Papers dated 1942-1943 relating to the campaign in the Western Desert during World War Two comprising the history and organisation of Field Maintenance Centres, later known as Field Maintenance Areas, and message from Gen Bernard L Montgomery commending troops of 8 Army following the German defeat at El Alamein and capture of Tripoli, Jan 1943.

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.

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).

Papers relating to his life and career, 1917-1963, principally comprising official correspondence with Lt Gen M Brocas Burrows, British Military Mission, Moscow, 1944-1945, Gen Mark Wayne Clark, US Army, 1943-1944, 1951-1952, Maj Gen Richard Henry Dewing, UK Army and RAF Liaison Staff, Australia, 1943-1944, Maj Gen Gordon Edward Grimsdale, Military Attaché andhead of Military Mission to Chungking, China, 1942-1943, AF Sir Roger John Brownlow Keyes, Bt, Director of Combined Operations, War Office, 1940-1942, Lt Gen Sir Henry Pownall, South East Asia Command HQ, 1944-1945, Lt Gen Sir Harold Redman, British Joint Staff Mission, Washington DC, 1943-1944, AF Sir James Somerville, Commander-in-Chief Eastern Fleet, 1943-1947, and Maj Gen Sir Edward Spears, Minister to the Lebanon, 1940-1944, and Lt Gen Albert C Wedemeyer, US Army, Deputy Chief of Staff; South East Asia Command, 1944; personal correspondence with and about FM Lord Alanbrooke, 1946-1947, 1957-1963, FM Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, 1941-1961, and FM Archibald Percival Wavell, Viscount Wavell of Cyrenaica and of Winchester, 1943-1946; official andpersonal correspondence with Dwight David Eisenhower, 1942-1965, and AF Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, 1943-1954, 1960-1964; correspondence with publishers and colleagues, including Gen Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor; papers relating to India, 1947-1951, including his correspondence as Chief of Staff to Mountbatten, 1947, notes on interviews with Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahomed Ali Jinnah, 1947, letters describing the political situation in India, 1947-1948, and correspondence concerning compensation for Indian Government servants, 1948-1951; correspondence concerning the proposed defence reorganisation, 1955-1963; papers relating to his service as Secretary General, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), 1952-1957, including his official progress reports, 1952-1956; newspaper cuttings, statements to the press and texts of speeches and broadcasts, 1952-1957; papers relating to his memoirs, [1940-1960] including correspondence with publishers, 1960-1961, and colleagues, 1957-1960, notebooks, 1940-1960, and drafts and proofs, [1960]. newspaper cuttings, 1943, 1948, 1951-1952, 1957; texts of speeches, 1943-1958; correspondence relating to operations in Somaliland, 1917-1920; notes and papers relating to his studies at Staff College, Quetta and RAF Staff College, 1922-1924. Papers relating to Rt Hon Sir Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, 1940-1965, including personal correspondence with Churchill, 1940, 1943-1945, 1947-1964; correspondence relating to Churchill's memoir The Second World War (Cassell, London, 1948-1954), 1946-1956, including correspondence relating to Dieppe Raid, Aug 1942, dated 1950, and galley proofs, [1948-1954]. Printed material, 1941-1945, 1947, 1951, notably including copies of telegrams sent by Winston Churchill as Prime Minister, 1941-1942; minutes of Chiefs of Staff meetings, 1943-1944; minutes of Combined Chiefs of Staff meetings, 1943, 1945.