GB 0099 KCLMA Slessor - SLESSOR, MRAF Sir John Cotesworth (1897-1979)

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0099 KCLMA Slessor

Title

SLESSOR, MRAF Sir John Cotesworth (1897-1979)

Date(s)

  • 1949-1968 (Creation)

Level of description

Extent and medium

1 box or 0.01m3

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Born, Rhanikhet, India, 1897; educated at the Dragon School, Haileybury; served in the Royal Flying Corps London Air Defence and in France, Egypt and Sudan, 1915-1918; served with the RAF in India, 1921-1923; RAF Staff College, 1924-1925; commanded No 4 Squadron, 1925-1928; Air Staff, Air Ministry, 1928-1930; Instructor, Staff College, Camberley, 1931-1934; commanded No 3 Indian Wing, Quetta, 1935; Waziristan operations, 1936-1937; Director of Plans, Air Ministry, 1937-1941; Aide de Camp to the King, 1938; Air Commodore, 1939; Air Officer Commanding 5 (Bomber) Group, 1941; Air Vice Marshal, 1941; Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, (Policy), Casablanca Conference, 1942-1943; Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Coastal Command, 1943; Air Marshal, 1943; Commander in Chief, RAF, Mediterranean and Middle East, 1944-1945; Member of Air Council for Personnel, 1945-1947; Air Chief Marshal, 1946; Commandant, Imperial Defence College, 1948-1949; Principal Air Aide de Camp to the King, 1948-1950; Marshal of the RAF, 1950; Chief of the Air Staff, 1950-1952; retired, 1953, died, 1979.

Publications: Air Power and Armies (Oxford: 1936); Strategy for the West (London: 1954); The Central Blue: Recollections and Reflections etc (London: 1956); What Price Coexistence? A Policy for the Western Alliance (London: 1962); Command and Control of Allied Nuclear Forces: A British View (London: 1965); These Remain: A Personal Anthology: Memories of Flying, Fighting and Field Sports (London: 1969).

Archival history

The papers were given to Mr John Costello and Mr Terry Hughes by John Slessor while preparing their book The Battle of the Atlantic (London, 1977).
GB 0099 KCLMA Slessor 1949-1968 Collection level 1 box or 0.01m3 Slessor , Sir , John Cotesworth , 1897-1979 , Knight , Marshal of the Royal Air Force

Born, Rhanikhet, India, 1897; educated at the Dragon School, Haileybury; served in the Royal Flying Corps London Air Defence and in France, Egypt and Sudan, 1915-1918; served with the RAF in India, 1921-1923; RAF Staff College, 1924-1925; commanded No 4 Squadron, 1925-1928; Air Staff, Air Ministry, 1928-1930; Instructor, Staff College, Camberley, 1931-1934; commanded No 3 Indian Wing, Quetta, 1935; Waziristan operations, 1936-1937; Director of Plans, Air Ministry, 1937-1941; Aide de Camp to the King, 1938; Air Commodore, 1939; Air Officer Commanding 5 (Bomber) Group, 1941; Air Vice Marshal, 1941; Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, (Policy), Casablanca Conference, 1942-1943; Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Coastal Command, 1943; Air Marshal, 1943; Commander in Chief, RAF, Mediterranean and Middle East, 1944-1945; Member of Air Council for Personnel, 1945-1947; Air Chief Marshal, 1946; Commandant, Imperial Defence College, 1948-1949; Principal Air Aide de Camp to the King, 1948-1950; Marshal of the RAF, 1950; Chief of the Air Staff, 1950-1952; retired, 1953, died, 1979.

Publications: Air Power and Armies (Oxford: 1936); Strategy for the West (London: 1954); The Central Blue: Recollections and Reflections etc (London: 1956); What Price Coexistence? A Policy for the Western Alliance (London: 1962); Command and Control of Allied Nuclear Forces: A British View (London: 1965); These Remain: A Personal Anthology: Memories of Flying, Fighting and Field Sports (London: 1969).

The papers were given to Mr John Costello and Mr Terry Hughes by John Slessor while preparing their book The Battle of the Atlantic (London, 1977).

Presented to the Centre by Mr Terry Hughes, Jan 2007.

Papers of MRAF Sir John Slessor, 1965-1968, including: correspondence regarding the Defence Review on Naval Airpower with Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Elworthy; W M Mills, Ministry of Defence; Edward Shackleton, Ministry of Defence; Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd; Air Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross, Transport Command; and others, 1965-1968, particularly debating the use of aircraft carriers. Correspondence regarding the Battle of the Atlantic with Vice Admiral Sir Peter Gretton; Capt Stephen Roskill, historian; the Air Historical Branch; the Naval Historical Branch; and others, 1966-67, including statistical analysis of efficacy of RAF and information and statistics from Air History Branch regarding U-Boat destruction, 1955. Correspondence with Capt B H Liddell Hart, 1965; with Rear Admiral Samuel Morison, USNR, 1968; with Professor Arthur Marder, 1966. Articles by Slessor relating to the Defence Review on Naval Airpower, including: An Integral part of the Fleet', 1964;The Capital Ship Complex', 1965; Air Power - Seabourne or Shore-based', 1965;Naval Air Power - Is it Worth It?', 1965; The Story of Jutland: Some reflections on Vol. 3 of "From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow" - Arthur J Marder', 1966;Air Power and the Defence Review', 1966; Air Power East of Suez', 1966;The Purchase of the F111', 1966; Meeting Today's Defence Needs: Virtues of Shore-Based Planes', letter to The Times, 1968; andThe Air League's Memorandum on Defence - January 1967', 1967. Also articles by others including: The case for the Aircraft Carrier' by Fletcher Pratt, and responseThe Case for Land-Based Air Power' by Francis V Drake, The Reader's Digest, 1949; German, Italian and Japanese U-Boat Casualties during the War: Particulars of Destruction, (HMSO, 1946); A memorandum on Defence, The Air League, 1967; and `Merchant Aircraft Carriers' by Kenneth Poolman, Air Pictorial, Oct 1968.

In sections as above.

Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification.

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 Archives and Information Management.
English

Summary guide entry on-line.

The papers of: Capt B H Liddell Hart (Refs: 1/644, 5/22, 10/1936, 11/1937, 12/1955, 13/53, 15/5); Gen H L Ismay (Refs: 2/3, 3/4, 4/14, 4/24, 5/19); Gen Sir R N O'Connor (Ref: 7/20) and AVM S W B Menaul (Refs: 1/1, 5/3, 6/55, 7/2) contain correspondence with Slessor.

Decorations: GCB, KCB, CB, DSO, MC, DL
Entry compiled by Katharine Higgon. 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. Sept 2007 Naval aviation International conflicts War Aircraft carriers Ships Wars (events) Submarines World wars (events) World War Two (1939-1945) Transport Vehicles Aircraft Military aircraft Air transport Slessor , Sir , John Cotesworth , 1897-1979 , Knight , Marshal of the Royal Air Force RN , Royal Navy x Royal Navy

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Presented to the Centre by Mr Terry Hughes, Jan 2007.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Papers of MRAF Sir John Slessor, 1965-1968, including: correspondence regarding the Defence Review on Naval Airpower with Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Elworthy; W M Mills, Ministry of Defence; Edward Shackleton, Ministry of Defence; Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd; Air Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross, Transport Command; and others, 1965-1968, particularly debating the use of aircraft carriers. Correspondence regarding the Battle of the Atlantic with Vice Admiral Sir Peter Gretton; Capt Stephen Roskill, historian; the Air Historical Branch; the Naval Historical Branch; and others, 1966-67, including statistical analysis of efficacy of RAF and information and statistics from Air History Branch regarding U-Boat destruction, 1955. Correspondence with Capt B H Liddell Hart, 1965; with Rear Admiral Samuel Morison, USNR, 1968; with Professor Arthur Marder, 1966. Articles by Slessor relating to the Defence Review on Naval Airpower, including: An Integral part of the Fleet', 1964;The Capital Ship Complex', 1965; Air Power - Seabourne or Shore-based', 1965;Naval Air Power - Is it Worth It?', 1965; The Story of Jutland: Some reflections on Vol. 3 of "From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow" - Arthur J Marder', 1966;Air Power and the Defence Review', 1966; Air Power East of Suez', 1966;The Purchase of the F111', 1966; Meeting Today's Defence Needs: Virtues of Shore-Based Planes', letter to The Times, 1968; andThe Air League's Memorandum on Defence - January 1967', 1967. Also articles by others including: The case for the Aircraft Carrier' by Fletcher Pratt, and responseThe Case for Land-Based Air Power' by Francis V Drake, The Reader's Digest, 1949; German, Italian and Japanese U-Boat Casualties during the War: Particulars of Destruction, (HMSO, 1946); A memorandum on Defence, The Air League, 1967; and `Merchant Aircraft Carriers' by Kenneth Poolman, Air Pictorial, Oct 1968.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

In sections as above.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification.

Conditions governing reproduction

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 Archives and Information Management.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

The papers of: Capt B H Liddell Hart (Refs: 1/644, 5/22, 10/1936, 11/1937, 12/1955, 13/53, 15/5); Gen H L Ismay (Refs: 2/3, 3/4, 4/14, 4/24, 5/19); Gen Sir R N O'Connor (Ref: 7/20) and AVM S W B Menaul (Refs: 1/1, 5/3, 6/55, 7/2) contain correspondence with Slessor.

Finding aids

Summary guide entry on-line.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Publication note

Decorations: GCB, KCB, CB, DSO, MC, DL

Notes area

Note

Decorations: GCB, KCB, CB, DSO, MC, DL

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London

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

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area