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.

Command study of the Battle of Gazala, 26 May-21 Jun 1942, produced by the Education Branch, HQ Malta and Libya, 1967.

Papers relating to his service in World War Two, 1942-1945, principally comprising copies of typescript accounts of his escape from a POW camp in Libya, 1942, and of his service with 'A' Force in escape operations in Western Desert, 1942, Italy, 1943-1944, and Austria, 1945, written in [1945-1950], with related photographs, 1942-1945; typescript eyewitness account ofGerman atrocities against Italian peasants, 1943-1944, written in [1945]; official printed 'Analysis of surrendered German armies in Italy', issued by the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff (Operational Intelligence Section), Allied Force HQ, 1945.

Papers relating to his service in the Middle East, principally comprising account of his work at No 62 General Hospital, Tobruk, Libya, Oct 1941-Feb 1942; cutting of newspaper article based on this account, written by Patrick Marnham (his son) in 1991; text of his lecture on surgery in the Middle East, 1940-1943, [1943]; photocopy of his printed article 'The Tobruk Plaster', 1945;diary of Col H V Leigh, Commander, No 62 General Hospital, Oct 1941-Jan 1942; Leigh's official report on No 62 General Hospital for the period Oct-Dec 1941, written in Jan 1942.

Papers relating to his life and career, 1915-1991, dated 1963, 1969 and [1991], principally comprising 'Nine lives, a soldier's story', a typescript memoir covering the period 1915-1991, including his service in North Africa and the Western Desert, 1939-1942 and 1943, the Middle East, 1942-1943 and 1954-1956, Normandy, 1944, and France, Belgium and Germany, 1945-1947, and hiswork as Director General of Fighting Vehicles, 1964-1966, and General Officer Commanding, Malta and Libya, 1967-1968, written in [1991].

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.

Papers relating to his service in Egypt and Libya, 1940-1941, principally comprising notes for a lecture on the Libyan campaign, 1940-1941, with particular reference to the Battle of Sidi Barrani, Dec 1940, ND; circulars issued by Advanced Western Desert Force General Staff, namely operation orders concerning the advance to Sidi Barrani, 6 Dec 1940, intelligence summary for 9-12Dec 1940, dated 14 Dec 1940, and administrative instructions, Feb 1941.

Copy of 'Tim', a typescript account of Hely's life and career, 1902-1990, notably his service with 60 Field Regt in the Western Desert, including action around Sidi Rezegh, Nov 1941, and with 7 Indian Div in India, 1942 and Burma, 1943-1945, including the Japanese attack on 15 Indian Corps' administrative base at Sinzweya, Burma, Feb 1944, written in 1991 by 'L R L', Hely's Bde Maj, Royal Artillery, 7 Div, 1942-1944. Includes extracts from Hely's descriptions of actions at Sidi Rezegh and Sinzweya written for The Royal Artillery Commemoration Book, 1939-1945 (G Bell and Sons, London, 1950).

Tobruk: Siege, Breakout, Victory', typescript memoir covering operations at Tobruk, 1941-1942, written in [1991] and later published as Tobruk: the great siege reassessed (Arms and Armour Press, London, 1996)

Papers of Sir Geoffrey Warren Furlonge relating to the Middle East, [1932-1983] including typescript memorandum by Furlonge entitled 'Memorandum on slavery in Saudi Arabia' [1932]; typescript account by Furlonge entitled 'The mission to Taif', Hejaz, Arabia, with eleven photographs, Jul 1934. Four letters home from Furlonge to his mother relating to Syria and the Lebanon, 1941-1944. Typescript articles by Furlonge, 1959-1977, including 'Mount Kenya', 1959; 'Anglo-Jordanian relations today', 1966; 'Palestinian diaspora', 1969; 'Algeria ten years after', 1972; 'Mauritania', 1974; 'Traditional Islamic society' [1974]; 'Notes on visit to the West Bank and Jordan', 1975; 'The future of the Spanish Sahara', 1975; 'Algeria: the next step forward' [1977]; 'The Arabia that was', 1977. Papers relating to an English Speaking Union lecture tour of North America by Furlonge, Sep-Nov 1964, including bound typescript volume listing speaking engagements, Sep-Nov 1964; typescript account entitled 'North American tour, 1964', written by Furlong, Dec 1964. Printed text of lecture by Furlonge entitled 'Jordan today', given to the Royal Central Asian Society, 8 Jun 1966, and published in the Royal Central Asian Journal , Oct 1966. Typescript draft chapters from an unpublished book on the Middle East, including chapters entitled 'Morocco', 'Spanish Sahara', 'The Nile valley', 'An antique land [Libya]', 'The Maghrib' and 'Algeria' [1965]. Four typescript draft chapters and typescript notes on the French mandated territories of Syria and the Lebanon, for an unpublished book entitled 'The liberation of the Levant', 1971. Correspondence 1971-1974, including with Sir Alec Seath Kirkbride, 1971-1972; the British Embassy, Rabat, Saudi Arabia, 1974; The Times , 1974. Typescript draft obituaries by Furlonge relating to individuals connected to the Middle East [1976-1983], including Maj Gen Seyyid Mudar Badran, Prime Minister of Jordan, 1976-1979; Sir Alec Seath Kirkbride, Diplomat, 1922-1954; Muhammad Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, 1970-1981; Khalid ibn Abd al-Aziz, King of Saudi Arabia, 1975-1982; Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, Islamic leader of Iran, 1979-1989; Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, 1941-1979, with related correspondence with the Obituary Department, The Times , 1981.

Papers relating to operations in the Western Desert, 1940-1941, especially Battles of Sidi Saleh, Beda Fomm and Operation BATTLEAXE, the attempt to relieve Tobruk, including typescript report by Lt Gen Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor on operations of 7 Armoured Div, Mechili, Cyrenaica, Libya, Feb 1941; typescript text of lecture by Creagh entitled 'Operations of the 7th Armoured Division in the Western Desert from June 1940 to March 1941' [1942]; typescript reports by unit commanders and Staff Officers on operations during First Libyan campaign, 1940-1941, including Lt Gen Sir Noel Monson de la Poer Beresford-Pierse, General Officer Commanding Western Desert Force, Lt Gen Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor, General Officer Commanding 13 Corps, Brig John Alan Lyde Caunter, commanding 4 Armoured Bde, Col George Edward Younghusband, 2 Armoured Div, Brig William Henry Ewart Gott, commanding Support Group, and Brig Hugh Edward Russell, commanding 7 Armoured Bde; typescript report by Creagh entitled 'The 7th Armoured Division', with five printed maps of North Africa, Nov 1943. Correspondence, 1942-1970, notably including letters from Lt Gen Giffard Le Quesne Martel, Commander Royal Armoured Corps, 1942, and Lt Gen Sir Richard (Alan) Fyffe, Col Commandant, 3 Bn, The Royal Green Jackets, 1970.

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.

Published booklets from the General Staff, War Office, including two booklets entitled The German Army in Pictures and More Pictures of the German Army, detailing German Army weaponry, uniforms, and insignia, 1941; five guides to the Germany Army detailing the tactics and organisation of armoured divisions, infantry divisions, airborne troops, engineers, and reconnaissance units, 1941; A Guide to the Identification of German Units, detailing badges of rank and service German officers for the purpose of interrogation, 1942; five pamphlets relating to German infantry weapons, Italian infantry weapons, German light anti- aircraft and anti-tank guns, German infantry, heavy anti-aircraft, and divisional artillery; German infantry engineer and airborne weapons, 1941-1943; Periodical Notes on the German Army relating to tactics of the German tank regiment and tank battalion, German Army tactics in Libya, 1941, operations of German 11 Air Corps during the attack on Crete, May 1941, German artillery operations in armoured divisions, and the tactical handling of German armoured divisions, lorried infantry and motorcycle units, 1942; New Notes on the German Army, relating to the evolution of German armoured and motorised divisions, and German supply and administrative services, 1942-1943; two pamphlets relating to the German Army order of battle, 1942-1943; booklet designed to aid British personnel in the recognition of British and Allied Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs), 1942; booklet of vocabulary of German military terms, 1943.