The collection comprises a copy of a diary compiled by the surgeon Harold Edwards in 1939, specifically describing the emergency arrangements undertaken at King's College Hospital with the outbreak of war. Edwards was in charge of implementing these plans and the diary outlines these and the reactions and opinions of staff between September and October 1939.

Epic violet', a draft memoir covering his service with the Air Ministry and the BEF, 1939-1940, notably pre-war air intelligence, the 'phoney war' and air reconnaissance in France, Sep 1939-Apr 1940, the German invasion of France, May 1940, and the evacuation of UK troops from Dunkirk, May-June 1940, written in [1957]. 'Skies to Dunkirk', a memoir based on the above draft,published in 1982.