Key Information
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1940-1981 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent
4 boxes
Scope and content
Papers mainly relating to the war service of Patrick O'Regan in France and northern Italy, especially with the Special Operations Executive (SOE), 1940-1981; including papers on SOE operations in Italy with details of partisan staff, operations, equipment, enemy strength, propaganda, personal correspondence with partisans and SOE members, photographs of street fighting, mountain warfare, groups of British and Italian soldiers, victory parades, funerals, operational maps of northern Italy and south-eastern France published and produced by Michelin and the War Office, memorabilia and printed guides to Italy and the German Army, including false identity papers, 1944-1945; papers on the service of O'Regan in France and northern Italy, 1943-1945; manuscript, typescript and copy correspondence between O'Regan and his mother and others including his wife and brother, mainly relating to his service with the 186 Field Ambulance Service, Intelligence Corps and from Ceylon, preparations for a parachute drop into France, the Political Warfare Executive, training in Algiers, account by O'Regan of his experiences with partisans near Turin and other parts of northern Italy, O'Regan's post-war political views, letters to Italian partisans in the aftermath of World War Two, application to Foreign service, 1940-1952; proceedings of a conference in Bologna relating to No 1 Special force and the Italian Resistance during World War Two, 2 vols, 1981; obituaries, 1961.
Accruals
3 accessions, 1980-1991.
System of arrangement
A series of files and books as described above in the Scope and Content section. Most correspondence, some photographs, obituaries and the Bologna conference proceedings constitute the 2nd and 3rd accessions.
General Information
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born, 1920; Marlborough; Merton College Oxford, 1939; Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), 186 Field Ambulance Service in Middle East, 1940; Intelligence Corps (Field Services Wing), GHQ, Middle East, from May 1942, and Political Warfare Executive Military Training School, from Oct 1943; transferred to Special Operations Executive (SOE), 1944; organised French Resistance in southern France; No 1 Special Force with partisans in Italy, 1944; Force 136, Ceylon, 1945; Foreign Office, 1946; died 1961.
Repository
Custodial history
The family deposited the papers, 1980-1991
Conditions governing access
Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification, to include one photographic ID.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied from open material for research purposes only.
Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, via the Archives.
Language of material
- English
- German
- Italian
Script of material
Uploaded finding aid
Existence and location of originals
Please note: We require 7 days notice to retrieve this collection as part, or all of it, is held off-campus. Read more ›
Related materials
Note
Decorations: MC and Bar.
Alternative identifier(s)
Subjects
- Wars (events)
- Armed forces
- Communication process
- Guerilla activities
- International conflicts
- International relations
- Military organizations
- Oppression
- Organizations
- Persuasion
- Political movements
- Propaganda
- Resistance to oppression
- Special forces
- State security
- War
- War propaganda
- World wars (events)
- World War Two (1939-1945)
Place access points
People and Organisations
- O'Regan, Patrick Valentine William Rowan, 1920-1961 (Subject)
- PWE, Political Warfare Executive (Subject)
- SOE, Special Operations Executive (Subject)
Genre access points
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000.
Script(s)
Archivist's note
Sources: obituaries.
Entry compiled by Geoff Browell for the RSLP AIM25 Project.