Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1914-1960 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
7 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Eng V Adm Sir Harold Arthur Brown, born, 1878; educated as engineering student, Royal Naval Engineering College, Devonport, 1894-1899; Deputy Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet, 1930-1932; Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet, 1932-1936; Director General of Munitions Production, Army Council, War Office, 1936-1939; Director General of Munitions Production, Ministry of Supply, 1939-1941; Controller General of Munitions Production, 1941-1942; Senior Supply Officer and Chairman of Armamanent Development Board, Ministry of Supply, 1942-1946; Chairman Fuel Research Board, 1947-1950; died 1968.
Sir George Wilfred Turner, born 1896; Boy Clerk, War Office, 1911-1914; Grenadier Guards, 1916-1919; returned to Civil Service, 1921; Private Secretary, 1929; Assistant Secretary, 1938; Ministry of Supply, 1939-1948, culminating in becoming Permanent Under-Secretary of State for War, 1949-1956; retired, 1956; died, 1974.
Archival history
Papers created during the service of Brown and Turner at the Ministry of Supply and in the course of compiling autobiographical papers.
GB 0099 KCLMA Turner/Brown 1914-1960 Collection (fonds) 7 boxes Brown , Sir , Harold , 1878-1968 , knight , Engineer Vice Admiral
Turner , Sir , George Wilfred , 1896-1974 , knight , civil servant
Eng V Adm Sir Harold Arthur Brown, born, 1878; educated as engineering student, Royal Naval Engineering College, Devonport, 1894-1899; Deputy Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet, 1930-1932; Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet, 1932-1936; Director General of Munitions Production, Army Council, War Office, 1936-1939; Director General of Munitions Production, Ministry of Supply, 1939-1941; Controller General of Munitions Production, 1941-1942; Senior Supply Officer and Chairman of Armamanent Development Board, Ministry of Supply, 1942-1946; Chairman Fuel Research Board, 1947-1950; died 1968.
Sir George Wilfred Turner, born 1896; Boy Clerk, War Office, 1911-1914; Grenadier Guards, 1916-1919; returned to Civil Service, 1921; Private Secretary, 1929; Assistant Secretary, 1938; Ministry of Supply, 1939-1948, culminating in becoming Permanent Under-Secretary of State for War, 1949-1956; retired, 1956; died, 1974.
Papers created during the service of Brown and Turner at the Ministry of Supply and in the course of compiling autobiographical papers.
The family of Sir George Wilfred Turner transferred the papers to the Centre between 1974 and 2003.
Mainly official publications and printed reports, memoranda on rearmament and supply before and during World War Two, with some photographs and personal papers, 1938-1953; notably including typescript copy of reminiscences by Brown with press cuttings and notes relating to the Ministry of Supply and other correspondence, 1938-1960; detailed diary by Turner, 1940; private papers by Turner on his domestic life, accounts, diary summaries, some correspondence and photographs, 1914-[1946]; files containing mainly typescript memoranda, correspondence and statistics relating to the Committee of Imperial Defence, War Office and Ministry of Supply, predominantly concerning rearmament and Second World War production, including progress reports on production and preparations for war, with printed reports on tanks and anti-tank guns, 1936-1943; minutes of a Committee of Imperial Defence sub-committee meeting on the supply of war material to Portugal, 1938; typescript review of air defence, including statistics of anti-aircraft guns, factory planning, civil defence, 1939-1940; file on munitions supply preparations incorporating some minutes of the Informal Army Council on munitions, 1937-1939; papers of the Industrial Capacity Committee including on US supplies to the UK in time of war, 1941; typescript briefing papers prepared for ministers for Commons' speeches, 1942; file of typescript retrospective analyses of war production contracts, 1948; printed reports and official publications on armed forces structure and expenditure, production and ordnance factories, national expenditure, post-World War One reconstruction, Ministry of Supply on inspection regimes, Whitley Councils 1917-1955, notably including 'Investigation of the Heavy Crossbow installations in Northern France', 2 vols, (1945), Ministry of Supply booklet entitled 'Progress in scientific research' (1947),'Statistics relating to the war effort of the United Kingdom' (HMSO, 1944), 'War-time tank production' (London, 1946), 'Review of Defects Disclosed by the Czechosolvak Crisis', 1938, report of a committee chaired by Sir Percy Mills on the organisation of the Royal Ordnance Factories, Apr 1951; 'Central planning and control in war and peace' by Sir Oliver Franks (1947), 'Interdenominational Advisory Committee on Army Chaplains Services', 1953,'Contracts and Finance Copy No. 2', Jun 1948; additional papers on a Royal Institute of Public Affairs Group Research Project on Changes in the Structure of Executive Government, 1956, and Report by Sir Keith Hancock on the Official History of the War: Civil Series, 1957.
7 accessions, 1974-2003
The collection is broadly divided into the papers of V Adm Sir Harold Brown and those of Sir George Wilfred Turner, in order of accession.
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
Summary Guide on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm, and in hard copy in the Centre's reading room. A brief catalogue of the most recent accessions is also held in the Centre.
The Centre holds some material relating to pre-World War Two rearmament, including Adam. The Stern papers include some tank-related Ministry of Supply material from the late 1930s. The Cowley and Pyman papers contain material on the Ministry of supply from the 1950s.
Ministry of Supply and other official publications can be accessed in the British Library. Some committee minutes and memoranda are available in the Public Record Office, Kew.
Entry compiled by Geoff Browell for the RSLP AIM25 Project. National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997; ISAD(G), Second Edition, 2000. June 2003 Wars (events) Armed forces British Army Brown , Sir , Harold , 1878-1968 , knight , Engineer Vice Admiral Committee of Imperial Defence Defence Documents Europe France Industrial economics Industrial planning Industrial policy Information sources International conflicts International relations Military engineering Military equipment Military logistics Military organizations Ministry of Supply Official publications Organizations Portugal Research State security Turner , Sir , George Wilfred , 1896-1974 , knight , civil servant War Warfare War Office Weapons Western Europe Whitley Council World wars (events) World War Two (1939-1945) Equipment
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The family of Sir George Wilfred Turner transferred the papers to the Centre between 1974 and 2003.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Mainly official publications and printed reports, memoranda on rearmament and supply before and during World War Two, with some photographs and personal papers, 1938-1953; notably including typescript copy of reminiscences by Brown with press cuttings and notes relating to the Ministry of Supply and other correspondence, 1938-1960; detailed diary by Turner, 1940; private papers by Turner on his domestic life, accounts, diary summaries, some correspondence and photographs, 1914-[1946]; files containing mainly typescript memoranda, correspondence and statistics relating to the Committee of Imperial Defence, War Office and Ministry of Supply, predominantly concerning rearmament and Second World War production, including progress reports on production and preparations for war, with printed reports on tanks and anti-tank guns, 1936-1943; minutes of a Committee of Imperial Defence sub-committee meeting on the supply of war material to Portugal, 1938; typescript review of air defence, including statistics of anti-aircraft guns, factory planning, civil defence, 1939-1940; file on munitions supply preparations incorporating some minutes of the Informal Army Council on munitions, 1937-1939; papers of the Industrial Capacity Committee including on US supplies to the UK in time of war, 1941; typescript briefing papers prepared for ministers for Commons' speeches, 1942; file of typescript retrospective analyses of war production contracts, 1948; printed reports and official publications on armed forces structure and expenditure, production and ordnance factories, national expenditure, post-World War One reconstruction, Ministry of Supply on inspection regimes, Whitley Councils 1917-1955, notably including 'Investigation of the Heavy Crossbow installations in Northern France', 2 vols, (1945), Ministry of Supply booklet entitled 'Progress in scientific research' (1947),'Statistics relating to the war effort of the United Kingdom' (HMSO, 1944), 'War-time tank production' (London, 1946), 'Review of Defects Disclosed by the Czechosolvak Crisis', 1938, report of a committee chaired by Sir Percy Mills on the organisation of the Royal Ordnance Factories, Apr 1951; 'Central planning and control in war and peace' by Sir Oliver Franks (1947), 'Interdenominational Advisory Committee on Army Chaplains Services', 1953,'Contracts and Finance Copy No. 2', Jun 1948; additional papers on a Royal Institute of Public Affairs Group Research Project on Changes in the Structure of Executive Government, 1956, and Report by Sir Keith Hancock on the Official History of the War: Civil Series, 1957.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
7 accessions, 1974-2003
System of arrangement
The collection is broadly divided into the papers of V Adm Sir Harold Brown and those of Sir George Wilfred Turner, in order of accession.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.
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 Archive Services.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
The Centre holds some material relating to pre-World War Two rearmament, including Adam. The Stern papers include some tank-related Ministry of Supply material from the late 1930s. The Cowley and Pyman papers contain material on the Ministry of supply from the 1950s.
Finding aids
Summary Guide on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm, and in hard copy in the Centre's reading room. A brief catalogue of the most recent accessions is also held in the Centre.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Ministry of Supply and other official publications can be accessed in the British Library. Some committee minutes and memoranda are available in the Public Record Office, Kew.
Publication note
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
- State security » Armed forces
- State security » Defence
- Documents
- Industrial economics
- Industrial economics » Industrial policy » Industrial planning
- Industrial economics » Industrial policy
- Information sources
- Information sources
- International conflicts
- International relations
- Military engineering
- Military equipment
- Documents » Official publications
- Organizations
- Research
- State security
- International conflicts » War
- Military engineering » Warfare
- Military equipment » Weapons
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997; ISAD(G), Second Edition, 2000.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English