The collection consists primarily of master copies and research papers for Dean's book on the RAF, The Royal Air Force and two World Wars, foreword by Sir Arthur Travers Harris (London, Cassell, 1979). The research papers contain Dean's correspondence on aspects of RAF history with leading RAF personnel of the period before and during World War Two, in particular with ACM Sir Arthur Travers Harris with comments by him on the text of Dean's book, particularly on sections relating to Bomber Command. There is also a correspondence between Harris and MRAF Sir Charles Frederick Algernon Portal over the issue of bombing targets. Also included are extensive research notes from Public Record Office files and from secondary sources. The collection includes a paper written by Dean on dynamics and optics, 1928; papers relating to the development of airships and the crash of the R101 airship dating from Dean's initial period at the Air Ministry, 1929-1943; texts of lectures and seminars relating to the Civil Service given by Dean at the University of Strathclyde and other colleges and entries and related papers compiled by Dean for the Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, Oxford).

Typescript memoir entitled 'Ships in bottles' covering his life and naval career, 1902-1952, notably his service in the North Sea and the English Channel, 1915-1916, off the West coast of Ireland, 1917-1918, in Turkey, 1922, China, 1927-1929, the Mediterranean, 1934-1936 and 1939-1940, the North Sea, 1941-1942, the Indian Ocean, 1942-1944, at destroyer base HMS DEFENDER, Liverpool, 1944-1945, and in West Africa, 1945-1946.

Papers relating to his life and career, 1885-1941, including typescript volume entitled 'The story of the Egyptian campaign, 1885-1886', written in [1914]; two typescript volumes entitled 'My narrative of the South African War 1899-1902' and 'Second phase of the South African War' with sketch maps, notes and recommendations of awards for officers and men of 2 Mounted Infantry Corps, 1899-1900; reports, notes and correspondence, 1900-1912, relating to the future development of cavalry in the British Army, including typescript extracts from article by Maj Gen Sir Ian Monteith Hamilton on operations at Diamond Hill, Second Boer War, South Africa, Jun 1900, and correspondence with FM Rt Hon Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar, Pretoria and Waterford, Lt Gen Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien, Maj Gen Edmund Henry Hyman Allenby, Maj Gen Sir Edward Thomas Henry Hutton, and Lt Col Hubert De la Poer Gough, 1903-1910; typescript notes on cavalry tactics, equipment and history, entitled 'Letters from an old cavalry officer to his son', 1909; two typescript volumes entitled 'My narrative of the Great German War', an account of his service in World War One in Gallipoli and on the Western Front, 1914-1918, including 29 photographs and typescript table showing number of 29 Div casualties between 1915 and 1917; manuscript article by De Lisle entitled 'General Sir Archibald Wavell GCB: the unknown leader', 1941; typescript unpublished novel entitled 'The great recovery', 1941, based on De Lisle's experiences in World War One, 1914-1918.

Papers relating to 8 Army operations in Western Desert and Battle of El Alamein, 1941-1942, in particular Operations LIGHTFOOT, SUPERCHARGE and GRAPESHOT, including maps, memoranda and plans; 21 Army Group, Operation OVERLORD, 1944 including notes of operations, Jun 1944-May 1945; report on Operation BLACKCOCK, attack by 12 Corps at Roermond, Jan 1945; surrender by German forces, May 1945 including plans for administration of enemy territory and troops. Excerpts from German wireless messages, 1941-1943. Printed material, including messages from Montgomery, General Officer Commanding 8 Army, Nov 1942-Jan 1944 and as Commander-in- Chief, 21 Army Group, Jun 1944-Aug 1945; personal messages from Supreme Commander, SHAEF, 1944; handbooks and pamphlets, Dec 1942-Dec 1944; limited circulation newspapers, 1943 and 1945, including 'Eighth Army News'; operational reports, 1945, including 79 Armoured Division, 21 Army Group and Allied Expeditionary Force.

• Memoir by Captain Stanley Brian de Courcy-Ireland, A Naval Life (Englang Publishing, Poulton, Gloucestershire, second edition, 2002), written in 1990, detailing his life and career, 1900-1951, including the scuttling of the captured German Fleet at Scapa Flow, 1919, and his service at Combined Operations Headquarters, 1944-1945, under Maj Gen Robert Edward Laycock. Also, further notes on the scuttling of the German fleet, 1919, written as a review of Dan Van Der Vant's THE GRAND SCUTTLE (Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1982); notes on the visit, 25 Dec 1944, to HMS AJAX in port at Piraeus, Greece, by Archbishop Damaskinos Papandreou, Archibishop of Athens, for talks with Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

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.

Papers relating to Darlow's service with the Royal Army Service Corps and in Staff appointments, 1942-1966, including correspondence and memoranda relating to Darlow's training, appointments and promotions, 1942-1964; typescript memoranda entitled 'The art of lecturing', from the Middle East Royal Army Service Corps Training School, Dec 1943; copy of War Diary for No 1 Line of Communication Transport Column, Royal Army Service Corps, Italy, 1 Jan-31 Dec 1944, with copies of No 1 Lines of Communication Transport Column instructions, battle orders and memoranda, 31 May-16 Dec 1944; 'Staff Officer's notebook' containing typescript notes on motor transport, supply, personnel, Staff and Regimental duties, aircraft loading procedures and Army organisation, 1944, and Dec 1955; typescript article by Darlow on inter-service co-operation, written for The Waggoner magazine, 1957; typescript lecture by Darlow on recruitment, delivered at the Royal Army Service Corps School, 24 Jan 1963. Three editions of The Crusader, Eighth Army Weekly, 9 Nov 1942, 25 Jan 1943 and 8 Mar 1943; photocopied extracts from Engineers in the Italian campaign 1943-1945 by Lt Col D C Bailey (Printing and Stationery Services, Central Mediterranean Forces, Rome, Italy, 1945); copy of article by Lt Col Patrick Mawbey Edgell, Royal Army Service Corps, entitled 'Aid to Russia convoys on the Persian L of C (Line of Communication)', from The Royal Army Service Corps Review, 1950; article entitled 'The new Inspector RCT (Royal Corps of Transport) and Deputy Transport Officer in Chief (Army), Brigadier E W T Darlow, OBE, MA', published in The Waggoner, 1966. Correspondence, chiefly with the Public Record Office, London, and the Royal Engineers Library, Chatham, Kent, 1991-1993, relating to Darlow's research on the Royal Army Service Corps in Italy, 1944-1945, with brief notes on his command of No 1 Lines of Communication Transport Column, 1944, copies of published maps on the Italian campaign, and an edition of War Office restricted publication 'RASC training memorandum No 3', written in part by Darlow; Dec 1946.

Typescript of Letters from Helles (Longmans, London, 1936) describing his service in Egypt and Gallipoli, 1914-1915, written in [1930-1936]. Army books containing notes, orders and letters relating to his service at Gallipoli, Jul 1915-Nov 1915. Battalion orders for 2 Bn, Northamptonshire Regt, Alexandria, Aug-Sep 1914, and 5 Bn, Manchester Regt, Egypt, Oct 1914-Apr 1915. Papers relating to training of 5 Bn, Manchester Regt, Egypt, 1914-1915.

Bound photocopy typescript of "Memories of the long and happy life of Robert Bramston Thesiger Daniell, Brigadier, Royal Horse Artillery", a memoir of his life and career, 1901-1979, notably his wartime service in Palestine, Egypt and Libya, 1940-1942, and in Western Europe, 1943-1945, where he helped liberate Belsen concentration camp, in 1945.

Papers of Gp Capt Albert Peter Vincent Daly on his Army and RAF service, 1910-1945; comprising papers on service as Private with 1st Canadian Expeditionary Force, Aug-Dec 1914; notebook 'My Experiences with the British Expeditionary Force, France, 1915' giving account of service with 4th Connaught Rangers, 6-11 May 1915; transcripts of letters to his mother, 1914-1918; copy of Daily Sketch , 13 July 1915, containing paragraph on Daly; papers on service with 8 Sqn and 29 Sqn, Royal Flying Corps, Western Front, 1916-17, including account of being shot down by Lt Werner Voss on 1 Feb 1917, and subsequent imprisonment as prisoner of war; cutting from German newspaper (with English translation), 24 April 1918, article by W Scheuermann, 'Richthofen's Last Flight' on the death of Baron Von Richthofen; papers on service with RAF, 1919-1939, including copy of The London Gazette , 1 Aug 1919, containing list of officers granted permanent commissions in the RAF; service with Inter-Allied Aeronautical Commission, Bulgaria, 1920; service with 60 Sqn, North West Frontier Province India, 1922-1923, including two "Blood Chits"; and service as Air Attaché, British Embassy, China, 1930, including Chinese passports; account of service in World War Two, as Station Commander, RAF Marham, 1937-1940, St Athan, Wales, 1940-1942; Base Commander, North Africa and Italy, 1942-1944; President of Courts Martial, Italy, 1944-1945; Representative of British Red Cross, Sweden, 1945; photographs of Daly, his decorations and of RAF Marham, 1939, with Fairy Hendons of 38 Squadron and Handley Page Harrows of 115 Squadron

Copy of account of his failed attempt to join 8 Lancashire Fusiliers in France, covering his journey from Le Havre to Amiens, and his return from Amiens to the UK via Cherbourg, 17 May- 5 June 1940, written in [1940-1945].

Copies of diaries, 1911-1916, covering his flying training, 1911-1914, his service with the Royal Naval Air Service in the UK, [1914]-1915, Gallipoli, 1915, Bulgaria, 1915, and Egypt, 1916. Copy of account of his imprisonment in Turkey, Mar-Jul 1917, written in [1917], with newspaper cutting describing conditions in prisons in Constantinople, [1917]. 'The story of the men and aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm', illustrated pamphlet prepared for the Directorate of Navy Recruiting by the Central Office of Information, dated 1985.

Midshipman's log book, by Currey, 1876-1878, including service on HMS DUKE OF WELLINGTON, Flagship of Adm Sir George Elliot, Portsmouth, Dec 1876-Jan 1877, HMS ALEXANDRA, Mediterranean Fleet, Jan 1877-Aug 1878 and HMS CRUISER, Mediterranean Fleet, Aug-Sep 1878; papers and plans relating to anti-submarine warfare, 1913-1915, including typescript draft text of lecture by Currey entitled 'Hints on organised coast defence v submarines' [1914]; fifty six manuscript naval signals, Aug-Dec 1914, including signals to R Adm, 5 Battle Sqn from the Admiralty on support to be given to operations by Chatham Royal Marine Force at Ostend, Belgium, 26-27 Aug 1914, signals relating to the loss of the battleship HMS AUDACIOUS to a mine in the Atlantic, 27 Oct 1914, and signals ordering RN battlecruisers HMS INVINCIBLE and HMS INFLEXIBLE to sea, 4 Nov 1914 (prior to the Battle of the Falklands Islands, 8 Dec 1914); journal and signal book kept by Mid Richard Reynell on board Currey's flagship, HMS PRINCE OF WALES, 1914-1915.

Copy of text entitled 'Last shell fired at Dunkirk', a brief account of the evacuation of F Troop, 112 Field Battery, 30 Field Regt from Dunkirk on 2-3 June 1940, 1985.

Papers relating to his service in the Royal Naval Air Service and RAF, 1917-1918, dated 1917-1918, 1955, 1990, principally comprising log-book covering his flights in the UK, 1917-1918; photographs of aircraft and personnel, including Cunliffe. Texts and notes for lectures relating to photography, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1932. Photographs of Cunliffe in his service uniform and with colleagues from King's College London, [1915-1922].

Papers of Gp Capt Henry John Cundall on his RAF service, 1937-1961, comprising photocopies of flying log books, Jan 1937-Oct 1960, and file of papers on RAF service, 1937-1961. Log books include outline record of service, 1937-1960, details of ranks held, awards, and types of aircraft flown; file of loose papers includes photocopies of RAF College Cranwell examination papers for Flight Cadets, Apr 1938; Bomber Command training transfer card, Dec 1938; Royal Aircraft Establishment graph of speed; certification green cards for Cundall as a pilot, 1951 and 1956; notes on 'Morale and leadership' in the RAF, Jan 1951 note on the correct recording of flying times for pilots' flying log books [1952]; Chart of ranges of Meteor 7 aircraft, according to altitude and condition, [c.1952]; Checklist for Canberra B2 and T4, [c. 1956]; 'Drills for abandoning Canberra aircraft in extreme emergency' [c.1956]; press cutting from The Times , 31 Jul 1961, 'Constant preparedness at missile station', re Bloodhound missiles at RAF Watton, Norfolk, quoting Cundall as Commanding Officer; letter of appreciation from AM Sir Hector McGregor, Fighter Command HQ, Bentley Priory, 31 Oct 1961, on Cundall's retirement; press cutting from The Sunday Times , 16 Jan 1983, 'Operation Oboe: flying heroes 40 years on', referring to Cundall; press cuttings from Eastern Daily Press , 3 Feb 1995, 'The Wooden Wonder goes to war' and 'Mosquito master of skies: hazardous missions from Norfolk', relating to launch for The men who flew the mosquito , by Martin Bowman (Patrick Stephens, Sparkford, 1995); Note on minimum weather requirements for flight clearance for pilots holding white certification cards and green certification cards, [1951]; Graph of static thrust and RPM for an Rolls Royce Avon engine, [1950s]

Papers of Colonel Stevenson Lyle Cummins comprising memoirs of service in Africa and France, 1898-1918, and war diaries and other papers, 1914-1916. Copy memoir, 1873-1904, detailing service with Medical Service Corps in Egypt and the Sudan, including accounts of medical work handling wounds and cases of typhoid, diarrhoea, malaria, fevers, dehydration and scorpion stings at locations including: Genetti Fort, Sudan, Darmali Camp, Sudan; Omdurman Camp, Sudan; Waw Garrison, Sudan and the Kassala District, Sudan; also accounts of Battle of Omdurman, 1898; an expedition to recapture the town of Gallabat, Sudan, from Abyssinian forces; expeditions in the Bar el Ghazal region, Sudan, to capture cattle and burn huts in Dinka villages and visit friendly Dinka chieftains; and an attack on Ibrahim Wad Mahmud, slaver, at Jerok, Sudan. Includes detail of hunting expeditions and daily life for troops. Copy memoir of World War One service, 1914-1918. War diary kept by Cummins as Deputy Assistant Director General, Medical Services, British Expeditionary Force, France, 1 Jan - 31 Dec 1915, with appendiced reports, memoranda and correspondence on: treatment of cerebro-spinal meningitis, trench foot (described as 'chilled feet' or frost-bite) and the supply of waterproof paper stockings, gum boots and whale oil as preventatives, anti gas precautions; logistical reports concerning personnel, evacuations, ambulance trains and barges; reports of an enquiry into an enemy chlorine and bromine gas attack to the south of "Shell Trap Farm" (village of St Julien, near Ypres), 24 May, 1915; report on captured German trenches, 16 June 1915; copy letter from General Sir Cecil Frederick Nevil Macready to the War Office regarding the establishment of a Central Laboratory for experimental work on prevention of gas asphyxiation; copy letter from Sir Arthur Sloggett to Sir Alfred Keogh, 9 Dec 1915, on the possibility of researching improved personal armour at Imperial College London. War diary for Report Centre GHQ, Hazebrouck, 10-17 March 1915, detailing logistics of transportation of wounded from Clearing Stations. War diary for Advanced GHQ, 8-23 May 1915, including casualty figures at Gas Clearing Stations; routine orders issued by General Sir Cecil Frederick Nevil Macready, Adjutant General, British Expeditionary Force, 18 Aug 1914, concerning procedures if taken prisoner, if a white flag should be hoisted by the enemy, the speed at which to drive motor-cars, and the correct procedure for saluting; report on the provision and stocking of ambulance trains, 9 March 1916; report on provision of extra personnel for Casualty Clearing Stations during heavy fighting, 9 March 1916; undated casualty figures at Casualty Clearing Stations for the 1 Army, 2 Army and 3 Army.

Papers of Brig John Crum, 1946, relating to the history of 8 Anti Aircraft Brigade, comprising typescript document by Capt Laurence Edgar Cates, 'History of 8 A A Brigade', detailing their work, June 1941-August 1945, including service in Iraq, 1941-1943, and Italy, 1943-1945; also copy of The History of the 17th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, 1938-1945 by Lt Col Henry Swanson Eeles, (Courier, Tunbridge Wells, 1946).

Report, ‘Notes on Italian Somaliland, 1947’, compiled by Crum as Secretary to the Four Power Commission on the Italian Colonies, with details of the history, geography and trade of the region (typescript, 28pp). Also an inscribed cigarette box presented to Crum, 1948, in recognition of his work for the Commission.

Papers relating to Crick's service in the Western Desert, 1941-1943, as Instructor, War Intelligence Course, School of Military Intelligence, Matlock, Derbyshire, 1943-1944, and with Operational Intelligence, G2 Division, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF), 1944-1945, including copy of War Diary, General Staff Intelligence Branch, Headquarters 8 Army, 25 Sep-31 Oct 1941; typescript memorandum by Crick 'The possible effect of CROSSBOW on OVERLORD', on how Operation CROSSBOW, (Allied countermeasures against German V-weapons), could influence Operation OVERLORD, (the Allied invasion of occupied Europe), Mar 1944; typescript memorandum by Crick 'The heart of Germany', on the importance of the Ruhr industrial region to Allied strategy, Mar 1944; typescript report by Crick on visit to OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the German Armed Forces High Command), Flensburg, Germany, 11 May 1945. Papers relating to Crick's service with the British Joint Services Mission, Washington DC, USA, 1953-1956, including typescript text of lecture by Maj Gen Sir Kenneth William Dobson Strong, Director of Joint Intelligence Bureau, on UK and US Intelligence collaboration and spheres of influence [1953]; typescript memorandum 'Probable Bloc preoccupations in Asia, including Middle East, until mid 1955' [1953]; papers relating to the reorganisation of the Economic and General Division of the Joint Intelligence Bureau, 1956. Papers relating to the Imperial Defence College tour of Pakistan, India, East Pakistan, Ceylon and Aden, Aug-Sep 1960, including itineraries, travel arrangements, three photographs, invitations and a printed map of the Middle East showing oil wells, refineries and pipelines, 1960. Manuscript and typescript notes for a lecture by Crick entitled 'A career in Intelligence', given at Intelligence Corps course, with one audio tape of 20 minute lecture by Crick on interrogation techniques, Ashford College, Kent, Oct 1984. Edition of In the caves of the mind. Poems by Alan Crick (Privately published, Rye, Sussex, 1992). Newspaper cuttings, photographs and publications, 1938-1959, including German newspaper cuttings relating to the visit to Danzig by Rt Hon Alfred Duff Cooper, First Lord of the Admiralty, Aug 1938; three editions of Battledress. The Cadet magazine, Feb-Jun 1940; nine editions of The Crusader Eighth Army Weekly, Oct 1942-Apr 1943; sixteen editions of 'Interim. British Army of the Rhine Intelligence Review', Jun 1945-Apr 1946; three editions of 'Occupation. British Army of the Rhine Intelligence Review', May-Jul 1946. Edition of '21st (British) Army Group in the campaign in North West Europe 1944-1945. Lecture by Field Marshal Sir Bernard L Montgomery to the Royal United Service Institution, London, October 1945'; six photographs and five copies of photographs of Crick, Western Desert and Germany, 1941-1945, and two group photographs, Staff and Students, Joint Services Staff College, 1948, and Military Attachés Conference, Episkopi, Cyprus, 1959.

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.