War Cabinet Minutes (HMSO), 1939-1945 is a themed microfiche collection containing copies of the minutes of the War Cabinet Meetings, Sep 1939-Jul 1945, and Cabinet Conclusions and Confidential Annexes, 1941-1945. Meeting minutes include British plans to create discord amongst the German High Command, Nov 1939; criticism of the military campaign in Norway, May 1940; First Lord of the Admiralty Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill's criticism of the Allied propaganda campaign in France, May 1940; speculation on the ability of the German population to sustain prolonged war, May 1940; reaction to the Allied withdrawals in France and Belgium, May 1940; the debate over the possible compromise peace with Germany, 26-28 May 1940; the decision to intern all enemy aliens in the United Kingdom; May 1940; Churchill's reaction to American isolationism, May 1940; the seizing of French warships in British and Egyptian harbours and the sinking of French warships at Mers-el-Kebir, Egypt, 23 Jun 1940; straining Anglo-French relations, Jul 1940; the Anglo-American 'destroyers for bases' agreement, Aug 1940; Churchill's attempt to take to court the Sunday Pictorial and the Daily Mirror over the newspapers' alleged anti-Government editorials, Oct 1940; preparations for the possible German invasion of the Britain, 1940; civil defence precautions in Britain, 1940; the British intervention in Greece, 1941; speculation on Soviet military collapses following the invasion of the Soviet Union by German armed forces, Jun 1941; Churchill's appeals to US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for American intervention in the war, 1941; reaction over the fall of Singapore and Malaya to Japanese armed forces, Feb 1942; Anglo-American preparations for the invasion of North Africa, 1942; naval and air operations against France, 1943; the 'Beveridge Report' on social security in Britain, 1943; reports on Allied conferences at Casablanca, Jan 1943, and Washington, May 1943; the Allied decision to invade France made at the QUADRANT Conference, Quebec, Canada, Aug 1943; the planning and conduct of Operation OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of France, Jun 1944; the effect of the bombardment of London by German V1 pilotless aircraft and possible RAF reprisals against German civilian targets, Jun 1944; post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation in Europe, Jul 1944; plans for the Allied occupation of Germany and Austria, Nov 1944; British intervention in Greece in order to prevent a Communist take-over of the peninsula, Nov 1944; the establishment of the United Nations, 1945; arrangements for celebrating the end of the war in Europe, May 1945; the British General Election, Jul 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.

Papers relating to the career of Brig John 'Joe' Starling, 1947-1992, including copy of memoir Soldier On! The Testament of a Tom , (Spellmount Ltd., 1992), detailing 45 years of Starling's military career; pamphlets and brochures advertising the Parachute Regiment and the Red Devils display team including The Parachute Regiment: Challenge! , c.1970; Train to be a Parachute Soldier , [1975]; Parachute Regiment and Officer Parachute Regiment , Office of Information, 1985; The Airborne Initiative: The 1990 Airborne Forces Golden Jubilee Appeal , 1989 and recruitment posters; recognition guides including Tips for Tankers: Defeating Soviet Armor , US Army Armor School, c 1955; Recognition Handbook: Foreign Weapons and Equipment (USSR) , MOD, 1964; Notes on the Soviet Ground Forces , MOD, 1972; Intelligence Aide-Memoire , Staff College, Camberley, 1976; Threat Recognition Guide , 1 (BR) Intelligence Training Directive, 1984; RAF: Aircraft, Missiles, Vehicles , Office of Information, 1985; Threat Recognition Guide , 1 (BR) Intelligence Training Directive, 1988; and flipbook showing Soviet weaponry and equipment.

Publications including Field Engineering and Mine Warfare, Pamphlet No. 4: Mines - Individual Mechanisms , War Office, 1961; NATO: Facts and Figures , NATO Information Service, 1971; Ranger Handbook , United States Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia, May 1972; Northern Ireland: What is it like for soldiers? , HMSO, 1974; Back Pocket Briefs: Royal Navy, Directorate of Naval Staff Duties , MOD, c.1988.

Lecture notes, handouts, pictures, maps and teaching aids on topics including lessons learned at Fibua Tewt, Aden, May-June 1967; battle handling exercises: tank stalk and tank ambush; explosive excavation of trenches; tactical exercises, Joint Services Free Fall Trials Team, May 1971, and the construction of petrol bombs to effectively attack tanks. Photographs including Starling in a rubber estate, evening meal in the jungle, Bukit Prang Base, river crossing, a patrol resting, armoured 3 ton truck, the corpses of Tamil terrorists killed in ambush, captured weapons displayed by an Iban tracker, Malay policemen and Starling, Malaya, 1949; group photographs including Champion and Waterloo Company; Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, July 1947; Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Hare and Hounds; Waterloo Company, July 1948; No 2 Platoon, East Anglian Regiment Training Brigade; Officers, School of Infantry (Platoon Weapons Wing), Hythe, May 1950; School of Infantry Tactical Wing Platoon Commanders Course, August 1950 and the Parachute Regiment Regimental Sergeants Major Convention, March 1973. Also Yemeni flag with National Liberation Front slogan in Arabic, Aden, 1963.

List the bugle, reminiscences of an Irish soldier (Greystone, Antrim, 1993), a memoir of his life and career, 1921-1976, notably his service in the UK and France, 1942, including the Allied raid on St Nazaire,1942, his experiences as a POW, Germany, 1942-1945, his service in Palestine, 1945-1946, Egypt, 1949-1951, Malaya, 1956-1958, and Cyprus, 1958, and his command of the 1 Bn, Royal Ulster Rifles, Borneo, 1963-1964, and of the Sultan's Armed Forces, Oman, 1967-1970.

Papers relating to his military career, dated 1946-[1984], notably including typescript account of service of No 1 Independent Infantry Company, Malaya, 1941-1942, dated [1946-1984]; typescript account of experiences of 5 Bn, 14 Punjab Regt in Japanese POW camps, 1942-1945, including details of their work on the Burma Railway, written in [1946-1984]; typescript memoir of Fearon's military career, 1929-1947, written by his wife Diana Fearon in [1984].

Papers relating to his military career, 1944-1952, dated [1944-1953], [1960-1980], comprising account of advance of 2 Bn, Essex Regt through Northern France and Belgium, June-Oct 1944, notably covering the attack on Le Havre, 10 Sep 1944, written in [1945], with appendix dated [1960-1980]; account of withdrawal of 2 Infantry Bde from Belgium and Northern France, May 1940,culminating in their evacuation from Dunkirk on 1 Jun 1940, written in [1944-1945]; notes on the allotment and loading of vehicles, Operation OVERLORD, June 1944; map of German defences at Le Havre, issued by [the War Office], 1944; map showing position of 51 and 49 Div to the north of Le Havre, 7 Jun 1944, issued by the War Office, 1947; two accounts of the work of 1 Bn, The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regt, in Malaya, 1952, written in [1953].

Papers relating to his military career, 1922, [1948], 1950, including letter from Maj Gen W Robb relating to Brown's retirement from King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, [1948]; two letters of thanks and congratulation from Gen Sir Allan Francis John Harding, Commander-in-Chief, Far East Land Forces, 1950; two photographs of Brown in Malaya during Operation NAWAB, [1947-1951], one with Harding, the other in the jungle near Guron.

Two reports on ordnance engineering services in Malaya during the period 1941-1942, written by Ashton following the destruction of all records at Malaya Command in 1942, [1946]; papers relating to the above reports, principally comprising Ashton's report to Air Cdre Modin on RAF Senior Training Corps mechanics attached to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Malaya, [1942-1943], an account of ordnance engineering services in Malaya during 1941-1942 by the Assistant Director of Ordnance Services (Engineering), 3 Indian Corps, [1942-1946], reports on ordnance services in Malaya during the period 1941-1942, written for Ashton by Capt E J Coulthard, H J Howland and Lt G A Neale, [1946].