GB 0099 KCLMA Pyman - PYMAN, Sir Harold English (1908-1971)

19 boxes or 0.19 cubic metres

GB 0099 KCLMA Pyman Created 1860-1901, 1937-1971 Collection (fonds) 19 boxes or 0.19 cubic metres

Born 1908; educated at Fettes College, Edinburgh and Clare College, Cambridge (MA); commissioned into the Royal Tank Regiment, 1929; served in the North-West Frontier Campaign, India, 1937; appointed to assist 17/21 Lancers in converting from cavalry to armour, 1938; Capt 1938; student at Staff College, Quetta, 1939; Instructor at Staff College, Quetta, 1939-1941 graduated from senior wing of staff college; served in the Western Desert, 1941 as Second in Command of 6 Royal Tank regiment (despatches); General Staff Officer grade 1, 7 Armoured Division (DSO) 30 Corps, 8 Army; Commanding Officer 3 Royal Tank Regt, 10 Armoured Div, 8 Army (bar to DSO); Brig General Staff, Home Forces in charge of training, 1943-1944; Brig General Staff 30 Corps for Normandy invasion (CBE); Chief of Staff, 2 Army, 1944-1945 with responsibility for planning and organisation of the Rhine crossing and the subsequent advance to the Baltic (despatches); Chief of General Staff, Allied Land Forces South East Asia and Acting Maj Gen, 1945-1946; Chief of Staff, General Headquarters, Middle East Land Forces, 1946-1949; Maj Gen, 1949; General Officer Commanding 56 (London) Armoured Division Territorial Army, 1949-1951; Director General, Fighting Vehicles, Ministry of Supply, with responsibilty for meeting the vehicle requirements of all three services 1951-1953; General Officer Commanding 11 Armoured Division, British Army on the Rhine, 1953-1955; Director of Weapons and Development, War Office, April 1955-May 1956; Lieut Gen, 1957; General Officer Commanding 1 Corps, British Army on the Rhine, 1956-1958; Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1958-1961; General, 1961; Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces, Northern Europe, 1961-1963; suffered from a severe stroke Sep 1963 and retired 1964; Hon Col Berkshire and Westminster Dragoons (2 Company of London Yeomanry) Territorial Army; Col Commandant of The Royal Tank Regt, 1958-1965; Col Commandant The Royal Armoured Corps, 1963-1966; died 1971. Publications: Call to arms, (Leo Cooper, London, 1971)

Placed in the Centre by the family in Mar 1972.

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.

Sections 1 to 12 are arranged chronologically by career 1937-1963. Sections 13-19 are grouped as regimental material, diaries, correspondence, awards, speeches, writings, reference material. Section 20 contains the papers of Col James Redmond Patrick Gordon, these date from the Boer War period and are unrelated to the rest of the collection.

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied 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.
English

Detailed catalogue available on line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm and also in hard copy in the Centre's reading room.

The papers of Gen Hastings Lionel, 1st Baron Ismay of Wormington contain a copy of PYMAN 5/13, a letter to Pyman from Admiral of the Fleet Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, sent with the final version of his des

There are a number of items relating to Pyman in the papers of Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart in sections 1, 10, 13, 15/5, 9/28.

Decorations: GBE, KCB, DSO, CB, US Legion of Merit, Commander
July 1999 North Africa Egypt NATO , North Atlantic Treaty Organization x North Atlantic Treaty Organization British Army Gordon , James Redmond Patrick , b 1860 , Colonel Dempsey , Sir , Miles Christopher , 1896-1969 , Knight , General Seas Migration Cavalry Armoured forces Prose Nonfiction Diaries Political systems Colonial countries Decolonization State security Armed forces Army personnel Transport Vehicles Motor vehicles Tanks Public administration Government Central government Government departments Literature Literary forms and genres Speeches Information sources Documents Primary documents International conflicts War International relations Foreign relations Alliances Second Boer War, 1899-1902 Wars (events) World wars (events) World War Two (1939-1945) Organizations Military organizations South Africa Southern Africa Germany Western Europe Europe Rhine, river Palestine Middle East India South Asia Normandy France Cyprus Netherlands Quetta Pakistan Greece Baltic Sea South East Asia

Placed in the Centre by the family in Mar 1972.

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.

Sections 1 to 12 are arranged chronologically by career 1937-1963. Sections 13-19 are grouped as regimental material, diaries, correspondence, awards, speeches, writings, reference material. Section 20 contains the papers of Col James Redmond Patrick Gordon, these date from the Boer War period and are unrelated to the rest of the collection.

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied 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.

• English

• Latin

English

There are a number of items relating to Pyman in the papers of Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart in sections 1, 10, 13, 15/5, 9/28.

Detailed catalogue available on line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm and also in hard copy in the Centre's reading room.

The papers of Gen Hastings Lionel, 1st Baron Ismay of Wormington contain a copy of PYMAN 5/13, a letter to Pyman from Admiral of the Fleet Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, sent with the final version of his des

Decorations: GBE, KCB, DSO, CB, US Legion of Merit, Commander

Decorations: GBE, KCB, DSO, CB, US Legion of Merit, Commander

• English