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.

Papers of Maj Gen Ian Helstrip Baker, notably concerning armoured warfare, 1955-2003, including instructions, memoranda, reports and notes on training exercises including Exercise GAMEBIRD, Cyclops Sqn, 2 Royal Tank Regt, Libya, Jul 1964; Exercises OPEN GLOVE and TREBLE CHANCE, Cyclops Sqn, 2 Royal Tank Regt and 16 Parachute Bde Group, Sep 1964; Exercise DOUBLE STRETCH 72, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Feb-Mar 1972; Exercise RED RAT, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Sep-Oct 1972; MACLEOD, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Aug-Sep 1972; Exercise READY RAT, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, 11 Sep 1972; Exercise LONG LOOK, for 7 Armoured Bde trials of ZB298 radar, Oct 1971-Apr 1972; organisational trial Exercise SQUARE RAT, Germany, 28 Dec 1972; Exercise FIRST STRETCH 73, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Feb 1973; Exercise DOUBLE STRETCH 73, 1 Armoured Bde, Germany, Mar-Apr 1973; Exercise HURST PARK 73, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Apr 1973; Exercise QUEEN'S PATROL, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany (relating to operations in Northern Ireland), May 1973; Exercise RED RAT 73, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Aug 1973; Exercise FOUR SQUARE, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Sep-Nov, 1973; photographs of [FV214 Conqueror battle tanks], Royal Armoured Corps, Bovington, Dorset and photograph of an amphibious jeep, partially submerged, 1960; photograph of Crown Prince Birendra of Nepal and others watching a Hornet Launcher vehicle being loaded with Malkara missiles by personnel of Cyclops Sqn, 2 Royal Tank Regt, Candahar Barracks, Tidworth, 15 Apr 1964; captioned photographs relating to Baker's visit to [1 Bn, Royal Green Jackets], Belfast, Northern Ireland, including: battalion personnel on patrol; Falls Road and Hamilton Street, Belfast, showing the aftermath of explosions; IRA weapons discovered, including rifles, knives, an RPG7 rocket launcher and RPG7 rockets, a car bomb and smaller incendiary devices, Aug 1972; photographs of Baker, Nov 1979 and in Brigadier's uniform; handing over briefing notes by Baker as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, 17 Gurkha Div, Overseas Commonwealth Land Forces, 25 Jun 1962; training instructions for Cyclops Sqn, 2 Royal Tank Regt, Tidworth, Mar 1963-May 1964; briefing notes on the Parachute Sqn, Royal Armoured Corps, by Baker, 1964; Royal Armoured Corps training pamphlet, 'The technique of shooting from AFVs. Part 4: the application of fire from Saladin armoured cars' (MoD, Feb 1967); 1 Royal Tank Regt standing operational procedures, Jun 1969; briefing notes for Baker as Commander, 7 Armoured Bde, by Administration and Quartering staff, 7 Armoured Bde, 18 Jan 1972 and by Brigade Majors, 7 Armoured Bde, 7 Feb 1972; 7 Armoured Bde standing operating procedures relating to headquarters and operations (vol. 1), and administration and logistics (vol. 2), Feb 1972; training directives by Baker as Brigadier Commanding 7 Armoured Bde, Mar-Sep 1972; notes on the creation and history of the Desert Rat badge of 7 Armoured Bde, 1940-1972; training directive by Baker as Brigadier Commanding 7 Armoured Bde, Mar 1973; correspondence and accounts by Lt Col R A Pascoe, 1 Bn Royal Green Jackets, of the battalion's service in Belfast, 8-14 Oct 1972.

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.

Copies of papers, 1909-1974, comprising typescript copy of the 'Interim Report of the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics', 1909; night order book, HMS THESEUS, Korea, 1950-1951; newspaper cuttings on HMS THESEUS' departure from UK to Korea and subsequent return, 1950-1951; typescript transcript of Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies lecture by Bolt, Oct 1951, entitled 'HMS THESEUS in the Korean War and some special problems of naval aviation in that theatre' (subsequently published in the Journal of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies; standard circular letters to all retired admirals, containing Royal Navy news and information, from Chief of Naval Staff and First Sea Lord Adm Sir Varyl (Cargill) Begg, 1966-1968, Adm Sir Peter (John) Hill-Norton, 1971, and Adm Sir Michael (Patrick) Pollock, 1972-1974; article by Bolt on minesweeping in 1940-1941 by Vickers DWI (Directional Wireless Installation) Wellington aircraft entitled 'Minesweeping Wellingtons: Part 1: equipment and technique: early operations in the Thames Estuary', published in Air Pictorial (Apr-May 1979), with nine uncaptioned photographs of Wellington aircraft and a captured German magnetic mine.

Papers relating to his service in the RN, 1960-1976, dated 1960, 1964-1965, 1973 and 1981, principally comprising 'Management improvement in the Royal Navy', a report of the Fleet Management Technique Panel headed by Nigel C Willmott, Head of Fleet Work Study, Oct 1960, with related correspondence, 1964-1965; The Naval Electrical Review vol 17 no 1, Jul 1963, including 'A report on defective material or design', an article by Brooks based on his work in the naval section of the Post-Design Division, Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment, 1959-1962. Letter from A K Hall to Capt J W M Pertwee, Naval Assistant to the Naval Secretary, Ministry of Defence, regarding Hall's nomination to succeed Brooks as Capt, HMS DEFIANCE, dated 26 Aug 1975.

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.

Various photographs, [1924-1955], principally of army personnel, including Royal Review, Aldershot, 1924, Canadian soldiers and troop carrier, 1944, staff of Movement Control, Dover, 1945, Old Sarum, 1955 and photographs relating to Malaya, [1949], and the Ross Battery, ND. Identity card, 1946. Royal Regiment of Artillery Magazine, 1992.

Photocopy of privately published memoir, 'The Great War, 1914-1818: a former 'Gunner' of the First World War looks back', a detailed account of his military career, 1913-1919, covering mobilisation in Edinburgh, artillery, gas warfare and veterinary training, service with the Royal Field Artillery on the Western Front, 1915-1918, notably action around Vimy, May-Jun 1917, Lens, June-Oct 1917, and the Somme front, Feb-Oct 1918, and entry into Lille, Oct 1918, and demobilisation in Brussels, Feb 1919, written in [1974]. Includes reproductions of photographs and extracts from his letters home and his diary.

Edition of Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Sir John Cowley, 1905-1993, edited by Colin Maitland (Deltastet, London, 1998), chiefly covering Cowley's education at Connaught House and Wellington College, the Quetta earthquake, India, 1935, service in World War Two, 1939-1945, in the Middle East and North West Europe, and service as Controller of Munitions, Ministry of Supply, 1957-1960.

Typescript copy of account of Crawfurd's service with 29 Battery, 19 Field Regt Royal Artillery, 3 Infantry Bde, 1 Div during Operation DYNAMO, the evacuation of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) from Dunkirk, France, 1-3 Jun 1940. Also, copy of Crawfurd's obituary from The Times, Aug 1943, and a printed obituary by Col Robert Townsend Hammick, dated 19 Aug 1943, Crawfurd's Commanding Officer, 19 Field Bde, Royal Artillery, 1930-1934.

Papers, diaries, maps and publications relating to Col Ronald Duncan Cribb's life and military service, 1918-1957, including one hundred and sixty five military handbooks, training manuals and regulations, mostly relating to artillery, small arms, signals and the duties of commissioned officers, [1918]-1945; typescript and manuscript orders, notes and memoranda relating to 342 (Hertford) Battery, 86 (East Anglian), Hertfordshire Yeomanry Field Regt, Royal Artillery, Territorial Army, 1938-1939; manuscript narrative diaries relating to service in the Western Desert, Tunisia and Italy, 1941 and 1943; typescript unit diary, 121 Medium Regt, Royal Artillery, with lists of personnel, vehicles and weapons and equipment, 1944; typescript instructions for 5 Army Group, Operation OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of German occupied France, with typescript orders of battle and lists of stores, 1944; two manuscript notebooks [1944]; printed training pamphlets for service in Italy and Normandy, France, with notes on calibration, waterproofing and routes through Germany, 1944-1945; typescript orders, memoranda, printed news-sheets and press cuttings relating to 121 Medium Regt, Royal Artillery, North West Europe, 1944-1945; typescript history, written in [1947] of 121 Field/Medium Regt, Royal Artillery, 1939-1946; edition of the 'History of the 43rd Wessex Div, 24 June 1944-8 May 1945' [1947]; edition of 'The campaign in North West Europe: 275 Battery RA' [1947]; printed menus and invitations, Hertfordshire Yeomanry and 121 Medium Regt, Royal Artillery, 1947-1957; edition of 'The story of the 5th Army Group RA' [1948]; typescript Civil Defence course notes, 1948; agendas of meetings, circulars and correspondence relating to Hertfordshire Territorial and Auxiliary Forces Association, 1948-1951; typescript course notes, Field Officers, Tactical Wing, School of Artillery, Territorial Army, 1950.

The collection consists of pamphlets written by Davidson, papers relating to his part in the Allied Military Mission to Moscow, USSR, 1939 and papers relating to his career in World War Two as Commander in the Royal Artillery and as Director of Military Intelligence. The World War Two material includes maps used in the retreat of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) to Dunkirk, France, maps used as Director of Military Intelligence to illustrate the progress of the war to Queen Mary, mother of George VI and a personal diary kept while Director of Military Intelligence. There is also a file containing correspondence with E E Thomas of the Cabinet Office Historical Section relating to aspects of Military Intelligence during World War Two.

Draft text entitled 'My tour with the Pakistan Army' covering the period 1947-1949, written at the request of Maj Gen Shankal-Riza for a history of the Pakistan Artillery.

Papers of Maj Gen Stanley Eskell, 1942, comprising papers relating to the composition of war establishments of the Australian Army, Apr 1942, including a summary of ranks, distribution of personnel, allotment of transport, weapons and ammunition, and organisational notes for headquarters units, cavalry, armoured units, artillery, engineers, signals, infantry, supply and transport, medical, ordnance and provost companies.

Papers, 1910, 1935-1986, of Lt Gen Sir John (Fullerton) Evetts, including report on Evetts by Col William Baume Capper, Commandant, Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Jul 1910; 136 photographic negatives relating to Palestine and the North West Frontier, India, 1935-1941; letters of congratulation for service and for decorations, 1936-1940, including letters from AVM Richard Edmund Charles Peirse, Air Officer Commanding British Forces, Palestine and Transjordan, and Lt Gen Sir George Alexander Weir, General Officer Commanding British Troops in Egypt, 1936, Gen Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope, High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief, Palestine and Transjordan, 1937, Lt Gen Archibald Percival Wavell, Jan 1939, Sir Harold Alfred MacMichael, High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief, Palestine and Transjordan, Mar 1939, and Lt Gen Alan Fleming Hartley, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, India, 1940; three copy typescript reports on operations carried out by British forces in Palestine and Transjordan, 20 May-31 Jul 1938, 1 Nov 1938-31 Mar 1939 and 1 Apr-30 Jul 1939, by Lt Gen Robert Hadden Haining, General Officer Commanding British Forces in Palestine and Transjordan; group photograph of Evetts and the staff of the 'Evetts Mission', Melbourne, Australia, 1946; papers relating to the Joint Anglo-Australian atomic test Project, Woomera, South Australia, including lectures, correspondence, eight volumes of manuscript diaries by Evetts, Jan 1947-Aug 1951, and printed map of missile and rocket ranges, Long Range Weapons Establishment, Woomera, South Australia [1950]; typescript text of lecture by Evetts, 'Woomera, yesterday and today', in English, French and Spanish [1957]; edition of Spanish magazine Ingenieria Aeronautica with illustrated article in Spanish by Evetts, 'Woomera ayer y hoy', Jul-Aug 1957; printed illustrated article by Chris Wren entitled 'The Commonwealth's Cape Canaveral', from The Aeroplane and Astronautics , Mar 1960; booklet entitled '14 May 1689 to 14 May 1968. 1st Battalion, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)' commemorating the Regiment on its disbandment, 1968, with manuscript note, returning the booklet to Evetts, from Most Reverend and Rt Hon Arthur Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, 14 Jun 1968; correspondence relating to legal action taken against Anthony Mockler over statements concerning Evetts' actions in Syria, 1941, in his book Our enemies the French: being an account of the war fought between the French and the British, Syria 1941 (Cooper, London, 1976); five letters to Evetts from Col George Alan Dawson Young, Middle East Commandos Historical Research Group and former Commanding Officer 50 and 52 Middle East Commandos, Jul-Aug 1983, relating to allegations made against 50 Middle East Commando by Martin John Gilbert in Finest hour, Winston S Churchill, 1939-1941 (Heinemann, London, 1983); papers, 1979-1986, on the Anglo-Australian Joint Project, including typescript draft chapters of Fire across the desert: Woomera and the Anglo-Australian Joint Project, 1946-1980 by Dr Peter Ralph Morton (published by Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1989); Bristol Civil Defence Sub-Section, report by Evetts as retiring sub-regional controller, 1959.

Papers relating to his service in the Fleet Air Arm, 1939-1945 and 1974, principally comprising aerial propaganda leaflets collected by Freedman. 'Annals of minds at war', an article on aerial propaganda by John Moorehead, from The Daily Telegraph, 8 Mar 1974. Three scripture pamphlets issued by the United States Army, namely Roman Catholic and Protestant editions of 'The Gospel according to St Matthew' and 'Psalms from the Jewish Holy Scriptures', 1943-1944. Notebook of Trooper T W Thorn, Surrey Yeomanry, containing a diary covering his service in Salonika, Jun 1917-Jan 1919. Notes on the history and use of grenades, and descriptions and drawings of different types of grenades, [1917-1919].