating to his position on the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1945-1947, his services as Commander-in-Chief, Far East, 1955-1957, and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1960-1962; Gen Matthew Bunker Ridgway, relating to his command of US 82 Airborne Div in Sicily, Italy, and Normandy, France, 1942-1944, his position as US Commander, Mediterranean Theater and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean, 1945-1946, Commanding General US 8 Army, Korea, 1950-1951, and NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR), 1952-1953; Gen Maxwell Davenport Taylor, relating to his service as US Military Representative to the President, 1961-1962, his views on counterinsurgency activities during the Vietnam War, US bombing tactics in North Vietnam, his role as US Ambassador to South Vietnam, and his views on Gen William Childs Westmoreland, Commander, US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, 1964-1965.

US ARMY ORAL HISTORIES: World War Two

  • MFF7
  • Collection
  • 1944-1945

Armed Forces Oral Histories; World War II Combat Interviews is a themed microfiche collection of 375 typescript combat interviews, together with narrative accounts and official supplementary materials including field orders, periodic and operations reports, statistical data, sketch maps and overlays, 22 May 1944-10 May 1945. Documents include accounts relating to US 1 Infantry Div during Operation NEPTUNE, the amphibious assault on France, 6 Jun 1944, the landing at Omaha Beach, Normandy, France, 6 Jun 1944, the Battle of Aachen, Germany 8 Oct-22 Oct 1944, the defensive in the Ardennes Forest, 16 Dec-31 Dec 1944, the drive to the Rhine and subsequent bridgehead established at the Ludendorff bridge, Remagen, Germany, 17-31 Mar 1945; US 2 Infantry Div during the Brest Campaign, France, 25 Aug-18 Sep 1944, and the drive from the Rhine river to Leipzig, Germany, 21 Mar-20 Apr 1945; US 3 Infantry Div during the invasion of Southern France, Aug 1944-Feb 1945; US 4 Infantry Div and the liberation of Luxembourg, 16 Dec-24 Dec 1944; US 5 Infantry Div during operations at Fort Driant, Belgium, and Metz, France, 9 Nov-24 Nov 1944; 8 Infantry Div operations during the reduction of the Crozon peninsula, France, 1 Sep-19 Sep 1944; 9 Infantry Div and the US aerial bombing of US troops during the Normandy breakout, 24-29 Jul 1944; intensive fighting experienced by 28 Infantry Div in during the Battle of Hurtgen Forest, 2-16 Nov 1944; US 35 Infantry Div winter fighting in the Ardennes Forest, 26 Dec 1944-23 Jan 1945; 36 Infantry Div during Operation DRAGOON, the Allied landings in Southern France, Aug 1944; 42 Infantry Div during the battles in the Saverne Gap, Alsace, France, 4 Jan-26 Jan 1945; 65 Infantry Div drive to Struth, Austria, 7 Apr-8 May 1945; 69 Infantry Div contact between US and Soviet forces on the banks of the Elbe River, 25-26 Apr 1945; 71 Infantry Div and the surrender of German Army South, 18 Apr-8 May 1945; 80 Infantry Div during the Moselle River crossing and subsequent fighting during the Lorraine Campaign from the Seille River to the Saar River, 12 Sep-5 Dec 1944; the establishment of an Allied defensive base at Ste Mere Eglise by 82 Airborne Div and its subsequent fighting during Operation MARKET GARDEN, the large-scale Allied parachute drop to seize the Nijmegen- Grosbeek high ground in the Netherlands, 6 Jun-26 Sep 1944; the capture of Hannover, Germany, during the Rhine-Ruhr-Elbe Operation by 84 Infantry Div, 1 Apr- 9 May 1945; 94 Infantry Div co-operation with Free French forces on the St Nazaire- Lorient Front, 8 Sep-30 Oct 1944; 101 Airborne Div combat operations near Carentan, Cotentin Peninsula, France, and ensuing problems due to the scattered parachute drop pattern, 6-10 Jun 1944; French 2 Armoured Div during the advance to liberate Paris, France, and Strasbourg, France, 6 Jun-28 Nov 1944; US 7 Corps during operations from the break-out at Normandy, France, to the liberation of German concentration camp at Nordhausen, Germany, Jul 1944-Apr 1945; US 7 Army invasion of Southern France, detailing the importance of intelligence furnished by the Maquis French resistance movement, 15 Aug 1944.

ASH, R Adm Walter William Hector (1906-1998)

  • ASH
  • Collection
  • 1873

Typescript and manuscript texts of fifteen speeches by Ash, mostly after dinner and school and college prize days relating to aspects of RN Electrical Engineering, 1955-1963, notably including apprentices' passing out parade, HMS COLLINGWOOD, Fareham, Hampshire, 1955; Admiralty Electrical Engineering Officers' annual dinner, 1955 and 1957; Devonport Dockyard Technical College prize day, 1956; inaugural address as Chairman to the South Western Sub-Centre, Institute of Electrical Engineers entitled 'Electrical engineering in HM Dockyards', 1958, with typescript copy of memorandum 'Electric firing - torpedoes and torpedo gear', 27 Feb 1873; Trafalgar Night dinner, HMS COLLINGWOOD, Oct 1960; Victoria County Secondary School speech day, Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, 1962; Rodway Technical High School speech day, Bristol, 1962; RN and RN Reserve Electrical Officers' reunion dinner, HMS COLLINGWOOD, 1963.

Ash, Walter William Hector, 1906-1998, Rear Admiral

ASHTON, Brig William Proctor Bell (1897-1981)

  • ASHTON
  • Collection
  • 1941-1946

Two reports on ordnance engineering services in Malaya during the period 1941-1942, written by Ashton following the destruction of all records at Malaya Command in 1942, [1946]; papers relating to the above reports, principally comprising Ashton's report to Air Cdre Modin on RAF Senior Training Corps mechanics attached to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Malaya, [1942-1943], an account of ordnance engineering services in Malaya during 1941-1942 by the Assistant Director of Ordnance Services (Engineering), 3 Indian Corps, [1942-1946], reports on ordnance services in Malaya during the period 1941-1942, written for Ashton by Capt E J Coulthard, H J Howland and Lt G A Neale, [1946].

Ashton, William Proctor Bell, 1897-1981, Brigadier

BAD TRIP TO EDGEWOOD - US Army drug testing, television documentary archive

  • BAD TRIP
  • Collection
  • 1950 - 1993

Bad trip to Edgewood consists of, interview transcripts, research files and videos for a television documentary on US Army testing of chemical and biological warfare agents on human 'guinea pigs' between 1955 - 1975, and includes files of mainly photocopied documents, reports, scientific articles, letters and newspapers articles, with some printed brochures, as well as videotapes.There is also a video copy of Bad trip to Edgewood which was produced by Michael Bilton, Yorkshire Television, and broadcast as a First Tuesday film in March 1993.

The files focus on secret projects carried out by the US Army Chemical Corps at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood, Maryland USA, between 1955-1975, in which US Army volunteers were used to test the effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), benzilates such as BZ (3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, also known a QNB) and glycolates. The testing programs were suspended in 1975 when information about them became public. A number of volunteers claimed to have suffered long term mental health effects from the tests. They also claim they were not informed at the time of immediate or long term effects of the agents tested.

In 1977 US Army notified 686 volunteers who has been tested with LSD and conducted a follow up study of their health. The LSD follow-up study report released in 1980 found 'the majority of subjects evaluated did not appear to have sustained any significant damage from their participation in the LSD experiments'. There are notes and transcripts of interviews conducted with former US Army personnel who were volunteers in the research programmes, individuals involved in the running testing programs, medical experts and lawyers.

Several files relate to particular law suits including that of Sgt James B Stanley, US Army, volunteer at Edgewood during 1958. In 1977 he was informed by the army that he had been given LSD as part of the testing program. In 1987 a controversial judgement by the US Supreme Court found against Stanley, effectually granting immunity from liability for money damages for all federal officials who intentionally violate the constitutional rights of those serving in the military. Other notable cases frequently mentioned in the files include that of Frank Olson and Harold Blauer. Dr Frank R Olson, US Army scientist at Fort Detrick, apparently suicided, on 28 November 1953. In 1975 the Commission on CIA Activities within the United States (the Rockefeller Commission) revealed Olson had been given LSD without his knowledge while attending a meeting of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) personnel eight days before his death. A civilian, Harold R Blauer died on 8 Jan 1953 after being given a lethal injection of Experimental Agent 1298 supplied by the US Army Chemical Corps to the New York State Psychiatric Institute where he was a patient. A 1975 Senate investigation revealed the facts of his death. Files also contain material on bacteriological testing by the Army and the CIA carried out in Washington DC, Florida, San Francisco, and New York. Particular reference is made to the case of Edward Nevin, a civilian, who died on 1 Nov 1950 in San Francisco as a result of a rare bacterial infection Serratia Marcescens, which coincided with a significant and unexplained outbreak of this infection between Oct 1950 and Feb 1951. In 1976 it was revealed that the US Army had conducted bacteriological warfare experiments with Serratia Marcescens over San Francisco Bay during September 1950. There is a small amount of material relating to the role of American Citizens for Honesty in Government, a Church of Scientology sponsored organisation who campaigned during 1979 for a full investigation of the testing and storage of BZ and compensation for volunteers suffering long term effects from testing of the substance, and to chemical testing carried out in the UK at Porton Down, Wiltshire, UK and production of chemical agents at Nancekuke Base, Cornwall, and Anglo American cooperation in this area.

Michael Bilton, Yorkshire Television

ABRAHAM, Maj Gen Sir William (1897-1980)

  • ABRAHAM
  • Collection
  • 1931-1979

Correspondence relating to leaving Burmah Oil Company and attempts to re-enlist in the Army and RAF, 1939-1940, and papers relating to promotions and appointments, 1940-1944. Papers relating to service in the Middle East and Sicily, 1942-1943, including 16 typescript reports, Staffs and Services Committee, Middle East, May-Jun 1942; typescript 'Report of Committee on Beach Organisation and Working', 13 Nov 1943; manuscript map entitled 'Sicily, ports, coast and main communications', scale 1: 500, 000 [1943]; typescript letter from Maj Gen Charles Harvey Miller, 15 Army Group, relating to operations in Sicily, 1943. Papers relating to service in India and Burma, 1943-1945, including typescript 'Summary of the economic developments in the Far East during the six months ending 30th June, 1944'; 41 captioned official photographs, Burma campaign, 1944, notably including the redeployment by air of 5 Indian Div from the Arakan to Imphal, Indian Army troops and units of 7 Indian Div, Arakan, 1944; typescript notes, 'Points on AFV (armoured fighting vehicles) situation in India' [1944]; typescript text of lecture by Abraham entitled 'Military economy' [1945]; printed volume entitled 'The India base', issued by the Commander-in-Chief's Secretariat, General Headquarters, India, Jan 1945. Papers relating to the oil industry, especially with regard to the Middle East and Burma, 1931-1961, including reports, printed articles, plans and tables of statistics and correspondence, also, typescript report entitled 'General impressions formed during a short visit to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, December 1934'. Edition of Regimental Standing Orders of the Upper Burma Battalion, Auxiliary Force, (India) by Abraham (Mandalay Press, Mandalay, Burma, 1935). Typescript book manuscript entitled 'Time off for war. Recollections of a wartime Staff Officer' [1977], with copy of typescript letter from AF Rt Hon Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, relating to the memoir, Dec 1977. Papers and correspondence relating to the Burma Star Association, 1964-1979, including letters from Mountbatten, 1968-1979, and from FM Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, 1964-1965, also typescript account entitled 'A short history of the Burma Star Association' [1978].

Abraham, Sir William Ernest Victor, 1897-1980, Knight, Major General

ADAM, Gen Sir Ronald Forbes (1885-1982)

  • ADAM
  • Collection
  • 1939-1960

Note on the development of the Army rearmament programme, 1937- 1939; notes for the estimates speeches in 1941 and 1943 by the Secretaries of State for War, Capt the Rt Hon David Margesson and the Rt Hon Sir James Grigg, including formation of new corps, Home Guard, Dominion troops and prisoners of war; official paper entitled 'The Use of Manpower in the Army', 1941; printed circular letters from Adjutant General to Corps District, Divisional and Area Commanders, Dec 1942-Dec 1943; papers on Army education for the Armistice and Post War Planning Committee, 1945; reports to Army Council on overseas tours by Adjutant General, 1942-1946; typescript narrative on administrative aspects of World War Two, 1960.

Adam, Sir Ronald Forbes, 1885-1982, 2nd Baronet, General

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