Showing 20 results

Papers of Maj Gen Ian Helstrip Baker, notably concerning armoured warfare, 1955-2003, including instructions, memoranda, reports and notes on training exercises including Exercise GAMEBIRD, Cyclops Sqn, 2 Royal Tank Regt, Libya, Jul 1964; Exercises OPEN GLOVE and TREBLE CHANCE, Cyclops Sqn, 2 Royal Tank Regt and 16 Parachute Bde Group, Sep 1964; Exercise DOUBLE STRETCH 72, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Feb-Mar 1972; Exercise RED RAT, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Sep-Oct 1972; MACLEOD, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Aug-Sep 1972; Exercise READY RAT, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, 11 Sep 1972; Exercise LONG LOOK, for 7 Armoured Bde trials of ZB298 radar, Oct 1971-Apr 1972; organisational trial Exercise SQUARE RAT, Germany, 28 Dec 1972; Exercise FIRST STRETCH 73, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Feb 1973; Exercise DOUBLE STRETCH 73, 1 Armoured Bde, Germany, Mar-Apr 1973; Exercise HURST PARK 73, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Apr 1973; Exercise QUEEN'S PATROL, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany (relating to operations in Northern Ireland), May 1973; Exercise RED RAT 73, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Aug 1973; Exercise FOUR SQUARE, 7 Armoured Bde, Germany, Sep-Nov, 1973; photographs of [FV214 Conqueror battle tanks], Royal Armoured Corps, Bovington, Dorset and photograph of an amphibious jeep, partially submerged, 1960; photograph of Crown Prince Birendra of Nepal and others watching a Hornet Launcher vehicle being loaded with Malkara missiles by personnel of Cyclops Sqn, 2 Royal Tank Regt, Candahar Barracks, Tidworth, 15 Apr 1964; captioned photographs relating to Baker's visit to [1 Bn, Royal Green Jackets], Belfast, Northern Ireland, including: battalion personnel on patrol; Falls Road and Hamilton Street, Belfast, showing the aftermath of explosions; IRA weapons discovered, including rifles, knives, an RPG7 rocket launcher and RPG7 rockets, a car bomb and smaller incendiary devices, Aug 1972; photographs of Baker, Nov 1979 and in Brigadier's uniform; handing over briefing notes by Baker as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, 17 Gurkha Div, Overseas Commonwealth Land Forces, 25 Jun 1962; training instructions for Cyclops Sqn, 2 Royal Tank Regt, Tidworth, Mar 1963-May 1964; briefing notes on the Parachute Sqn, Royal Armoured Corps, by Baker, 1964; Royal Armoured Corps training pamphlet, 'The technique of shooting from AFVs. Part 4: the application of fire from Saladin armoured cars' (MoD, Feb 1967); 1 Royal Tank Regt standing operational procedures, Jun 1969; briefing notes for Baker as Commander, 7 Armoured Bde, by Administration and Quartering staff, 7 Armoured Bde, 18 Jan 1972 and by Brigade Majors, 7 Armoured Bde, 7 Feb 1972; 7 Armoured Bde standing operating procedures relating to headquarters and operations (vol. 1), and administration and logistics (vol. 2), Feb 1972; training directives by Baker as Brigadier Commanding 7 Armoured Bde, Mar-Sep 1972; notes on the creation and history of the Desert Rat badge of 7 Armoured Bde, 1940-1972; training directive by Baker as Brigadier Commanding 7 Armoured Bde, Mar 1973; correspondence and accounts by Lt Col R A Pascoe, 1 Bn Royal Green Jackets, of the battalion's service in Belfast, 8-14 Oct 1972.

Two albums of black and white photographs relating to service in Iraq with No 1 Armoured Car Company, 1936, including images of sailing aboard the HMS DORSETSHIRE, Mar 1936; Port Said and the Suez Canal, Egypt, Apr 1936; No 1 Armoured Car Company on deployment in the desert near Salman Pak, Iraq; reconnaissance trip to Kurdistan, Aug 1936; landscapes and snapshots of local life, Iraq; the streets of Baghdad, Iraq; armoured vehicles and aeroplanes at headquarters; biplanes in flight; snapshots of Blackton and colleagues at headquarters and at an athletics event; accommodation and recreation facilities at headquarters. Also loose photographs of the battleship HMS RODNEY and of seaplanes being tested, including the Saro Windhover, [1933].

Papers and photographs relating to Caunter's career, 1908-[1960], including one photograph album, containing 90 photographs, newspaper cuttings and invitations, 1908-1933, notably photographs of Crefeld POW camp, Germany, 1916, Caunter's return to UK following his escape from Schwarmstedt POW camp, Germany, 1917, group photographs of officers, Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1922-1923 and Senior Officers Course, Hythe, Kent, 1927, with thirty five loose photographs, 1909-1941, including Salonika, 1918, Iraq, 1920-1921, Egypt, 1936, and Western Desert, Libya, 1941. Papers relating to the First Libyan Campaign, Western Desert, 1940-1941, and Caunter's command of 4 Armoured Bde in the capture of Fort Capuzzo, Battle of Beda Fomm, Libya, Feb 1941, including typescript memorandum by Caunter entitled 'Notes on the disposal of prisoners captured by AFV (Armoured Fighting Vehicle) units', 1 Oct 1940; two typescript 7 Armoured Div intelligence summaries, Dec 1940; typescript memorandum by Caunter entitled 'Some lessons from the campaign', [1941]; typescript account entitled 'The story of the 4th Armoured Brigade in the First Libyan campaign', Western Desert, 1940-1941; two letters from Capt Basil Henry Liddell Hart, dated Jan 1947 and Dec 1951, relating to Caunter's deployment of armoured forces in the Battle of Beda Fomm, Western Desert, Feb 1941. Memoranda and reports relating to Caunter's service as Brig General Staff and Deputy Director of Staff Duties, Armoured Troops, General Headquarters, India, 1941-1943, including typescript memorandum by Caunter, 'Defence of the North West Frontier of India and appreciation' [1942]; typescript report by Lt Col Rothwell H Brown, US Army, 'Report of conditions noted in armoured units and ordnance establishments by the US Army Tank Training Detachment', 10 Nov 1942; edition of Tanks and tank folk by Eric Kennington (Country Life, London, 1943).

Bound typescript histories of Tank Corps battalions, brigades and groups during World War One, 1914-1918, written by Tank Corps personnel in [1918-1919]. Bound volumes of official correspondence, reports, memoranda, notes, maps, photographs, operation orders, summaries of information and other papers concerning tank strategy and tactics, 1916-1918, the Battle ofCambrai, 1917, and Tanks Corps operations, 1914-1918, dated 1917-1919. Correspondence between Fuller, M Mitzakis and various military personnel relating to the use of Canal Defence Light (CDL) tanks during World War Two, 1939-1945, dated 1946. Other papers relating to his life and military career, [1889]-1965, including letters to his parents, 1897-1921, notably covering his service in SouthAfrica, 1899-1902, and in World War One, 1914-1918; narrative diaries covering his service in South Africa, 1901-1902, and World War One, 1914-1915; book agreements, 1919, 1956-1965; correspondence with publishers, 1956, 1961-1965; newspaper cuttings, 1945, 1952, 1965-1966, including obituaries of Fuller, 1966; papers relating to the occult, notably including letters from Aleister Crowley, 1905-[1924], and manuscript and typescript texts by Fuller and others, 1910, 1926, [1930] and 1966. Bound typescript text on Gen (William) Edmund Ironside, mainly consisting of extracts from Ironside's letters to Col Roderick MacLeod, 1927-1958, compiled by MacLeod in [1959], and 'A secret service agent in South-West Africa', a bound typescript text on Ironside's service as a British agent among the Boers in German South West Africa, 1902-1904, written by MacLeod in [1965] using Ironside's notes.

Papers relating to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Middle Eastern Forces, World War Two, 1939-1945, used by Harris in his research, as assistant author, of Brig Alan Henry Fernyhough's History of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps 1920-1945 Royal Army Ordnance Corps, London, 1967), notably manuscript and typescript notes, memoranda, reports, photographs, statistical tables and graphs and related correspondence on the organisation of Ordnance Services, the supply of Middle Eastern Forces with equipment and stores and the creation of the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, 1942. One hundred and two photographs relating to Allied equipment and weaponry, and captured German and Italian clothing, equipment and armaments, 1941-1945, including series of seventeen photographs highlighting defects in the axle arm of Cruiser Tank Mk 6, 1941; series of fifteenphotographs illustrating captured German clothing and equipment [1942]; eight captioned photographs of the Captured Stores Depot, Alexandria, Egypt, May 1945.

Official photographs of the British Army in North Africa, [1940-1943], principally depicting personnel, tanks and infantry.

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].

Capt Sir Basil Liddell Hart's papers reflect his position as the foremost military theorist in Britain between World Wars One and Two, as an influential military correspondent and as a prolific author of books on military theory and history. As such he sustained throughout his life an extensive correspondence with a wide variety of prominent individuals, including those in the armed forces, politicians, playwrights, journalists, military historians, embassy officials and clergymen.The collection includes Liddell Hart's files containing correspondence with several thousand individuals, as well as with government departments and military establishments, and clubs and political parties; his own military writings, including diary notes, memoranda, books, articles, letters to the press and texts of lectures; and an extensive collection of reference material, mainly comprising newspaper cuttings and pamphlets, covering a wide range of topics including military history, politics and society. The collection includes a small quantity of correspondence with Lady Liddell Hart, particularly after 1970.Correspondence with individuals, 1916-1970, with related papers, 1/1-780; general correspondence, 1904-1976, including with Embassy staff, Israeli military personnel, and researchers, 2/1-3241; correspondence with British and overseas publishers, military and non-military journals, news agencies, literary and legal advisers, 1919-1970, 3/1-196; correspondence with officialinstitutions, 1927-1970, including government departments, military establishments and museums, with correspondence relating to official histories of World Wars One and Two, 4/1-39; correspondence with political parties, clubs and organisations, 1922-1970, 5/1-35; letters to newspapers and journals, 1927-1968, 6/1927/1-6/1968/2; writings relating to military matters, 1910-1925, including diaries and notebooks, 7/1910/1-7/1925/13; papers relating to early life and career, 1895-1925, including service in World War One, 8/1-355; manuscripts, typescripts, proofs and reviews of books written or edited by Liddell Hart, with related papers, 1925-1970, 9/1-32, which includes notes on talks with T E Lawrence, 9/13, papers relating to German generals of World War Two, 9/24, and correspondence and papers relating to tanks, 9/28; published articles, including book reviews, with related papers, 1925-1969, 10/1925/1-10/1969/19 plus miscellaneous and supplementary papers; unpublished papers, 1925-1970, including appointment diaries, records of conversations and papers on military matters, and papers relating to Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1937-1957, 11/1925/1-11/1970/1 plus undated memoranda; notes for lectures, speeches, broadcasts and interviews, 1926-1969, with related correspondence, 12/1926/1-12/1969/4 plus miscellaneous papers; papers including presscuttings and copy letters relating to life and career, 1925-1970, 13/1-112; non-military material, including papers relating to religion, philosophy, sport, aviation, science, psychology and fashion, 1913-1969, 14/1-93; reference material, including original and published papers and proofs of publications, relating to military history, politics and society, 15/1-7, 16; military manualsand pamphlets, 1870-1961, 15/8. See below for those individuals who passed their own private papers to Liddell Hart.

Letter to Ian Angus, Librarian of King's College, London concerning Mills' work testing TOG 2 heavy tanks for the Tank Design Dept, Farnborough during the period [1940-1945], written in 1978; newspaper article from The Times concerning Lt Col Albert Stern's involvement with tank design, 1914-1945, written by Philip Howard in 1977.

Photocopies of typescripts and manuscripts relating to the conversion of the Essex Yeomanry, Territorial Army, to Armoured Car Companies, 1920-1921, including copy of typescript memorandum from the Maj Gen Sir Charles Harington Harington, Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff, to Lt Col Francis Henry Douglas Charlton Whitmore, Military Member, Territorial Army Association, relating to the conversion of all Yeomanry regiments to armoured car companies and the training of personnel in the Territorial Army, 4 Feb 1920

Papers and maps chiefly concerning the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, [1918]-1959, including typescript copy of war diary, 1 Armoured Reconnaissance Bde, British Expeditionary Force (BEF), Belgium and France, 30 Mar-30 May 1940, with typescript recommendations for awards, 1940; typescript account, dated Jun 1942, of dispositions and operations of B Sqn, 1 Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, Belgium and France, 14 May-1 Jun 1940; typescript list entitled '1 Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, nominal roll of casualties sustained in France, 1940'; article by Maj Otho Munton Bullivant, Adjutant, 1 Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, entitled 'With the BEF [British Expeditionary Force] in Flanders', from The Tank [1941]; typescript 'Precis of activities of 1st Fife and Forfar Yeomanry', British Liberation Army, North West Europe, Oct 1944-Feb 1945, and 'Details of activities of 1st Fife and Forfar Yeomanry', 1-31 Mar 1945; correspondence with various officers concerning Regimental affairs, 1943-1945, including Col James Younger, 2nd Viscount Younger of Leckie, Honorary Col, Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 1945; correspondence, dated 1944-1945, relating to the return of the Regimental band instruments, abandoned by the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry during the retreat to Dunkirk, 1940, and kept by the local townspeople, France, 1940-1944; official correspondence concerning Prain's Army pension and war disablement compensation, 1946-1956; correspondence, dated 1947-1959, relating to the writing and publication of The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 1919-1956 by Robert James Batchen Sellar (William Blackwood, Edinburgh and London, 1960). Twenty five photographs relating to the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 1923-1945, including group photograph of Armoured Car Company, Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, Annesmuir camp, Scotland, Jul 1923; five photographs of Fife and Forfar Yeomanry Vickers Light Tanks Mark VIB and Universal carriers, France, 1940; official photograph of Infantry Tank Mark IV Churchill Crocodile flame-throwing tank, storming of the Senio river, Italy, Apr 1945.

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.

Typescript and manuscript notes, calculations and sketches made by Sainty during the designing of sand eliminators for tanks and the filtration of atmospheric air, which was extensively used in tanks for the war in North Africa, 1943-1945; leaflets and pamphlets relating to the work of Carrier Engineering Co Ltd in designing and installing filters for gas protection prior to and during World War Two, including a summary by Lt Col John Arthur Edward Heard.

Papers relating to his role in the development and production of armoured fighting vehicles, dated 1914-1959, 1964, 1994, principally comprising correspondence, memoranda and minutes relating to the Landships Committee, 1915-1916, and the Tank Supply Committee, Tank Supply Department (later Mechanical Warfare Supply Department) and Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) Department, 1916-1918; progress reports and memoranda on design and construction of landships, 1915; plans, drawings and blueprints for landships and tanks, 1915-1916; 'Notes on the employment of tanks' by Col Ernest Dunlop Swinton, printed at the Foreign Office, 1916; 'Mechanical warfare, a summary of British tank development, 1914-1918', typescript text by Stern, [1925]; papers relating to the establishment of the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy Pailloux, Chateauroux, France, dated 1917-1918; notes and reports by Lt J Rackham and George Watson relating to the use of tanks on the Western Front, 1917; 'The tactical employment of tanks in 1918', unofficial report by Col John Frederick Charles Fuller, 1917; correspondence and memoranda relating to Ministry of Supply Special Vehicle Development Committee and the Tank Board, 1939-1943, and the design and development of TOG heavy tanks, 1939-1944, including correspondence with Rt Hon Edward Leslie Burgin, Minister of Supply, 1939-1940, Rt Hon Herbert Stanley Morrison, Minister of Supply, 1940, Rt Hon Sir Andrew Rae Duncan, Minister of Supply, 1940-1941 and 1942, Rt Hon William Maxwell Aitken Beaverbrook, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Minister of Supply, 1941-1942, Sir James Lithgow, Chairman of the Tank Board, 1941, and Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill 1940-1942, Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister of Defence, Sir William Tritton of Tritton, Foster and Co, and Cdr R H Stokes-Rees, 1943-1944; official reports by Lt Col Gordon Hall on British and Italian use of tanks in the Middle East, 1940-1941, dated 1941; specifications and technical reports relating to tanks, 1939-1944; minutes of Special Vehicle Development Committee, 1939-1942; papers relating to investigation of Stern's position in the Ministry of Supply, 1942, dated 1939-1942, including transcriptions of interviews with Stern, 1942; correspondence and memoranda relating to Stern's evidence before the Sub-Committee on National Production and Supply of the House of Commons Select Committee on National Expenditure; publications and printed material relating to tanks, 1915-1919, 1939-1946, 1959; photographs, 1915-1918, 1939-1945, principally comprising British, French and Canadian photographs of tanks, 1915-1918; photographs of TOG tanks, 1939-1942; films concerning the development of the tank, 1918, 1941-1942, 1957. Other papers relating to his life and career, notably including photographs relating to his service with the Royal Naval Air Service, 1914-1915; copies of personal correspondence, 1918-1919.

Typescript transcripts of letters home from Street, 1932, May-Sep 1938 and 1941-1944, including accounts of Allied evacuation from Greece, 1941, and Street's escape from an Italian submarine as a POW, 1943. Two narrative diaries relating to service in Palestine, Aug-Oct 1939, and Kenya, Jun-Dec 1940. Volume entitled 'Long ago and far away', typescript memoir by Annette Street, widow of Maj Gen Vivian Wakefield Street, foreword by Sir Fitzroy Hew Maclean, 1st Bt, with seven photographs, 1938-1945. Sixty one photographs relating to Street's career, 1938-1960, including rebellion in Palestine, 1938-1939, and Middle East, 1940-1943. Edition of Blackwood's Magazine, Mar 1947, with article by Street entitled 'Some men have nine lives', an account of the escape from the Italian submarine, 1943. Printed programme of official visit to Aden by Julian Amery MP, Under Secretary of State for War, and Gen Sir Geoffrey Kemp Bourne, Commander-in-Chief, Middle East Land Forces, Sep-Oct 1957, with typescript itineraries of visit and four photographs. Newspaper cuttings and related papers on the award of the MC to Street, Palestine, 1938, the evacuation from Greece, 1941, and the escape from the Italian submarine, 1943.

Papers and correspondence relating to Swinton's libel action brought against Herbert George (H G) Wells on the origin of the tank, 1941, including letters to Swinton from R Adm Sir Murray Fraser Sueter, H G Wells, B A Levinson and Sir Richard (Roy) Maconachie, 1940-1941. Typescript letter from Col Sir Maurice Paschal Alers Hankey, Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence, dated 5 May 1932, on the manuscript of Swinton's book Eyewitness. Being personal reminiscences of certain phases of the Great War, including the genesis of the tank (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1932). Two scrapbooks containing cuttings, photographs and memorabilia, 1915-1970, mostly relating to Swinton's military career. Edition of The supply of munitions. Part III. Tanks [1920], Royal Commission on awards to inventors. First Report (HMSO, London, 1921), The defence of Duffer's Drift by Swinton, (George Ronald, Oxford, 1949), and War commentary. Broadcasts delivered between October, 1939 and March, 1940 (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1940).

Papers relating to his service as Third Sea Lord, 1915-1916, principally comprising 'History of armoured cars, juggernauts, land battleships, tanks', a memorandum on the development of an armoured car force, 1914-1916, written [for Tudor and other Sea Lords] by Murray F Sueter, Sep 1916; 'Report on the design and construction of first land ship (tank)', written for Tudor by E H Tennyson D'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, Sep 1916. Biographical notes on Tudor, compiled for members of the family by his great nephew, A B T Davey, with covering letter, 1976.

Papers of Louis Edward Wilson, 1914-1959, relating to World War One Fundraising Tank Campaign and to the waterproofing of tanks during World War Two, including: booklet, The German Raid on the Hartlepools, December 16th 1914, with photographs of bomb damage and list of the dead, 1914; correspondence, photographs, brochures, programmes, invitations and publicity material relating to the National Tour around the UK of the Tank Campaign of the National War Savings Committee, 8 Jan 1917-19 Dec 1919; letters from Maj Gen Sir Ernest Swinton, contributor to the invention of the tank and first commander of the Tank Corps, 18 Aug 1922-18 Jul 1945; correspondence concerning Wilson's career and the process of tank waterproofing, 14 Sept 1939-28 Jun 1946 and 3 Jan 1959; papers relating to tank waterproofing, 1940-1945, including: notes on supplies for the Dieppe raid, Aug 1942; notes taken from minutes of Tank Committee meetings, Aug 1942-Jun 1943; lists of companies manufacturing tanks, 1945; summary of the uses of Bostik in tank wading, Aug 1940-Jan 1945; `A Tank Goes for a Swim', illustrated article from Picture Post, 21 Oct 1944; German aerial photograph of Coventry, showing Armstrong Siddeley aircraft engine works, Oct 1940; photographs of tank landings on manoeuvres in the UK, 1943, in Sicily and Italy, 1943, and in Normandy, 1944; booklets containing waterproofing and wading instructions, 1943-1944, for tanks including the Churchill Mk I, II, III, and IV; Light Tank M5, M5A1 and Howitzer motor carriage with radio equipment; Sherman Mk III and Mk V; Stuart Mk III and Mk V; Car, Scout and Humber Mk I and II; Armoured Car and Humber Mk I, II, III and IV; Valentine Bridgelayer; Armoured Car, Staghound; Churchill AVRE; Churchill ARV; Centaur Mk IV; 3in gun motor carriage M10; Carriers; Crusader, Gun Tractor Mk I; Cromwell Mk I, II, IV, V, VI and Centaur Mk I, III, IV. Also copy of We Planned the Second Front by Maj John Dalgleish (Gollancz, 1945) with mention of the waterproofing efforts.

Copies of pages from Sir Albert Stern's Tanks, 1914-1918: the log book of a pioneer (1919), with annotations by Wilson, 1920.

Papers relating to his service with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, 1943-1945, principally comprising official report by [Woods] on waterproofing technology, 1945; official reports on the waterproofing of 'A' and 'B' vehicles and equipment, 1943-1945, by Brig Hugh Roberts Howard, Deputy Director Mechanical Engineering (Wading), War Office, 1944-1945; 'Waterproofing of army equipment for amphibious operations', official report by Woods, [1943-1945]; photographs of wading tests on army vehicles, 1944; Combined Operations pamphlets on the responsibilities of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, 1944, and the waterproofing of vehicles and equipment, 1944; 'The Army waded ashore', a typescript account of the role of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in the preparations for D Day, 6 Jun 1944, written by Woods in [1944-1945].