The collection covers Pyman's career from 1937 until 1963 when he suffered a severe stroke which forced his retirement in 1964. The earliest papers date from Pyman's work with the Royal Tank Cadre in converting the 17/21 Lancers from a cavalry to an armoured regiment. There are also papers from Pyman's period as an instructor at the Staff College in Quetta, India, 1939-1941. Pyman was involved in the World War Two campaigns by the 8 Army in the Western Desert, in 1941 as General Staff Officer with 7 Armoured Div, 30 Corps and in 1942-1943 as Commander of the 3 Royal Tank Regiment, 10 Armoured Div, 30 Corps. The papers consist mostly of Pyman's assessments of lessons learned from the ongoing campaigns particularly with regard to tanks and armoured units. In 1944-1945 Pyman was Brigidier General Staff, 30 Corps, 2 Army in the Normandy landings and the invasion of Northern Europe, with particular responsibility for organisation and planning of the Rhine crossing and advance to the Baltic. This is reflected in the papers which largely consist of planning studies and reports for the operations involved, this section also contains maps used in the campaign. Pyman's next appointment was as Chief of General Staff, Allied Land Forces, South East Asia, 1945-1946 which is documented by a series of diaries which reflect the tasks faced by Pyman in this command including dealing with the build up of tension between newly liberated former colonies keen to assert their right for independence and the former colonial powers such as France and Netherlands. Pyman spent 1946-1949 as Chief of Staff, Middle East Land Forces and kept monthly diaries which form the bulk of this section of the collection. The diary entries and additional papers reflect the debate over policy in the Middle East in the British Government and Military command, they include detail on the British withdrawal from Greece, the problem of illegal Jewish immigrants and their internment in Cyprus, the end of the British mandate in Palestine and the the effect of this on relations between Britain with Egypt and the other Arab states and the subsequent Arab Israeli conflict. This section of the collection also contains correspondence between Pyman and Maj Gen Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey on personal matters and on the Middle East. There are also papers from Pyman's work at the Ministry of Supply as Director General of Fighting Vehicles, 1951-1953, Director of Weapons Development, War Office, 1955-1956 mostly brief diary entries and lecture texts. Pyman was also General Officer Commanding, British Army on the Rhine, 1953-1955 and General Officer Commanding, 1 British Corps, 1956-1958 and the papers relating to these commands consist mostly of lectures, reports and directives reflecting his interest in armoured divisions and training. There are some papers, mostly personal correspondence and press cuttings, from Pyman's final command as Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Northern Europe in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The collection also contains correspondence relating to Pyman's role as Colonel Commandant of the Royal Tank Regiment and The Royal Armoured Corps and a series of letters covering the reorganisation of the Berks and Westminster Dragoons, of which he was Honorary Colonel. The rest of the collection consists of diaries, correspondence, speeches, writings including the draft copy and papers relating to his autobiography, some preparatory work on a history of the 2 Army and reference works. The collection also includes the Boer War diaries and other papers of Col James Redmond Patrick Gordon who commanded the 1 Cavalry Bde of the South African Field Force 1900-1901 which were given to Pyman by a friend.

Papers, photographs and publications of Gp Capt James Henry Iremonger, relating to his career, 1936-1959, including: orders for 1 Airborne Allied Army for Operation MARKET, Netherlands, 17 Sep 1944; Second Army intelligence summaries, 2-4 May 1945; 83 Group intelligence summaries, 34 May 1945; stereoscopic slides of aerial photographs showing results of RAF bombing raids over France and Germany, 1943-1944; copy pages from Iremonger's flying log book, 1936-1958; Bag the Hun! (Air Ministry, Apr 1943), a booklet of mathematical exercises for fighter pilots.

Papers, 1911-1955, relating to the life and career of Brig William Henry Hynes, including copy of Field Message Book containing manuscript notes by Hynes, mostly relating to his command of 11 Platoon, C Company, 2 Bn, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, Battle of the Somme, Picardy, France, 1916; printed trench map, scale 1: 20, 000, of the area around Flers, Battle of the Somme, Picardy, France, Sep 1916; two notebooks with manuscript notes by Hynes relating to service with 2 Bn, Royal Dublin Fusiliers in Turkey, 1920-[1921], with two printed maps of Constantinople and Ismid, Turkey [1920]; printed order with farewell message from Col Charles Bonham-Carter on relinquishing command of 2 Bn, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, Multan, India, 4 Nov 1921; printed 'Mess rules of the 1st Battalion The Gloucestershire Regiment', Germany, 1922. Papers and photographs relating to service with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 1938-1939, including printed programme entitled 'The Ceremony of the Presentation of the King's Colour to the 1st Bn The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers by His Excellency Sir Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas GCMG, OBE Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements', Singapore, 25 Aug 1938, with photograph album containing 17 photographs of the presentation ceremony and parade, 1938. Copies of papers relating to Hynes' service as Officer Commanding Troops, Falkland Islands, May 1942-Sep 1944, including official correspondence from the War Office, 1942-1944; typescript routine orders by Hynes, 1943-1944; typescript 'Report on Argentina and neighbouring Republics' by the Intelligence Officer, Falkland Islands Force, to Hynes, Jul 1943; typescript 'Defence plan for Falkland Islands' [1943]. Papers relating to service as Commanding Officer, 9 Line of Communications Sub Area, British Liberation Army, North West Europe, 1944-1946, including two typescript 'Bulletin 9 L of C', 31 Oct and 1 Nov 1944; twenty one printed maps of France and Belgium, all scale 1: 50, 000, [1944]; typescript 'History of supply, transport and petrol events in 9 L of C Sub Area', 4 Nov 1944-4 Feb 1945; three typescript reports by Hynes relating to Operation GOLDFLAKE, the transfer of Allied Divisions from Italy to North West Europe via Marseilles, France, Feb 1945, including 'Report by Brig W H Hynes Commander 9 L of C Sub Area on progress of administrative installations on 23 Feb 1945 in US L of C for Operation GOLDFLAKE', 24 Feb 1945; edition of Journal de Bruges , 26 Apr 1945; edition in French of Belgian newspaper Le Carillon , 4 Jul 1945; four uncaptioned photographs [1945]; edition of restricted booklet produced by Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) entitled 'Courts of Inquiry. Notes on procedure', Feb 1946. Papers relating to postwar economic conditions in Germany, and to the Emergency Economic Committee for Europe (EECE), 1945-1952, including typescript 'Note on origins of the EECE', Jun 1946; typescript draft 'Summary statement of methods to be adopted to facilitate mutual trade between member and associated countries of the Emergency Economic Committee for Europe and the combined UK and US zones of Germany', Mar 1947; typescript 'Memorandum on West German trade prospects with Eastern countries', 24 Apr 1952. Also, editions of _Rules of the Officers' Mess, 2nd Battalion The Royal Dublin Fusiliers, with a short description of mess plate and property _by Maj Arthur Edward Mainwaring and Capt John Poole Bowring Robinson (Gale and Polden, Aldershot, Hampshire, 1911); Regimental Standing Orders on the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Tyrone Constitution, Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, 1955).

The collection is 26 copies of the Daily Mirror newspaper, 29 Jul-11 Jun 1916. Included in the newspapers are photographs and articles concerning World War One, most notably the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia, 28 Jul 1914; the mobilisation of Russian troops, 1 Aug 1914; Britain's declaration of war on Germany, 4 Aug 1914; the Battle of Liege, Aug 1914; the French seizure of Alsace, Aug 1914; the French invasion of Lorraine, Aug 1914; the landing of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France, Aug, 1914; the German capture of Louvain, Aug 1914; the drowning of FM Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome, Jun 1916; and the defeat of Austrian Slav troops in Romania by Russian troops, Jun 1916

The papers cover the period 1914-1965 and include papers relating to service in England, France and with British Army of the Rhine, 1914-1919 in particular 35 Division Artillery Signals; Iraq, including diary, 1920-1921; Nigeria, including field message book, 1924; Quetta, India, including earthquake diary, 1935; newspapers covering death of King George V, 1936; command of Northern Rhodesia Regt, Lusaka, 1937-1940, including scrap albums; command of 26 (East African) Infantry Brigade, East Africa and Abyssinia, 1940- 1941, including operation reports; command of 22 (East African) Infantry Brigade, Madagascar, 1942, including operation reports; command of 28 (East African) Infantry Brigade and 11 (East African) division, Burma and India, 1944-1946 including accounts of operations; General Officer Commanding East Africa, 1946- 1948, including official circulars, speeches and addresses; General Officer Commanding Aldershot Command, 1948-1951, including speeches and lectures; Representative on Military Staff Committtee, United Nations, 1951-1953, including diary; Col Commandant of Northern Rhodesia Regiment, King's African Rifles and Kenya Regiment, including correspondence, 1952-1964, committee papers and publications; papers relating to Army Cadet Force Association including minutes of meetings, 1956-1959; Inter-Parliamentary Union, including account of journey to Warsaw, Poland, 1959; maps, 1914-1943, including Western Front, Iraq and India, Nigeria and Madagascar.

Copies of papers collected or created by Maze, 1914-1975, principally comprising correspondence with his World War One colleagues, 1918-1972, mainly relating to the second Battle of the Somme, 21 Mar-5 Apr 1918, and including letters from Gen Sir Hubert (de la Poer) Gough, 1918-1919, 1935, 1939, 1951, 1954-1956, 1963, Lt Gen Sir (Arthur) Edward Grasett, 1965, 1970, and LtGen Sir Frederick Ivor Maxse, 1919; photographs of Maze, 1914-[1918] and Gough, 1915; correspondence with Rt Hon Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill concerning the Home Guard, 1943; photographs of ACM Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1944; two typescript lists ofGerman towns attacked by British bombers, 1945.

German socialist propaganda leaflet Die Feldpost, including articles relating to rising commodity and food prices in Germany and the necessity of German troops in the Balkans, Dec 1915; edition of German newspaper for German prisoners of war in France, Grüsse an die Heimat, May 1917; Central Powers propaganda leaflet, in English, calling for a cessation of hostilities, 1917; four Allied leaflets bearing photographs of HM Albert, King of Belgium and HM Elisabeth, Queen of Belgium, 1918.

Seventeen volumes of Survey of India. Geodetic Report, 1922-1940 (Surveyor General of India, Survey of India, Dehra Dun, India, 1928-1945), with editions of Survey of India. Supplement to the Geodetic Report Volume VI. Indian deflection and gravity stations (Surveyor General of India, Survey of India, Dehra Dun, India, 1931) and Survey of India. Supplement to the GeodeticReport 1937. Isostatic reductions of Indian Gravity Stations (Surveyor General of India, Survey of India, Dehra Dun, India, 1939). Eight volumes of Survey of India. General Report, 1947-1955 (Surveyor General of India, Survey of India, Dehra Dun, India, 1949-1959).Twelve volumes of Survey of India. Technical Report, 1947-1954 (Surveyor General of India, Survey of India, Dehra Dun, India, 1949-1957). Six volumes entitled Survey of India. Professional Paper No 15. The pendulum operations in India and Burma 1908 to 1913 by Capt Harold John Couchman, Royal Engineers, Deputy Superintendent, Survey of India (Government of India, Dehra Dun,India, 1915); Survey of India. Geodetic triangulation by Capt Guy Bomford, Royal Engineers, Superintendent, Survey of India (Surveyor General of India, Survey of India, Dehra Dun, India, 1931); Survey of India. Professional Paper No 27. Gravity anomalies and the structure of the Earth's crust by Maj Edward Aubrey Glennie (Surveyor General of India, Survey of India, Dehra Dun, India, 1932); Survey of India. Professional Paper No 30. Gravity anomalies and the figure of the Earth by B L Gulatee, Mathematical Adviser, Survey of India (Surveyor General of India, Survey of India, Dehra Dun, India, 1940); damaged volume entitled Survey history [1950]; The Survey of India during war and early reconstruction 1939-1946 by Brig Sir Oliver Wheeler (Surveyor General of India, Office ofthe Geodetic and Research Branch, Survey of India, Dehra Dun, India, 1955). War Office map case containing forty three printed maps of western Europe, mainly France and Germany, and twenty two printed maps of the UK, various scales [1944].

Copies of typescript Indian Corps Intelligence Summaries, France, Aug 1915, and typescript account in French entitled 'Quelques faits importants de la Guerre par rapport a Merville', 1919. Papers relating to Sanderson's military intelligence work, 1940-1945, including typescript intelligence reports and summaries relating to the likely invasion of UK, 1940-1941, notably typescript Southern Command memorandum entitled 'Enemy craft likely to be used in invasion of UK and their employment', Jan 1941; typescript translations of German directives on the planned invasion of the UK, Operation SEELÖWE, 1940, taken from documents captured by the Allies in 1945; typescript copies, with translations, of Adolf Hitler's last will and his private and political testament, dated 29 Apr 1945. Printed volume, 'Notes on German preparation for invasion of the UK', prepared by General Staff, War Office, and issued to officers of MI14, Apr 1941. Printed volume in German entitled Informationsheft GB, produced by the Germans in World War Two as a manual on British life, customs, Government and administration [1940].

Typescript account, 'The Second Battalion in the battle of the 100 days in 1918'; letters home, Western Front, 1917-1918; four manuscript signal messages relating to an attack by 1 Div, Western Front, 17-19 Oct 1918; photograph album, 1918-1922, including captioned photographs of individuals, Western Front and Germany, 1918-1919; letters home from British Army on the Rhine, 1919-1920; edition of The story of the Fourth Army in the Battles of the Hundred Days, August 8th to November 11th, 1918 (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1920) by Maj Gen Sir Archibald Armar Montgomery (known as Montgomery-Massingberd from 1926), General Staff, 4 Army, with volume of related published maps and panoramic photographs. Papers relating to Gracie's service in World War Two,1939-1945, including manuscript notes on postings and pay details, 1942-1945; letters relating to the award of the OBE, and promotion to the rank of honorary Lt Col, 1945.

Thirty two British and French printed maps of France, Belgium, Germany and the UK, various scales, 1911-1918, including annotated trench maps of operations and advances during the Battles of Cambrai, 1917, Bellecourt, 1917, and Fourth Battle of Arras, 1918, with newspaper cuttings of the Western Front, 1918 and aerial photograph of Solesmes, France, annotated with position of 461 Field Company Royal Engineers, 19-20 Oct 1918, also painted unit insignia of 62 (2 West Riding) Div, Royal Engineers [1918].

Bound issues of In Ruhleben Camp , the Ruhleben camp magazine, June 1915 - June 1917; with two issues of La Vie Française de Ruhleben , April 1916 and July 1916. Also The History of Ruhleben: A Record of British Organisation in a Prison Camp in Germany , Joseph Powell (Captain of the Camp) and Francis Gribble (W. Collins, London, 1919).

Copies of extracts from 'Wells, a family history', produced by Tessa J Harfield, 1988, principally comprising a brief account of the life and RAF career of Sidney McLeod Wells (Wg Cdr Maurice Clunes Wells' brother), 1906-1941, written by Harfield in 1988; transcription of Brig (then Lt) Brian Gordon Wells' account of a big game hunt in Northern Rhodesia, 1931, written in [1931-1932], with his record of service, 1923-1955, dated 1955; transcription of 'My career in the RAF, 1935-1950' written by Wg Cdr Maurice Clunes Wells, written in [1980-1985]. Original manuscript of 'My career in the RAF, 1935-1950'. Photographs relating to Wg Cdr Maurice Clunes Wells' army career, dated [1940-1945] and [1980-1988], notably his internment as a POW, [1940-1945].

Papers of Paul Willert mainly on his wartime service, 1939-45; including letters (6 files) to his wife, Brenda (nee Pearson), daughter of Weetman Harold Miller Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray, 1936-1946, from Germany, New York and Paris, c.1936-1940; during RAF training, 1941; from the Isle of Man [c.1942]; from Northern Ireland [1943-44], and from Paris, 1944-1945; file on propaganda work, in London and Paris, 1940-41, including detailed note, 'Report of a conversation on the evening of January 7, 1940' with pencil addition, 'Georges Mandel, Colonial Minister', re German-Soviet relations, the dismissal of Isaac Leslie Hore-Belisha as Secretary of State for War, morale in France, British propaganda in France, and propaganda in enemy; detailed notes on the present political situation in France, 10 Feb 1940; note criticising British propaganda to France, with suggestions for improvements, [c. 1940]; notes on the government of Paul Reynaud, France, dated Mar 1940; notes on 'France and its government, 27 May 1940'; 'Notes on the situation in France, May 14, 1940'; two letters to Willert from [?signature illegible], Political Warfare Executive (PWE), Electra House, London, re the staffing of Electra House and Willert's Paris office, and Willert's secret service activities in France, 31 May and 6 Jun 1940; correspondence (2 items) with Col Dallas Brooks, head of Electra House, 2 Jun and 6 Jun 1940, re arranging a military commission for Willert, and details of changes in the political situation in France; formal letter of introduction for Willlert from the British Embassy, Paris, signed by Donald Maclean, 9 Jun 1940; notes on the formation and operations of 'Department EH', Jul 1940, with criticisms of the division between Department EH (based at Electra House) and the Ministry of Information in disseminating propaganda to Europe; two letters, 26 Nov 1940 and 11 Dec 1940, re suggestion that PW should be appointed as representative of Special Operations Executive (SOE) at Gibraltar, working initially on propaganda, and his reasons for declining the post; detailed notes on the future of British relations with the USSR, c 1940; letter (to 'Sammy') [probably Samuel Hood, 6th Viscount Hood] re the organisation of propaganda and the deployment of the BBC overseas services, c 1941; letter to Dr Hugh Dalton re Willert's leaving SOE, 1941; two letters, from 'Sammy', [Samuel Hood, 6th Viscount Hood] 3 Jul 1941, and 'Gerald', 15 Jul 1941, both Ministry of Information, re suggestion that Willert should take charge of propaganda to France and Germany, and his refusal; detailed note on morale in the RAF, c 1942; file containing notes on individual members of the French resistance, [c 1944]; note on Gaston Bergery, 1930s pro-German French politician; official documents (3 items) re his post as Air Attaché (17pp) re service Sep 1939 - Jul 1940 (attached to propaganda mission in Paris, led by Noel Coward; details of work with co-operative Germans in Paris, for anti-German propaganda, subsequently helping some of them escape to England, after the German invasion of France; Willert's own escape and call up by RAF in Jan 1941; file of copy correspondence with and about Arthur Koestler, on the French resistance 1941-1943; file of copy documents from the former Public Record Office (PRO), now The National Archives, re planning, May 1940, for the evacuation of the French government and of the British Embassy from Paris; copy PRO documents re the evacuation of British civilians from France, Jun 1940; two signed photographs of Lord Northcliffe, 1913 and 1917, [friend of Willert's father, Sir Arthur Willert, _Times _correspondent, Washington DC, 1910-1920); manuscript diary, 21 Apr - 4 June1940, kept while serving with propaganda mission in Paris, attached to British Embassy.

Papers relating to his life and career, 1936-1961, principally comprising diary of tour of Germany to assess capacity of industrial installations, Apr-Jun 1945, written in [1945-1946] and including related reports and photographs of sites visited, 1945; record of service pocket book, 1936-1948.

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.

Papers relating to his military service during World War Two, dated [1939-1945], 1948, 1965-1966, notably including account of the service of 1 Welch Regt in Crete, May 1941, written in 1966; silk map of North Africa and the southern Mediterranean, [1939-1945]; account of his imprisonment in Salonika in 1941 and his subsequent transportation to Germany, [1945]; typescript copy of 'Per anum ad astra', an account by Alexis Casdigli of the smuggling of maps from Oflag IX A-H to Oflag XII B in 1944 by a group of POWs, including Casdigli and Griffith, written in 1948, copied in 1965.