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).

Publications, mostly official, relating to UK defence policy, notably, defence expenditure, and equipment procurement, 1960-1990, including ninety-seven editions of House of Commons Official Report. Parliamentary debates (Hansard) (HMSO, London, 1964-1990) and thirteen editions of House of Lords Official Report. Parliamentary debates (Hansard) (HMSO, London, 1975-1990); fifty, mainly UK and USA official printed reports, 1960-1989, including Navy estimates, 1960-1963, Statement on the Defence Estimates (HMSO, London, 1966-1973, 1975-1981, 1988-1989); reports from the House of Commons Defence Committee, 1981-1989; reports relating to specific issues, notably strategic nuclear deterrence, 1973-1982, and the Falklands conflict, 1982-1987. Newspaper cuttings, 1968-1992, mostly relating to Malta, 1968-1972; Soviet seapower in the Mediterranean, 1969-1972; International naval affairs, 1970-1971; South Africa, 1970-1971; the Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988; the Falklands conflict, 1982; US intervention in Grenada, 1983; Soviet defence policy, 1984-1988; NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), 1984-1990; UK, US and European defence policy, 1984-1992; the US bombing raid on Libya, 1986; the Gulf War, 1991.

Copies of papers relating to his career and the strategic significance of seapower, 1915-1962, including official and personal correspondence, 1915-1936, including letters from Adm Sir Arthur Cavenagh Leveson, Commander-in-Chief, China Station, 1923, R Adm Montagu William Warcop Peter Consett, 1923, V Adm Sir Lewis Clinton-Baker, 1926, Lt Gen John Greer Dill, 1929-1936, Adm Sir Herbert William Richmond, 1929, Maj Gen William Henry Bartholomew, 1929, R Adm Ragnar Musgrave Colvin, Chief of Staff, Home Fleet, 1931, Cdre Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1932; manuscript narrative diary, HMS HAREBELL, Fishery Protection, 1925-1926; typescript copies of lectures given at the Imperial Defence College, 1927-1935; manuscript notes on the history of the Peninsular Campaigns, Napoleonic Wars, 1807-1814 [1928]; published articles by Dickens, letters to the press and book reviews, mainly relating to the Royal Navy and the projection of seapower, 1929-1962; manuscript narrative war diary, 1940-1945, with manuscript notes on the Korean War, 1950; official and personal correspondence, 1940-1945, including letters from Rt Hon Maurice Paschal Alers Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey of The Chart, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1940, letter from Capt Wilfrid Rupert Patterson, Captain of HMS KING GEORGE V, on the sinking of the German battleship BISMARCK, 1941, letters from Adm Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Bt, 1941-1944, letter from Augustus (Edwin) John, 1943, letter from R Adm John Anthony Vere Morse, 1943, letter from AF Sir John Cronyn Tovey, Commander-in-Chief, the Nore, 1945, also, typescript report by Dickens to the Admiralty on the German attack on the Netherlands, 22 May 1940 and copy of Adm Cunningham's official signal to the Admiralty on the surrender of the Italian Fleet, Malta, 10 Sep 1943; newspaper cuttings and correspondence relating to Bombing and strategy. The fallacy of total war (Sampson Low, Marston and Company, London, 1947), including letters of congratulation from Adm Cunningham, US Adm Richard L Conolly, Maj Gen John Frederick Charles Fuller, and Cdre Guy Willoughby, 1947; personal correspondence, 1947-1962, including letters from AF Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, 1947-1959, Adm Bruce Austin Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape, 1948, Adm Sir (Eric James) Patrick Brind, Commander-in-Chief, Far East Station, 1949, Rt Hon Maurice Paschal Alers Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey of The Chart, 1949, AF Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, 1954, AF Alfred Ernie Montacute Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield of Ditchling, 1959, R Adm George Pirie Thomson, 1959; manuscript notes and annotated typescript draft chapters for projected autobiography [1960].

Copy of typescript memoir of his RN career, 1914-1918 and 1939-1943, covering his service with the Harwich force in the North Sea, 1914-1917, notably the Battle of Dogger Bank, Jan 1915, at Nore Command, 1918-1919, in the Atlantic convoys, 1939-1940, Norway, 1940, the evacuation of Dunkirk, 1940, as Staff Officer, HQ Western Approaches, 1940-1941, in the Mediterranean,1941-1942, Madagascar, 1942, Malta convoys, 1942, and the landings in North Africa, 1942, Sicily, 1943, and Italy, 1943. Includes copies of naval signals, 1915-1916.

Comprising copies of journals, maps, newspaper cuttings and supporting printed literature relating to politics, trade, international development and relations between nations in North Africa and the Middle East, 1959-1993; notably including personal papers and notes compiled by George Joffé for Menas (Middle East and North African Studies Press) Ltd, and in the course of his work as a journalist, principally correspondence with publishers, consultants and experts in the oil industry relating to legal action over disputed damages estimates, 1978-1986, papers on Project Profile Ltd, a consultancy company established in 1982; cuttings and typescript articles and lecture texts by Joffé mainly on Morocco and North Africa delivered to the African History seminar at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, and Institute of Commonwealth Studies, 1976-1977 (Ref: Joffé 1/1-3); research papers compiled for Menas, mainly correspondence with experts on the various arbitration and court proceedings between international oil companies and national governments with which Menas was involved, including on Iran, the Iranian oil industry, economy, borders and politics, 1966-1993, Libya and Malta and the 'Continental Shelf Case', 1983-1990, Saudi Arabia and Yemeni border issues, 1991, disputes concerning international water resources, 1982-1986, cost analysis, accounting standards and background articles on the Khemco and Phillips oil cases, 1985-1988, notes on Morocco including offprints, press cuttings, national economic statistics and statistics of neighbouring countries in North Africa, 1974-1988 (Ref: Joffé 2/1-8); typescript court reports, claimants' and respondents' submissions, evaluations, expert testimony and supporting evidence in a number of international disputes aired at the Iran-US Claims Tribunal, The Hague, Netherlands, and International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration, concerning several major international oil companies or local subsidiaries including Phillips Petroleum, Amoco, Mobil Oil, Arco, Gatoil, Lapco and Khemco in their claims against Iran, 1983-1989, the Saudi Arabia-Yemen boundary dispute, 1991-1992, Mobil Oil Libya v Libya, 1982-1986, Libya-Malta Continental Shelf Case with extracts from numerous Maltese parliamentary papers and Mediterranean geological studies, 1966-1983 (Ref: Joffé 3/1-14); Menas publications, notably on Iran, Libya, Morocco, international boundaries and water resources, 1979-1991 (Ref: Joffé 4); on the politics, economies and international relations of numerous North African or Middle Eastern countries and regions including Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Middle East, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and on various topics such as oil, Islam and the Salman Rushdie affair, 1980-1989 (Ref: Joffé 5/1-4); Economist Intelligence Unit publications, mainly Special Reports on countries, industries, trends and energy reviews, 1983-1993 (Ref: Joffé 6/1-3); copies of various journals and periodicals including International Affairs , 1980-1986, The Middle East Journal , 1980-1987, Third World Quarterly , 1981-1984, 1986-1987, Cedies informations , 1983-1987, Middle East Business Weekly , 1985-1990, Middle East Economic Survey , 1987-1989 (Ref: Joffé 7); statistical publications on various Middle East and African countries including Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, company reports, OPEC reports, 1959-1990 (Ref: Joffé 8/1-5); copies of maps, mainly topographical and geological, of Iran, [1950-1985] (Ref: Joffé 9); diverse bibliographies including on Afghanistan, uranium, Africa and the International Court of Justice, 1979-1980 (Ref:Joffé 10); copies of archival documents used in research undertaken by Menas and in court and arbitration proceedings, employed to establish historical precedents and resolve boundary disputes, on Malta, including copies of documents in the Archives of the Knights of St John, Public Record Office (PRO), London, and the State Archives in Venice, in Italian, French and English, [1728-1950], Israel-Jordan water resources mainly from the US National Archives' Eric Johnson manuscripts, Public Record Office (PRO) Colonial Office and Foreign Office documents on the same subject, 1876-1959], Saudi Arabia-Yemen territorial dispute copies of diplomatic records from the Public Record Office, India Office and Ottoman Archives, Istanbul, [1890-1930], copies of treaties mainly on the Mediterranean and Morocco, in French, [1761-1985], Libya disputes with Chad and Malta, French plans for Libya and the former Italian colonies, including PRO Foreign Office 371 and 146, and the Rennell papers, Nuffield College, Oxford, [1883-1991], Iraq-Kuwait territorial claims including PRO Foreign Office 371 documents and India Office papers, [1909-1956] (Ref: Joffé 11/1-6).

Personal and military papers of Major General Sir Robert Edward Laycock, 1923-1968, chiefly relating to service with Special Service Brigade and as Chief of Combined Operations, 1940-1946. Includes papers on volunteering for Special Service Brigade, including completed application forms for volunteer Commando officers, 1940. Papers on Special Service Brigade training 1940-1941, including gas, bayonet and signalling training. Memoranda, reports, instructions and other papers, 1940-1942, relating to LAYFORCE (commanded by Laycock in the Middle East), including papers on the Folbot Section (later to become Special Boat Service). Papers on Special Service Brigade, [1941-1946], including memoranda, reports, minutes, papers on their reorganisation, disbandment and the future of Combined Operations, also including papers belonging to Lord George Jellicoe relating to Special Service Brigade in the Middle East; reports and other papers on Special Service Brigade operations, notably Operation TORCH, (the invasion of North West Africa, Nov 1942) and Operation HUSKY, (the invasion of Sicily, Jun 1943). Laycock's official and personal correspondence,1923-1968, chiefly relating to Special Service Brigade. Lectures and speeches to and on Special Service Brigade, chiefly by Laycock. Draft publications, scripts and press cuttings relating to Laycock and Special Service Brigade. Memoirs and accounts of Commando action, including parts of Robert Edward Laycock's memoirs and memoirs of members of 'G' Troop, 7 Commando. Papers on Laycock standing as Conservative parliamentary candidate for Bassetlaw in the 1945 general collection and on his refusal to stand for the 1947 bye-election. Papers relating to Laycock's time as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Malta. Poems by Laycock.

Papers relating to his life and career, 1915-1991, dated 1963, 1969 and [1991], principally comprising 'Nine lives, a soldier's story', a typescript memoir covering the period 1915-1991, including his service in North Africa and the Western Desert, 1939-1942 and 1943, the Middle East, 1942-1943 and 1954-1956, Normandy, 1944, and France, Belgium and Germany, 1945-1947, and hiswork as Director General of Fighting Vehicles, 1964-1966, and General Officer Commanding, Malta and Libya, 1967-1968, written in [1991].

Papers, 1919-1947, of Lt Col Geoffrey Wells Meates, comprising his diaries, 1919, 1921-1939, 1943-1947, containing detailed narrative entries daily, and correspondence with his parents, 1921-1935, 1939-1945. Meates' diaries and letters record his activities, experiences, surroundings and travels, including his service with the Royal Artillery in Rangoon, Burma, and Calcutta, India, in the 1920s, and with Anti-Aircraft Artillery units in France (British Expeditionary Force, 1939-1940), Malta (1940-1944) and England (1944-1945) during World War Two.

Papers of Barrie Pitt relating to military history, 1940-1991, including draft of book Special Boat Squadron by Pitt, annotated with corrections; draft of book Crucible of War: Western Desert 1941 by Pitt, annotated with corrections; transcripts of radio and television broadcasts on the First and Second World Wars including transcripts of the BBC 1 series 'Grand Strategy' on the Second World War, 1972; scripts and other papers relating to the BBC TV series, 'The Great War', 1964 and transcripts of 'European Service: General News Talk' 26 Jun 1964-20 Aug 1964; correspondence chiefly on the subject of historical research; photographs of Malta during the Second World War; copy photographs used by Pitt to illustrate his books and articles, chiefly photographs of the North African Campaign, to illustrate Pitt's book Crucible of War: Western Desert, 1941, also photographs of Adolf Hitler, Albrecht Kesselring; Sicily, 1943 and aerial warfare, Malta, 1940-1943; papers used for research including press cuttings, magazines and magazine cuttings, offprints of articles and correspondence notably on the subject of Europe 1900-1914 and the Middle East; papers relating to Basil Liddell Hart including photographs, draft articles by Liddell Hart, copies of Liddell Hart's correspondence and press cuttings; draft papers by Eric Dorman O'Gowen and related correspondence and copies of British History Illustrated.

Command study of the Battle of Gazala, 26 May-21 Jun 1942, produced by the Education Branch, HQ Malta and Libya, 1967.

Microfilm copies of papers relating to his naval career, 1942-1946, principally comprising 'Africa Navy blues', an illustrated account of his experiences in the RN, 1942-1946, written in 1946, covering his service on HMS BIRMINGHAM in a convoy from Egypt to Malta (Operation VIGOROUS), June 1942, and on anti-submarine trawlers in the Bay of Bengal, 1942, during the Allied invasion of Madagascar, 1942, and in South Africa, 1942-1945; diary, 1943-1945. 'War time trawler', a transcript of a broadcast by James McClurg of the South African Broadcasting Corporation concerning his experiences on board an anti-submarine trawler during World War Two, written in [1940-1945].

Microfilm collection containing copies of meeting minutes of the major conferences of the Combined Chiefs of Staff, 1941-1945. Meeting minutes include those for the conference held at Washington, DC, codenamed ARCADIA, at which Anglo-American planners first formed a combined strategy for the prosecution of the war, 22 Dec 1941-14 Jan 1942; the conference at Casablanca, Morocco, codenamed SYMBOL, during which the Anglo-American Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) first discussed the policies of German unconditional surrender, the Combined Bomber Offensive from Great Britain against Germany and the establishment of the French National Committee for Liberation, 14-24 Jan 1943; the Allied conference held at Washington, DC, codenamed TRIDENT, at which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Prime Minister Rt Hon Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, and the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS)discussed the decision to delay the invasion of France until May 1944, the Italian surrender, and the Battle of the Atlantic, 11-25 May 1943; the Allied conference at Quebec City, Canada, codenamed QUADRANT, at which the Allies endorsed a plan for the invasion of the Normandy coast in France, formed a new theatre of war, South-East Asia Command, with Acting Adm Lord Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten as Supreme Allied Commander, and regulated the procedures for co-operation between Great Britain and the US regarding the development and production of the atomic bomb, 12-24 Aug 1943; the Allied conferences at Cairo, Egypt, codenamed SEXTANT, at which the Allies discussed combined operations in South-East Asia with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese forces, 22-26 Nov and 2-7 Dec 1943; the Allied conference at Teheran, Iran, codenamed EUREKA, during which the Allies first co-ordinated future strategy with Soviet Prime Minister Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, including plans to coincide military operations against Germany in France and the Soviet Union in May 1944, 28-30 Nov 1943; the conference at Quebec City, Canada, codenamed OCTAGON, at which the Allies discussed the post-war division of Germany and a plan for its de-industrialisation, 12-16 Sep 1944; the conferences at Malta and Yalta, Soviet Union, codenamed ARGONAUT, at which the Allies discussed the division of post-war Germany, the occupation of Germany and Austria, Soviet involvement in the war against Japan, and the future government and frontiers of Poland, 30 Jan-9 Feb 1945; the conference at Potsdam, Germany, codenamed TERMINAL, during which surrender terms for Japan were discussed, the boundaries and peace terms for Europe were determined and Poland's government and frontiers were debated, 16 Jul-2 Aug 1945. Conference minutes include references to Allied production and assignment of war materials; British and US merchant vessel losses; US policy concerning assignments of Lend-Lease military aircraft, naval vessels and munitions to Great Britain; Allied petroleum supplies; propaganda and unconventional warfare; war crimes and prisoners of war; operational reports concerning the planning and conduct of Allied offensive operations in Europe, including the invasion of North Africa, codenamed Operation TORCH, Nov 1942; the invasion of Sicily, Italy, codenamed Operation HUSKY, Jul 1943; the US preparation for the invasion of Europe, codenamed Operation BOLERO; and the Allied invasion of Europe, codenamed Operation OVERLORD, Jun 1944; operational reports concerning the Japanese war economy; Japanese Imperial Army logistical capabilities; locations and strengths of Japanese forces in the Pacific; British participation in long range bombing of Japan; Allied operational efforts in Burma, India, Malaya, and the Philippines; Soviet claims on the Sakhalin and Kuril islands; the co-ordination of Allied strategic plans for the defeat and occupation of Japan, 1943-1944; Soviet military action to facilitate Operation OVERLORD; liaison between Allied theatre commanders and the Soviet Army; Soviet capabilities with reference to the Far East; US Lend-Lease requirements for the Soviet Union; and estimates of Soviet post-war capabilities and intentions, 1943-1945.

Two manuscript narrative diaries by Webb-Bowen, detailing the voyage of HMS IRON DUKE to the Crimea, Russia, via Gibraltar, Malta, Suda Bay, Crete, and Constantinople, Turkey, and subsequent operations in the Black Sea and Turkey, 21 Mar 1919-30 Nov 1920; typescript orders by Adm Sir John Michael de Robeck, 1st Bt, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, for officers and men of HM Ships IRON DUKE, MARLBOROUGH, BENBOW, MONTROSE, SPEEDY and SPORTIVE, relating to landing operations against Nationalist Turkish forces, Gemlik and Yeni Keui, Turkey, Jul 1920.

Drama in Malta, a personal flashback', Weldon's account of his service in Malta, 1939-1943, based on notes made in 1939-1943, printed by Printing and Stationery Service, British Army of the Rhine, [1945]. 'A collection of Field Marshal Montgomery's personal messages to 21 Army Group, Normandy to the Baltic, 1944-1945', printed by Printing and Stationery Services, 21 Army Group, [1945].