Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1945-1994 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
4 boxes and 1 outsize file
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born, 1913; Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, -1934; 3 Battalion, Royal Tank Corps, 1934; Experimental Wing RAC Gunnery School, 1938-1942; Instructor School of Tank Technology, 1942; Ministry of Supply, 1943; Instructor RMCS Shrivenham, 1946-1948; 7 Royal Tank Regiment as Officer Commanding Specialised Armour Squadron, 1948-1950; Inspectorate of Armoured Fighting Vehicles, 1950-1953; attended Exercise TOTEM nuclear test in Australia as Royal Armoured Corps and Royal Artillery representative, 1953; Army Operational Research Group, West Byfleet, 1953; Commanded Experimental Wing of Defence Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Centre School, Winterbourne Gunner, 1956-1958; retired from the Army, 1958; Health and Safety Branch UK Atomic Energy Authority, 1958-1973; freelance nuclear consultant and technical translator, 1973; Scientific Advisor (Nuclear) to Northhampton County Council Emergency Planning, 1980-1993; died, 2005.
Archival history
GB 0099 KCLMA Messenger 1945-1994 Collection (fonds) 4 boxes and 1 outsize file Messenger , William de Lemos Milles , 1913-2005 , Colonel
Born, 1913; Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, -1934; 3 Battalion, Royal Tank Corps, 1934; Experimental Wing RAC Gunnery School, 1938-1942; Instructor School of Tank Technology, 1942; Ministry of Supply, 1943; Instructor RMCS Shrivenham, 1946-1948; 7 Royal Tank Regiment as Officer Commanding Specialised Armour Squadron, 1948-1950; Inspectorate of Armoured Fighting Vehicles, 1950-1953; attended Exercise TOTEM nuclear test in Australia as Royal Armoured Corps and Royal Artillery representative, 1953; Army Operational Research Group, West Byfleet, 1953; Commanded Experimental Wing of Defence Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Centre School, Winterbourne Gunner, 1956-1958; retired from the Army, 1958; Health and Safety Branch UK Atomic Energy Authority, 1958-1973; freelance nuclear consultant and technical translator, 1973; Scientific Advisor (Nuclear) to Northhampton County Council Emergency Planning, 1980-1993; died, 2005.
Received from the family, 2008.
Papers of Colonel William de Lemos Milles ('Toby') Messenger, 1945-1994, relating to atomic tests and British nuclear policy, 1945-1989, including Messenger's report on effects of atomic blast on a Challenger tank, Australia, 1953 (Exercise TOTEM); manuscript draft article by Messenger on observing a nuclear explosion and pamphlets on nuclear weapons, 1945-1982 and papers relating to Messenger's position as Scientific Advisor (Nuclear) to Northhampton County Council (NCC) Emergency Planning, 1980-1993, including an appreciation of Exercise WET FINGER run by the NCC, [1988]; NCC emergency plans for radiation incidents; training manual for scientific advisors; files of notes, articles and other papers on the following topics: improving methods for obtaining bomb burst data, improvised bomb data, chemical and biological warfare, meteorology, victims of disaster, public reaction to nuclear technology, nuclear electromagnetic pulse, nuclear winter, casualty prediction, chemical and biological hazard protection and health, water, food, agriculture and energy after a widespread disaster; and publications including journal Fission Fragments, 1982-1992 and Civil Protection Magazine, 1991-1994.
Original order.
Open. Visitors are required to provide proof of ID and sign an undertaking form.
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be provided for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the Director of Archive Services and Information Management, King's College London.
English
No additional finding aids.
Entry compiled by Sarah Drewery.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Oct 2008 Civil defence Emergency planning Disasters Manmade disasters Nuclear explosions Scientific methods Testing Weapons testing Nuclear weapons testing State security Defence Energy resources Nonrenewable energy sources Nuclear energy Military equipment Weapons Nuclear weapons Military engineering Warfare Nuclear warfare Disaster prevention Messenger , William de Lemos Milles , 1913-2005 , Colonel Northampton County Council Australia Oceania Northampton Northamptonshire England UK Western Europe Europe Safety London Equipment Explosions Accidents
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Received from the family, 2008.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers of Colonel William de Lemos Milles ('Toby') Messenger, 1945-1994, relating to atomic tests and British nuclear policy, 1945-1989, including Messenger's report on effects of atomic blast on a Challenger tank, Australia, 1953 (Exercise TOTEM); manuscript draft article by Messenger on observing a nuclear explosion and pamphlets on nuclear weapons, 1945-1982 and papers relating to Messenger's position as Scientific Advisor (Nuclear) to Northhampton County Council (NCC) Emergency Planning, 1980-1993, including an appreciation of Exercise WET FINGER run by the NCC, [1988]; NCC emergency plans for radiation incidents; training manual for scientific advisors; files of notes, articles and other papers on the following topics: improving methods for obtaining bomb burst data, improvised bomb data, chemical and biological warfare, meteorology, victims of disaster, public reaction to nuclear technology, nuclear electromagnetic pulse, nuclear winter, casualty prediction, chemical and biological hazard protection and health, water, food, agriculture and energy after a widespread disaster; and publications including journal Fission Fragments, 1982-1992 and Civil Protection Magazine, 1991-1994.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Original order.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open. Visitors are required to provide proof of ID and sign an undertaking form.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be provided for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the Director of Archive Services and Information Management, King's College London.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
No additional finding aids.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English