Papers and photographs relating to Wilson's career, 1928-1990, especially his service as test pilot for British and captured German aircraft, 1937-1945, setting the world air speed record, 1945, and his role as Commandant, Empire Test Pilots' School, 1945-1947, including three flying log books, 1928-1944; typescript copy of unpublished memoir entitled 'Icy calm. Recollections of a wartime test pilot', written in [1972]. One hundred and seventy four official and personal photographs relating to Wilson's career, 1930-[1950], including damaged Bristol Bulldog fighter, crash landed by Wilson, UK, 1931; captured German aircraft Heinkel He111, Junkers Ju88, Messerschmitt Me109, Messerschmitt Me110 and Italian Fiat CR42 [1941-1945]; testing of CAM (Catapult Assisted Merchantman) aircraft launch apparatus and tests on Fairey Fulmar, Blackburn Shark and General Aircraft Hotspur gliders with RATOG (Rocket Assisted Take-Off Gear), 1941-1942; Empire Test Pilots' School students under instruction and in flight, 1945-1947; photographs of De Havilland Mosquito, Avro Lancaster, Hawker Tempest, Supermarine Spitfire, Gloster Meteor and De Havilland Vampire, 1945-1947; prototype of Planet Aircraft Satellite, 1948-1949. Contemporary reports, memoranda and official and personal correspondence, 1937-1990, including typescript memorandum by Wilson entitled 'Pilot's impressions of the [Blackburn] Botha', 1940; typescript report by Wilson entitled 'Observations of fighter requirements', 1940; typescript report by Wilson entitled 'Tactical trials and other observations on the De Havilland E6/41 (known as the DH100 Spider-Crab, later renamed Vampire) with Halford H1 engine', 1944, and Empire Test Pilots' School student's confidential report for Sqn Ldr J G Mann, RAF, Course No 3, 1946; typescript report by Cyril Francis Caunter entitled 'A historical summary of the Royal Aircraft Establishment 1918-1948', 1949; correspondence with potential publishers for Wilson's memoir, 1972-1990. Publications, 1946-1972, including two editions of The Times, 1946 and 1947, edition of The Aeroplane with article on the Empire Test Pilots' School, 1946, and booklet entitled 'Empire Test Pilots' School Personnel Supplement. List of graduates 1943-1972 and present staff' [1972].

Copies of pages from Sir Albert Stern's Tanks, 1914-1918: the log book of a pioneer (1919), with annotations by Wilson, 1920.

Photocopies of memoir covering military service, 1860-1918; published account of Tochi Valley expedition, Afghanistan, 1897-1898; complaint relating to conditions in trenches, Western Front, World War One, 1915.

Papers of Tom Wintringham and his second wife Katherine 'Kitty' Wintringham ( née Bowler), 1891-1982. Papers of Tom Wintringham relating to the Home Guard include correspondence, articles, radio broadcasts, press cuttings, photograph, report, lecture transcripts and training exercises. Papers relating to the Common Wealth Party including correspondence, photographs, minutes, publications, papers on Common Wealth Party policy, formation, resignations, libel charges, election campaigns and conferences. Other papers relating to Tom Wintringham including papers from his time at Balliol College, Oxford, 1918-1920; Wintringham's visit to Moscow, 1920; various inventions by Wintringham, 1929-1949; the Communist Party, 1933-1944; British economic crisis, 1947, and obituaries and biographical articles. Wintringham's correspondence includes his school days, First World War, prison, Spanish Civil War, Home Guard, Common Wealth Party and general personal and professional correspondence; Kitty's correspondence includes Spanish Civil War, the Common Wealth Party and general personal and professional correspondence. Photographs notably cover the Spanish Civil War, Home Guard, Common Wealth Party, Tom and Kitty Wintringham, their children, friends and family. Writings by Wintringham include draft and published articles (chiefly for the Picture Post , the Tribune , the Daily Herald and the Daily Mirror ), drafts of published and unpublished books, scripts, reviews, notes, short stories and essays. Draft articles by Kitty. Poems by Wintringham and others on topics including World War One and the Spanish Civil War, 1910-1950 and printed material, 1923-1950.

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 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].

The television documentary _Woolly Al walks the kitty back _examines the international diplomatic efforts to prevent armed conflict between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands, 1982, focussing in particular on the shuttle diplomacy of Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr, US Secretary of State, 1981-1982. The collection includes video recordings and transcripts of interviews conducted in the making of the documentary, as well as news footage and sound recordings relating to the conflict.

Interviews were conducted with eyewitnesses from the Argentine, Britain and United State of America, and included politicians, diplomats and military personnel involved in the development of the British and American response, both diplomatic and military, to the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), 2 April 1982.

Interviewees include Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr, US Secretary of State, 1981-1982; James M Rentschler, US Special Advisor to US President Ronald Wilson Reagan, and National Security Council Western European Department, 1982; Dr Jeane Duane Jordan Kirkpatrick, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1981-1985; Caspar Willard Weinberger, US Secretary of Defense, 1981-1987; Gen Vernon Anthony Walters, US Ambassador-at-large, 1981-1985; Thomas Enders, Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs, US State Department, 1982; Brig Gen Basilio Lami-Dozo, Commander-in-Chief, Argentine Air Force, and member of the ruling Military Junta, 1982; Ambassador Gustavo Figueroa, First Secretary, Argentine Foreign Ministry, 1982; R Adm Roberto Moya, Chief of the Argentine Military Household, and Naval member of the Malvinas Working Group, 1982; Dr Nicanor Costa Méndez, Argentine Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1982; Wenceslao Bunge, Argentine industrialist and unofficial diplomatic representative of the Argentine Air Force, 1982; Estaban Takacs, Argentine Ambassador to the US, 1982; Sir (John) Nicholas Henderson, British Ambassador the US, 1979-1982; Rt Hon Sir John William Frederic Nott, Secretary of State for Defence, 1981-1983; Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym of Sandy, Bedfordshire (Lord Pym), Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 1982-1983; Rt Hon Cecil Edward Parkinson, Paymaster General and Chairman of the Conservative Party, 1981-1983, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1982-1983; AF Terence Thornton Lewin, Baron Lewin of Greenwich in Greater London, Chief of the Defence Staff, 1979-1982; and Sir Robin (William) Renwick, Head of Chancery, British Embassy, Washington DC, US, 1981-1984.

Four ordnance survey maps, two 1:20,000, one 1:40,000, and one 1:100,000, produced by the Geographical Section, General Staff, War Office, of area south and south-west of Arras, France, including the locations of British trenches, 1918

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

The collection is 26 copies of the Daily Mirror newspaper, 29 Jul-11 Jun 1916. Included in the newspapers are photographs and articles concerning World War One, most notably the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia, 28 Jul 1914; the mobilisation of Russian troops, 1 Aug 1914; Britain's declaration of war on Germany, 4 Aug 1914; the Battle of Liege, Aug 1914; the French seizure of Alsace, Aug 1914; the French invasion of Lorraine, Aug 1914; the landing of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France, Aug, 1914; the German capture of Louvain, Aug 1914; the drowning of FM Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome, Jun 1916; and the defeat of Austrian Slav troops in Romania by Russian troops, Jun 1916

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

German armed forces maps, gazetteers, and geographic charts of the United Kingdom, 1939-1944. Includes detailed study produced by the Commander in Chief of the German Air Force concerning the organisation of the RAF, the strengths and locations of British aircraft production facilities, the location of RAF flight schools, airfields and anti-aircraft facilities, the location and strengths of RN facilities in Britain and the North Sea, and British aircraft carrier strengths, 1939; German harbour atlas and gazetteer produced and distributed by the Commander in Chief of the German Air Force, entitled Seehafensatlas Großbritannien, detailing in 1:50,000 maps and aerial photographs, naval harbours and ports in Britain, 1940; German Navy High Command map books of naval ports and harbours in the United Kingdom, their associated agricultural and heavy industries production rates, defence facilities, and geographical locations, 1940; map books issued by the Commander in Chief of the German Air Force, entitled Luftgeographisches Einzelheft Großbritannien, detailing the location of British heavy industry, gas works, water works, aircraft and naval production facilities in Britain, including 1:21,120 maps, 1940; German Army High Command book, entitled Militärgeographie Angaben über Irland, and detailing in photographs the towns, cities and countryside of Ireland and Northern Ireland; German Army Command gazetteer of Ireland and Northern Ireland, entitled Militärgeographie Angaben über Irland, listing county sizes, numbers of inhabitants, population densities, industries, and harbour and port facilities in Ireland and Northern Ireland, 1940; German Army High Command gazetteers of Britain, listing alphabetically towns and cities, their longitude and latitude co-ordinates, their respective counties, numbers of inhabitants, industrial and agricultural production rates, and trains station facilities, 1941; map book distributed by the Commander in Chief of the German Air Force, entitled Britische Flugrüstungsindustrie, detailing the location, size, and production rate of ship-building and aircraft production centres in Great Britain, 1941; map books distributed by the Commander in Chief of the German Air Force including detailed photographs, 1:100,000 and 1:250,000 maps, longitude and latitude co-ordinates, population density statistics, and points of reference notes for town and cities in Britain, 1943-1944

Edition of A Gazetteer of Greece published by the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for the Admiralty and War Office (House of the Royal Geographical Society, London, 1942). Also, official 1945 edition of RAF Map Catalogue containing lists of maps of Europe, the Middle East and the Far East held by the RAF and published by Directorate of Military Survey, Middle East; Directorate of Survey, Geographical Section General Staff, India; the Australian Survey Corps; the Aeronautical Chart Service; US Army Air Forces; and the Army Map Service, US Army. Book of maps published by the Institute for Army Education relating to the British campaign in Burma, 1942-1945, and including maps of Northern Arakan, the Assam Front, the Kohima Sector, the Imphal Sector, the Irrawaddy, and campaigns in Burma and Eastern India, 1942-1945. Ministry of Defence map and air chart sales catalogue containing details of all maps and aeronautical chart series released for sale to the public by the Ministry of Defence, including world surface maps, aeronautical topographical and planning charts, and special navigational charts, 1968- 1971.

World War Two ordnance survey maps of the United Kingdom and Europe, mainly 1 inch, prepared by the Geographical Section, General Staff, and the War Office, for use by the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), including 1:40,000 map of Antwerp, Belgium; 1:100,000 map of Brussels, Belgium; 1:5,000,000 map of South Africa; 1:250,000 map of Italy; and 1:50,000 map of Northeast France. Also included are German survey maps of North Africa and Northern Greece, and 1:300,000 map of the Netherlands with manuscript outline of German Army occupation districts, 1940-1943

British publications relating to the Allied war effort and the Home Front, 1940-1954, including editions of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) pamphlets Frontline, 1940-41; The official story of the civil defence of Britain (HMSO, London, 1942), Combined Operations, 1940-1942 (HMSO, London, 1943), Target: Germany. The US Army Air Forces' official story of the VIII Bomber Command's first year over Europe (HMSO, London, 1944), Among those present: the official story of the Pacific Islands at war (HMSO, London, 1946). Also pamphlet, 'The battle of South London', by Arthur L Woolf (Crystal Publications Ltd, London, c 1945), with photographs and accounts of bombing in South London, Second World War, and Westminster at War by William Sansom (Faber and Faber, London, 1947).

Cuttings from the Daily Telegraph and Morning Post, 1946-1947, including serialised extracts from The Last Days of Hitler (Macmillan, London, 1947), by Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, 26 Nov-11 Dec 1946; three serialised extracts from Calculated Risk: the story of the war in the Mediterranean (Harper and Bros, 1950), about the Allied landings in North Africa, 1942, by Gen Mark Wayne Clark, 27-29 Jan 1947; article by former US Secretary of State for War, Henry L Stimson, entitled 'The decision to use the atomic bomb', 14 Feb 1947; three articles by former Prime Minister Rt Hon Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill relating to the development of the Truman Doctrine and aid to Greece and Turkey, 12-15 Apr 1947.

Publications, 1939-1956 relating to World War Two, comprising: 'Final report by the Rt Hon Sir Neville Henderson, GCMG, on the circumstances leading to the termination of his mission to Berlin, September 20 1939' (HMSO, 1939); 'The outbreak of war, 22 August-3 September 1939' (Ministry of Information, 1939); 'Documents concerning German-Polish relations and the outbreak of hostilities between Great Britain and Germany on September 3, 1939' (HMSO, 1939); 'The battle of Egypt' (Ministry of Information, 1943); 'The Army at war: Tunisia' (Ministry of Information, 1944); 'Nations at war' (Ministry of Information, 1945); 'German, Italian and Japanese U-Boat casualties during the war' (HMSO, 1946); 'Report by the Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean to the Combined Chiefs of Staff on the operations in Southern France, August 1944' (HMSO, 1946); 'Strength and casualties of the Armed Forces and Auxiliary Services of the United Kingdom, 1939-1945' (HMSO, 1946); 'Ships of the Royal Navy statement of losses during the Second World War' (HMSO, 1947); 'British merchant vessels lost or damaged by enemy action during Second World War' (HMSO, 1947); 'Report by the Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean to the Combined Chiefs of Staff on the Italian Campaign: Part 2, 10 May 1944 to 12 August 1944: Part 3, 13 August 1944 to 12 December 1944' (HMSO, 1948); 'The Second World War, 1939-1945: a list of British naval anniversaries' (produced by Department of Naval Information [1949]); 'Report to the combined chiefs of staff by the Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, 1943-1945' (HMSO, 1951); 'The Italian campaign, 12 December 1944 to 2 May 1945: a report to the Combined Chiefs of Staff by the Supreme Commander Mediterranean Field Marshal The Viscount Alexander of Tunis' (HMSO, 1951); and 'The official names of the battles, actions and engagements fought by the Land Forces of the Commonwealth during the Second World War, 1939-1945' (HMSO, 1956).

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