Records of the Middlesex County Council Civil Defence Department relating to activities during the Second World War, 1939-1945, including air raid log books, situation reports, damage logs and register of claims for compensation; correspondence on civil defence matters with the London Civil Defence Region, the Home Guard and other local and military authorities; civil defence demonstrations and exercises; bulletins and instructions; and schedules of requisitioned property.

Collection of papers relating to the Corporation of London, including legal cases, legal opinions, and legal precedents; papers relating to the "Quo Warranto" proceedings against the City; papers relating to civil defence; property transactions such as deeds and leases; illuminated addresses; notes on the customs, privileges, constitution and history of the Corporation; reports and minutes; and translations of charters.

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.

Papers of Alfred Ernle Montacute Chatfield, consisting mainly of semi-official and private letters, 1932 to 1940, from Churchill (1874-1965), Lord Lothian (1882-1940), Admirals Sir Roger Backhouse (1878-1939), Sir Frederic Dreyer (1878-1956), Sir W.W. Fisher (q.v.), Lord Beatty (1871-1936), Sir John Kelly (q.v.), Sir (William) Howard Kelly (q.v.), Sir Charles Little (1882-1973), Sir Eric Fullerton (q.v).), Sir Dudley Pound (1877-1943) and other commanders-in-chief. The topics referred to in this correspondence include the battle of Jutland, 1916, the Invergordon Mutiny, 1931, the Naval Disarmament Conference, 1935, the Abyssinia crisis, 1935, the Spanish Civil War, 1936, the problems of defence and rearmament during the 1930s, international relations and control of the Fleet Air Arm. There are also photograph albums relating to the Royal Tour of India, the Mediterranean Command and the India Mission.

This collection is comprised of various administrative records, publications, reports, and papers of study groups of the Centre for Policy studies, and is divided into 15 sections: 1. Centre for Policy Studies Minutes; 2. Administration Papers; 3. Working Papers; 4. Research Papers; 5. Publications; 6. Speeches; 7. The Westwell Report; 8. Defence Study Group Papers; 9. Deregulation Study Group Papers; 10. Employment and Economy Study Group Papers; 11. First Eleven Group Papers; 12. Health Study Group Papers; 13. Nationalised Industry Study Group Papers; 14. Soviet Study Group Papers; 15. Trade Union Reform Study Papers.

Copies of unpublished typescript memoirs, 1895-1945, by Burnett-Stuart, Chapter 1-12, 152pp, and Chapters 14-23, 191pp. Papers relating to Belgian military exercises, 1913, including typescript 'Report on the Belgian Grand Manoeuvres 1913' by Capt Harry Cecil Johnson, General Staff, with five printed maps of areas of Belgium, notably Namur, Dinant and Brussels [1913]. Copies of correspondence relating to the Moplah Rebellion, 1921-1922, including correspondence with Col Edward Thomas Humphreys, commanding Malabar Force, Sep 1921-Feb 1922; correspondence with Gen Henry Seymour Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson of Trent, Commander-in-Chief of the Army in India, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Baron Willingdon of Ratton, Governor of Madras, Lt Gen Sir William Raine Marshall, General Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Command, India, Lt Gen Sir John Stuart Mackenzie Shea, General Officer Commanding Central Provinces District, India, Maj Gen Sir Archibald Armar Montgomery, Deputy Chief of General Staff, India, Col Walter Patrick Hore-Ruthven, 2nd Baron Ruthven, commanding Bangalore Bde Area, Southern Command, India, Col Henry Karslake, General Staff Officer 1, Headquarters Peshawar, India, and Col William Henry Beach, Deputy Director (Intelligence), General Staff, India, with typescript copy of order of battle, Malabar Force, India, 1921-1922, and lecture on the Moplah rebellion [1924]. Papers relating to Burnett-Stuart's service as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, UK, 1934-1938, including typescript memorandum by Burnett-Stuart 'British Defence Policy', Apr 1935; typescript memorandum by FM Sir Cyril John Deverell, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 'The organisation, armament and equipment of the Army', Nov 1936; typescript volume 'Southern Command. Annual report on training of the regular Army 1936-1937'; typescript address by Burnett-Stuart, 'Southern Command Winter Exercise (The Mobile Division) 1936-1937'.

Minutes, agendas and papers of the Executive Committee of the British Association for Labour Legislation. The file includes papers submitted to the minutes on national health, post-war reconstruction, education for democracy (by R H Tawney) and hours of work. The committee also discussed conditions which prevailed in air raid shelters.

The papers are extensive, relating to almost every aspect of Blackett's career in science and public life. There is biographical and personal material including large numbers of letters of congratulation received on the occasion of the various scientific and public awards and honours with which Blackett's achievements were recognised. There are records of his work on particle disintegration, cosmic rays, astrophysics and magnetism in the form of laboratory notebooks, working papers, correspondence, lectures, publications and broadcasts. There is documentation of his activities on various defence projects and as a member of government committees before, during and after the Second World War. Blackett's political interests are represented by material relating to the Association of Scientific Workers, Labour Party discussion groups on science and technology policy and the Ministry of Technology instituted after the Party's 1964 electoral victory. There are records of a wide range of science-related interests such as the history of science and technology, science, education and government, and nuclear weapons and disarmament, and of his overseas activities including material relating specifically to India and that concerned with matters more generally affecting developing countries.

A few lacunae in the surviving material have been identified. There are no documents relative to Blackett's service with the National Research and Development Corporation or the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and, of his correspondence during the Second World War, only that for 1942 survives.

Papers, of Col Oliver Charles Berger, 1934-1983, comprising:
Papers relating to Berger's education and early career, including: notes and essays on the history of political thought, 1934; Wilton Park Training Centre lecture notes and leaflets for German POWs 1946; correspondence relating to Berger's appointments and awards, 1946-1958; standing orders, memoranda and notes relating to A Sqn, Royal Scots Greys, Lopshorn Training Camp, Germany, Jul-Aug 1948; annual confidential reports on Berger, 1951-1953 and 1955-1957.
Papers relating to diplomatic service and international relations, 1954-1980, including: reports, correspondence, guest lists and notes relating to Berger's service as Military Attache, British Embassy, Rangoon, Burma, 1954-1957, with notes on visits to London by senior Burmese military personnel, 1956. General background information, 1956-1983, including: US government publication, `Mutual inspection for peace', [1956], relating to the role of aerial reconnaissance and photographic interpretation in US-USSR mutual inspection and peace-keeping; press cuttings, 1961-1980, chiefly relating to the Middle East, Africa, USSR, South East Asia and British nuclear policy; speeches made by Sir Alec Douglas-Home as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 1970-1971.

Papers relating to operations of 20 Corps in Palestine, 1917-1918, including third Battle of Gaza; correspondence including with Gen Sir Kenneth Wigram, 1935, and FM Sir Philip Chetwode, 1926-1936, with related papers, 1911-1950; Bartholomew Committee, Jun 1940 including operations in Flanders, organisation and training of troops; Northern Command and civil defence, 1940-1945.

Papers of Jeremy John Durham (Paddy) Ashdown, [1970]-1999, including material relating to the working of the Liberal Democrat Party (including files on the merger of the Liberal and Social Democratic Parties in 1988), campaigns, and relations with related Liberal groups, such as campaigning within ethnic minorities, the Liberal Youth and Student Office, the Liberal Movement, the European Liberal Democratic and Reform Parties, and Liberal International; material relating to Social and Liberal Democrat and Liberal Democrat conferences, 1989-1993, comprising programmes, agenda and correspondence; files relating to the administration of party political broadcasts and press releases, 1988-1992; papers relating to general, by, local and European elections, 1988-1993, including the 1991 report on general elections, and the European Election Task Group and ASLDC reports on local government elections; files on parliamentary procedure, 1989-1992; financial and administrative papers of the Liberal Democrat Party, 1986-1992, notably relating to fund raising; material concerning the organisation of local parties, 1988-1993, including those in Scotland and Wales; Liberal Democrat correspondence, 1982-1993, mainly with party members; constituency correspondence, 1985-1994, relating to Yeovil; general correspondence, 1983-1994, with members of the public, on subjects including animal rights, the arts, blood sports, capital punishment, constitutional and electoral reform, defence, education, energy, the environment, Europe, foreign affairs/policy, health, housing, human rights, legal aid, minority rights, the Poll Tax, taxation, trade and industry, and transport; correspondence relating to issues in individual constituencies, 1988-1994; files of information and correspondence on particular subjects, 1984-1993; personal material relating to work by Paddy Ashdown, 1983-1994, including books, articles, speeches and details of programmes; files on the employment of staff in Paddy Ashdown's office, 1984-1992. Also: files created by Ashdown as leader of the Liberal Democrats, c1991-1999 (AccNo: M1981); Paddy Ashdown's diaries, July 1988-April 1997 (AccNo: M3059); personal and party correspondence, 1987-1998 (AccNo: M3322); diaries and emails, 1999-2006 (AccNo: M3348).

Records of the London County Council Architect's Department relating to Emergency Wartime Measures, including Rescue Service orders to contractors to carry out urgent emergency works, 1940-1941; papers relating to the reorganisation of the Rescue Service, 1942; central office arrangements, 1939-1941; notes for the guidance of rescue parties in the London Civil Defence Region, 1940; Rescue Service physical training instructors, 1939-1943; staffing of the War Debris Survey and Disposal, 1941-1942; Architect's Department emergency staff arrangements, 1938-1939; staff matters relating to the closing down of the Rescue Service, 1945-1946; proceedings and report of Departmental Committee on Staffing and Organisation of the Architect's Department, 1942-1943; report of the Departmental Committee on the Utilisation of Staff and the Elimination of Non-Essential Work, 1942; meetings of Principal Officers in Architect's Department, 1942-1944; Special Course in Air Raid Precautions run by the University of London in conjunction with Ministry of Home Security, May 1940; assistance to Civil Defence services by the Home Guard, 1944; working papers used in preparation and final draft of the War History of the Architect's Department, 1945; lists of awards for gallantry awarded to the Heavy Rescue Service, 1939-1945; Rescue Service Circular Memoranda numbers 1 to 891, 1939-1945; Rescue Service General Orders numbers 1 to 176, 1941-1945.

Records from the Paddington District Surveyor's District, 1940-1945, including index book of war damaged premises; incident record books; War damage Survey notebooks; orders to contractors in relation to dangerous structures; Borough Council's demolition or works orders; incident report forms; incident reports on work done (includes those attended outside Paddington under mutual assistance arrangements); dangerous structure notices under Defence Regulations; daily returns of incidents; schedules of areas suggested for future redevelopment. Also tracings of maps showing damage caused by individual flying bomb and rocket incidents in Stepney, 1944.

Papers of the London County Council Architect's Department relating to Council Buildings: standard specifications, tenders and quotations, 1922-1940; materials, 1930-1937; air raid precautions at Council premises, 1937-1947; salvage of waste metals and other materials, 1925-1942; lists of Council premises damaged by enemy action, 1940-1945; papers relating to the construction of hospitals and other institutions, 1929-1947, including standard planning and points of construction, fire prevention arrangements and transfer of property under the National Health Service Act 1946; papers relating to the construction of museums, 1914-1938; papers relating to the construction of housing estates, 1898-1934; papers relating to the construction of schools, 1910-1939; papers of the Board of Education Departmental Committee on the Construction of School Buildings, 1925-1927; papers relating to the construction of playgrounds, 1911-1928; programmes of building work for the Children's Department, 1950-1960; standards for car parks, 1955-1959; papers of Housing Layout Committee, 1952-1958; papers of Architects' Housing Conferences, 1950-1959; development work on Housing type plans, 1951-1962; papers relating to homes for the elderly, 1934-1961; papers relating to halfway houses and hostels, 1952-1959; design of school furniture, 1949-1959; investigations leading to selection of the Hook, Hampshire, for site of new town, 1955-1959; papers relating to Basingstoke, 1952-1963; Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Committee on Official Architecture, 1913-1929; papers relating to work done by non-LCC architects and criticism of the official Architect, 1905-1920; papers relating to town development, including Bracknell, Corby, Hemel Hempstead, Letchworth, Welwyn and Hatfield, 1952-1964; papers relating to the development of the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank.

Sample files relating to individual premises, comprising subject and policy files retained when a large number of similar files were destroyed, to illustrate the construction and maintenance works carried out at typical LCC developments. Examples include housing estates, schools and colleges, a workhouse, a hospital, a historic building, bridges and County Hall.

Reports, including surveys by the Architect of properties transferred to the LCC, including hospitals, institutions, schools, children's homes, and ambulance stations, 1929-1930; surveys of general and special hospitals, 1934-1937; minutes and reports of Departmental Committee on Hospital Standards, 1930-1934; schedule of prices for repair to buildings, 1915-1919; register of construction works, 1892-1912.

Visitor's Books for historic building Prince Henry's Room, 17 Fleet Street, 1906-1925; publication The Architectural Work of the London County Council by WE Riley, Architect to the Council, 1909; plans of demolished or disused buildings including Clerkenwell Sessions House, India Office Store, Chandos Street Fire Station, Tooley Street Fire Station, Clapham Fire Station, Bayswater Fire Station and Dulwich Fire Station.

Draft of a text on strategy and tactics on the Eastern Front, 1941-1945, written in [1974]; draft article describing tour of duty of battalion of Royal Engineers in Belfast, [1969-1973], written in 1974; draft of a text on the changing concept of defence, primarily concerned with the shift from positional defence to mobile defence, [1976].

Miscellaneous papers relating to the 28th County of London (Wandsworth) Battalion Home Guard. Papers include minute books and other material relating to the Wandsworth Home Guard Social Club, photographs, lists of members of the Battalion, papers relating to anniversary parades, a list of civilian war dead, and other miscellaneous material.