Showing 143 results

Copies of editions of World War Two newspapers, including Daily Express; Daily Sketch; Daily Mail; Daily Mirror; Daily Herald; Evening Standard; and Union Jack, 1940-1945, with articles relating to the withdrawal of British and French forces at Dunkirk, France, May 1940; the German occupation of Athens, Greece, Apr 1941; German and Italian frontier assaults across the Egyptian border, Apr 1941; US naval protection of British merchant routes across the Atlantic, Apr 1941; the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, United States, Dec 1941; the Japanese declaration of war on Britain and the United States, Dec 1941; the US naval victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy at Midway Island, Jun 1942; the establishment of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force in London, under the commander of US Gen Dwight David Eisenhower, Jan 1944; the Allied capture of Rome, Italy, Jun 1944; the Allied invasion of Northwest France, Jun 1944; the surrender of the German armed forces in Paris, France, Jun 1944; the unconditional surrender of all German armed forces in Italy, May 1945

Newspaper articles commemorating World War Two, 1990- 1994. Includes article, 'Living through the Blitz', from The Observer, 24 Jun 1990; article, 'Propaganda to fuel the legend of the Few', from The Independent on Sunday, 8 Jul 1990; article, 'I gather it was you who shot me down. It is perhaps a little late to offer my congratulations', from The Times Saturday Review, 14 Jul 1990; souvenir article commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Allied invasion of France, codenamed Operation OVERLORD, from The Times, 6 Jun 1994; The Times headline pages of 9, 10, and 12 Jun 1944, relating to Allied operations in France, reproduced in The Times, 8-10 Jun 1994; The Times headline pages of 3-9 May 1945, relating to the end of hostilities in Europe, reproduced in The Times, 2-8 May 1995; The Times headline pages of 15-16 Aug 1945, relating to the end of hostilities in the Pacific, reproduced in The Times, 15-16 Aug 1945

Facsimiles of four editions of World War One Western Front trench newspapers, The New Church Times and The Kemmel Times, each of which was incorporated within The Wipers Times, 8 May-3 Jul 1916. While the names of many of the contributors have not survived, the chronicles they presented in the newspaper detail vividly the war conditions on the Western Front. Articles were often spontaneous, preserving the jargon, slang, character, and conversation of the soldiers' surroundings. Although the reader is confronted with all the stark images of the Western Front, these are masked with a humourous irony which demonstrated the spirit of comradeship that prevailed in the British Army

Papers relating to his service with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, 1943-1945, principally comprising official report by [Woods] on waterproofing technology, 1945; official reports on the waterproofing of 'A' and 'B' vehicles and equipment, 1943-1945, by Brig Hugh Roberts Howard, Deputy Director Mechanical Engineering (Wading), War Office, 1944-1945; 'Waterproofing of army equipment for amphibious operations', official report by Woods, [1943-1945]; photographs of wading tests on army vehicles, 1944; Combined Operations pamphlets on the responsibilities of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, 1944, and the waterproofing of vehicles and equipment, 1944; 'The Army waded ashore', a typescript account of the role of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in the preparations for D Day, 6 Jun 1944, written by Woods in [1944-1945].

Papers relating to his service in Italy, 1943-1944, principally comprising 1 Div, 3 Infantry Bde and 3 Field Ambulance operation orders concerning the landings on Pantelleria (Operation CORKSCREW), May-Jun 1943, and at Anzio (Operation SHINGLE), Jan 1944; report on the action at Campoleone, 30 Jan-4 Feb 1944, written by J G James, Commander, 3 Infantry Bde, 12 Feb 1944; 3 Infantry Bde intelligence summary for Operations ANT and APHIS; three aerial photographs of Anzio beaches, 1943, and plan of Blue Beach (North), Anzio, 1944; two parts of 'The First Division in action' covering the Anzio campaign, Jan-Jun 1944, written in Apr and Jul 1944.

Papers of Col Alexander Camac Wilkinson, 1906-1983, including appointment diary, 1931; typescript memoir, 'Fun and games and narrow squeaks' relating to Wilkinson's early cricketing and military career; account of service with 1 Company, 2 Bn, Coldstream Guards, 1917, with trench map, Bourlon; an account by Wilkinson as regimental Cdr of 99 Light Anti-Aircraft Regt's role in Operation HONKER, before the capture of Rome, providing smoke screens across all river crossings to protect Royal Engineers who were constructing bridges; letter on Wilkinson's thoughts on post-war Imperial development and reconstruction, 1943; letters from Wilkinson to his aunt, written from Eton, 1906-1907; social and personal correspondence, 1945-1983; correspondence relating to business and charity; correspondence and press cuttings relating to reunions, notably a visit to Graz, 1970, capital of Austrian province of Steiermark, where Wilkinson was Head of British Military Government, 1945; citation (with translation) and press cuttings relating to the presentation of an Austrian decoration to Wilkinson, 1977; photocopy of citations for Wilkinson's military decorations, with covering letter from the Ministry of Defence, 1982; maps of North West Europe, Texas and London; notes on an old cricketing friend in Australia, Jack Massie; note of thanks from Peter Thwaites, Imperial War Museum, 1980, relating to the loan for copying of an account dealing with incendiary bombs, World War Two; artefacts including an empty presentation box, with inscription to Wilkinson from 99 LAA Regt on his marriage, 1947; empty DSO medal case and Austrian medal, in original case.

Papers relating to Weston's career, 1916- 1945, including manuscript notes by Weston entitled 'Some notes on the discipline of Imperial troops in convoy on HM Transport LLANSTEPHAN CASTLE from Durban to Suez', 1941; notebook containing manuscript 'Standing orders for POWs', 1943; typescript report on the sinking of the EMPRESS OF CANADA, 1943; typescript instructions and duties of Draft Conducting Officers on board troopships [1943]; typescript memorandum by Weston on the co-ordination of Movement Control in South Africa, 1944, with typescript reports on officers attached to Imperial Movement Control, South Africa (IMPCON), 1944; printed material including memorandum on the German attack near Givenchy, Western Front, 1918, with printed map annotated with dispositions of German 4 Ersatz Div during attack north of Cuinchy, France, 9 Apr 1918, scale 1: 10, 000; trench map entitled France. Sheet 57D SE. Edition 3A, scale 1:20,000 (GSGS 2742, 1916), annotated with features near La Boisselle, Pozieres and Courcelette, Battle of the Somme, 1916, Field Service Pocket Book, Orders and intercommunication (HMSO, London, 1939), Rifle Drill illustrated (Gale and Polden, Aldershot, 1940), Restricted War Office booklet 'Standing instructions for Officers Commanding units and drafts ordered overseas', 1943.

Diary, 17 Sep-16 Oct 1944, covering his service at Battle of Arnhem (Operation MARKET GARDEN), with part of 'Suggested medical plan' prepared for Deputy Director of Medical Services, 1 Airborne Corps, 22 Sep 1944, and part of note relating to the strength of medical forces, [1944]. Transcript of part of above diary made by Sir Basil Liddell Hart, with related correspondence, 1949-1951. Bound transcript of above diary made by Lt Col Kenneth Garside, Honorary Keeper of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, with foreword by Warrack, 1979. The diary formed the basis of Warrack's book Travel by dark: after Arnhem (Harvill, London, 1963), and a BBC television production Arnhem: the story of an escape, originally broadcast in 1976. Typescript copy of 'The Airborne Hospital, Willem 111 Kazerne, Apeldoorn, 25th Sept 1944 to 26th Oct 1944. Nominal roll of the wounded' compiled by Peter H Starling, Curator of the Army Medical Services Museums, Aldershot, Hampshire, 1998.

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.

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.

Copies of papers, 1940-1982, including narrative manuscript diary covering service with 3 Div Royal Engineers, Belgium and France, May-Jun 1940, with printed map entitled Lille-Ghent, North West Europe, sheet No 2, scale 1: 250, 000 (GSGS 4042, War Office, 1938); narrative manuscript diary covering service with 51 Highland Div Royal Engineers, North West Europe, Oct 1944 and Feb-May 1945, with typescript nominal roll of officers, list of casualties between Jun 1944 and May 1945, and typescript programme for the 51 Highland Div victory parade, Bremerhaven, Germany, May 1945; five printed maps of North West Europe entitled 'Brussels and Liege', 'Walcheren and Amsterdam', 'Osnabruck', 'Hamburg', 'Hannover' (no publication details or scale), with printed map of the Rhine entitled 'Outline of 51(H) Div RE plan, Operation PLUNDER', annotated with dispositions of Royal Engineers units for the Rhine crossing, 1945; correspondence with Maj Karol John Drewienkiewicz, 25 Field Sqn Royal Engineers, 1982, concerning operations of 3 Div Royal Engineers (May 1940); typescript text of lecture, given at Antwerp, 1982, on operations to clear the Scheldt Estuary, 1944.

Papers relating to his RAF career, 1942-[1953], principally comprising correspondence relating to the development of a submersible target at RAF St Eval, Cornwall, 1942, dated 1948; manuscript notes on the problems of establishing Coastal Command Station, Nassau, Bahamas, as a training centre for Coastal Liberator crews, 1942; official report on the RAF occupation of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, 5-11 May 1945; printed reports on the progress of air disarmament in Germany in 1944-1946, produced by British Air Forces of Occupation, 1945-1947; correspondence relating to his work as Director of Air Branch, Control Commission, Berlin, 1947-1949, and to the planning of the Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949; official report on organisation and structure of Berlin Airlift administration; RAF training course notes and papers, 1950; papers relating to his service as Assistant Chief of Staff, Allied Air Forces Central Europe, [1951-1953], notably including photographs of Waite, [1951-1953]; published RAF manuals, 1948, 1950.

Papers relating to role of 6 Guards Tank Brigade in Operation BLUECOAT, Normandy, Jul 1944; operations of 7 Armoured Division, Aug-Nov 1944, including capture of Ghent; 1 Guards Brigade, Feb 1944-May 1945, including Battle of River Po and situation reports, Northern Italy and Southern Austria; pamphlets, 1943-1946 including 21 Army Group reports; campaign maps, including Turkey, 1922-1923; France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, 1944 and Italy and Austria, 1945; working papers for unpublished typescript 'Airborne Forces'. Notes and draft papers of Maj Peter V Verney for Anzio 1944 An Unexpected Fury (Batsford, 1978) and planned publications on Marlborough's wars and 'The Gaiety and the Glory: the Irishman at War'.

Reminiscences (1997), privately published memoir of the life and Army career of Lt Col Henry van Straubenzee, including his time as a first-class cricketer for the Army and Essex, 1938-1939; participation in Operation DYNAMO, 1940; service in the Middle East, 1943-1944; Italy 1944-1945; Palestine 1945-1946; Germany, 1950-1953; post war career with WH Smith, 1957-1977.

The Vietnam Documents and Research Notes Series reproduces in microfilm captured and translated Viet Cong and North Vietnamese political and military reports, treatises, resolutions, directives and programme descriptions compiled by JUSPAO, Oct 1967-Feb 1975. The 'notes' in the collection also contain US and South Vietnamese commentary on the enemy materiel, as well as analyses of political methodology, strategy, infrastructure, and history. While the majority of notes relate to political topics, military topics include analyses of soldiers' diaries and comments on military conditions and operations. Papers include composite diary highlighting the plight of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers serving in South Vietnam, Dec 1966; diary of a North Vietnamese Army soldier en route to South Vietnam, including mention of his political indoctrination and military training, Oct 1967; North Vietnamese directive defining the political tasks for North Vietnamese An Thai Regt, Oct 1967; directive from Headquarters of Viet Cong Military Region 5, relating to repression of counter-revolutionaries, Oct 1967; Viet Cong training document, Mar 1968; Viet Cong post-operation report relating to military operations during the Tet Offensive, Apr 1968; Sixth Resolution, Central Office, South Vietnam, assessing the results of the Tet Offensive, Jul 1968; Liberation Radio broadcast texts outlining the political programme of the Alliance of National, Democratic, and Peace Forces, Sep 1968; broadcast reports relating to the death of Ho Chi Minh, Sep 1969; speeches by Gen Vo Nguyen Giap, Nov 1969; report, issued by the commander of Unit 591, detailing the shortcomings of his unit, including low morale, poor leadership, self-inflicted wounds and surrender, Feb 1970; conference notes relating to the Indochinese Peoples' Summit Conference, Apr 1970; report detailing the establishment and organisation of the Public Security Sector and the People's Police Force in North Vietnam, Jan 1971; captured documents highlighting the effects of an unsuccessful military campaign, loss of key cadre on the village levels, and the slow recruitment of personnel, Apr 1971; full text of Liberation Radio broadcast of Maj Gen Tran Do highlighting the problem and result of poor political indoctrination and ideological education, May 1971; lists of members, denoting office or responsibility of Communist Vietnamese organisations including the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam, the National Liberation Front and the People's Revolutionary Party, Jun 1972; articles by Gen Vo Nguyen Giap, Jun-Oct 1972; papers relating to the abandonment of the military and political seizure of Danang, Dec 1972; Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN) directives relating to the economic situation in South Vietnam following the Paris Peace Talks, 1974-1975

Wartime Translations of Seized Japanese Documents: Allied Translator and Interpreter Section Reports, 1942-1946 is a themed microfiche collection of 7,200 translated Japanese documents. The collection includes translated seized Japanese diaires, Allied interrogation reports of Japanese soldiers and civilians, Japanese reconnaissance reports, US summaries of enemy activities, and Allied tactical and strategic reports on Japanese military movements issued by Allied General Headquarters, Southwest Pacific Area (GHQ SWPA), and Advanced Echelons of the Australian New Guinea Force; US 6 Army; US 1 Corps; US 11 Corps; US 10 Corps; US 8 Army; US 14 Army; 1 Australian Corps; and US 24 Corps. Included are all documents bearing the notation 'Allied Translator and Interpreter Section, Southwest Pacific Area' and issued during the period 1942-1946. As noted above, the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) was re-organised after the terms of Japanese surrender were signed on 2 Sep 1945, and its mission was altered to reflect the needs of the Supreme Command, Allied Powers (SCAP), occupation force. During its transition to a service within SCAP, ATIS continued to issue documents under the aegis of General Headquarters, Southwest Pacific Area (GHQ SWPA) and these documents are included in the collection. Major subjects covered in ATIS documents are Japanese military strategy and tactics; specific intelligence on Japanese troop movements, equipment, and order of battle; indigenous political movements and political geography of the Southwest Pacific; technical data on Japanese military equipment; and, information obtained from Japanese prisoners of war. ATIS translations of seized Japanese materials also made available English language versions of documents, maps, charts, and other official Japanese visual records. Principal among the types of materials collected and translated by ATIS were: personal diaries obtained from Japanese prisoners of war or removed from the bodies of Japanese killed in action, detailing Japanese military operations and objectives as well as personal accounts of the war; letters and personal correspondence, paybooks, and Military Postal Savings Books carried by Japanese soldiers; official Japanese unit field diaries; official Japanese military orders and orders of battle; maps and charts relating to Japanese shipping routes, military positions, airfields, and order of battle plans; Japanese propaganda and psychological warfare documents; Allied interrogations reports of Japanese prisoners of war, detailing Japanese military positions and troop morale; and, Japanese technical manuals, detailing weaponry and supplies.

OSS/London: Special Operations Branch and Secret Intelligence Branch War Diaries is a themed microfilm collection relating to US Office of Strategic Services (OSS)intelligence analyses and special operations in Western Europe, Jun 1942-Jun 1945. The collection includes Special Operations Branch organisation charts and directives, orders and summaries, Jun 1942-Jul 1944; Special Operations (SO) Branch and OSS training schedules; papers relating to Special Operations Branch liaison with Scandinavian Special Operations Executive (SOE) Section; reports on military and strategic objectives relating to Operation OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of France, Jan-Sep 1944; estimates of Special Operations personnel strength, Apr-Jun 1944; reports on resistance movements in Norway, Denmark, and Poland; summaries of Secret Intelligence Branch Operations, Apr-Sep 1944; list of decorations, commendations, and payments to families of the Special Operations and Secret Intelligence Branch casualties; biographies of Secret Intelligence personnel; reports from Secret Intelligence Branch operations in the Netherlands, France, Poland, Czechoslovakia; Germany; Secret Intelligence Branch liaison with the OSS; photographs of American and British Special Operations Branch officers; photographs of Maquis, French resistance, operatives; report from the Special Mission on German Methods of Demolition and Sabotage, Sep-Dec 1944; reports on Polish resistance fighters in France, 1944; lists of code names and code words used by the Special Operations Branch; reports from military, demolition, intelligence gathering, and espionage missions in Western Europe, 1944; after action summaries from the OSS Reports and Registry Division, London, and the OSS Reports Board, Paris, France, 1 Jan-15 Jun 1945.

This microfilm collection contains copied official documents relating to US naval operations and administration in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East, 1940-1955. Many of the microfilmed documents were official reports sent to the Historical Section, US Navy, in 1971, for the purposes of compiling an official history. The collection includes US Navy command papers relating to the planning for naval co-operation between the United States and Great Britain, 1940-Dec 1941; microfilmed copies of Adm Harold Raynsford Stark's typescript diaries during his command of COMNAVEU, including passages relating to the establishment of a combined naval command with Britain 29 Apr 1942-31 May 1944; microfilmed copies of draft chapters of an administrative history of US naval forces in Europe, including an official narrative of US Naval Forces in Europe, 1 Sep 1945-1 Oct 1946, compiled by the Commander, US Naval Forces Europe; an official draft of an administrative history of US naval forces in Europe, Aug 1945-Mar 1947, compiled by the Commander, US Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean; quarterly summaries of US Navy operations issued by the Commander, US Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, 1 Apr 1947-31 Mar 1949; chapters submitted by the Commander, US Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, to the Director of Naval History, US Navy, relating to the transition of US naval forces to a post-war status and the reduction of US forces in the region; microfilmed copies of official reports sent by the Commander in Chief, US Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (CINCNELM), to the Chief of Naval Operations, relating to operations, communications, logistics, personnel, and condition of command of Commander in Chief, US Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (CINCNELM), 30 Oct 1947-1 Jul 1955.

This microfilm collection contains copied official documents relating to US naval operations in Europe and US naval liaison duties in Britain, 1941-1946. Many of the microfilmed documents are official reports sent to the Historical Section, US Navy, in 1946, for the purposes of compiling an official history. The collection includes material relating to the US naval administration, 1940-1946; the US Navy Special Observer missions in London, 1940-1946; the decision to post Adm Harold Raynsford Stark as Commander, [US] Naval Forces in Europe (COMNAVEU); COMNAVEU organisation and personnel, 1940- 1946; operational reports concerning [US] Naval Forces in Europe (COMNAVEU) and associated commands of COMNAVEU, including US 12 Fleet, 1941-1946; US naval intelligence and naval attaché duties; units under the command of COMNAVEU, including task forces and amphibious forces; supply and logistical activities, 1940- 1946; the history of Lend-Lease and Reciprocal Aid in Britain; the history of US naval bases in Britain; logistical planning for US Naval Forces in Europe for cross- channel operations; COMNAVEU's role in the planning and execution of Operation OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of France, 6 Jun 1944, and Operation NEPTUNE, the air and land assault on France, Jun 1944, including the naval bombardment of Axis forces and the use of US Navy amphibious forces to assault the beaches at Normandy, France assaults; a history of US Naval Task Forces in France, Germany, the Azores, the Mediterranean, and Italy, 1945-1946; relations with US Navy Pacific Command, 1941-1946.