Royal Air Force
Organization
Found in 23 Collections and/or Records:
File
Articles, 1933 - 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/SPRS 7/7
Scope and Contents
Typescript texts and drafts of articles and some broadcasts on subjects including: General Maxime Weygand; the Local Defence Volunteers; co-operation between the Army and Royal Air Force, particularly relating to operations in France; the need for strong leadership and a small War Cabinet in the direction of the war effort; whether the Royal Air Force should retain its own authority; General Alphonse Georges; France as Britain’s ally; the war of nerves with Germany; Adolf Hitler’s tactics;...
Dates:
1933 - 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
From the Fonds:
The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
Unknown
"Every man to his post", 11 Sep 1940
Unknown
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/144/61-68
Scope and Contents
Notes for WSC's broadcast (BBC) on subjects including: the night bombing of London; the Battle of Britain and the successes of British fighter squadrons; the possibility of invasion and German deployment of barges, ships and troops in readiness; a call for every man and woman to do his duty; and the strength of British fleets and flotillas, air power, fortification and the million and a half men of the Home Guard. Includes the phrase "This wicked man [Adolf Hitler]...this monstrous product...
Dates:
11 Sep 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
Unknown
"Every man to his post", 11 Sep 1940
Unknown
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/176A/37-41
Scope and Contents
Draft speaking notes for WSC's broadcast (BBC) on subjects including: the night bombing of London; the Battle of Britain and the successes of British fighter squadrons; the possibility of invasion and German deployment of barges, ships and troops in readiness; a call for every man and woman to do his duty; and the strength of British fleets and flotillas, air power, fortification and the million and a half men of the Home Guard. Includes the phrase "This wicked man [Adolf Hitler]...this...
Dates:
11 Sep 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Literary: "The Second World War", Volume 2 "Their Finest Hour": Appendices., Oct 1940 - 27 Dec 1948
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 4/179A-I
Scope and Contents
Includes typescript and galley proofs of the appendices to Volume 2 including: Appendix A "Minutes and Telegrams, May - December 1940"; Appendix B "Loss by Enemy Action of British, Allied and Neutral Merchant Tonnage"; Appendix D "Correspondence Relating to Dakar [Senegal] between Mr Churchill and Mr [Robert] Menzies" [Prime Minister of Australia]; Appendix E "List of Operational Code Names"; Appendix F "List of Abbreviations". The proofs are annotated with suggested amendments and...
Dates:
Oct 1940 - 27 Dec 1948
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Literary: "The Second World War", Volume 2 "Their Finest Hour": Notes and comments by Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pownall., 02 Mar 1941 - 16 Jun 1949
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 4/196A-C
Scope and Contents
Includes notes and comments by Pownall on subjects including: factual and printing errors throughout Volume 2; the build-up to the German attack on the Soviet Union; the build-up to "Dynamo" [codename for the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk, France]; the British Expedition Force; the meeting between 6th Lord Gort [Commander-in-Chief of British Field Force, earlier John Vereker] and General Maxime Weygand [Commander-in-Chief, French Army], May 1940; British casualties; the defence of...
Dates:
02 Mar 1941 - 16 Jun 1949
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Literary: "The Second World War", Volume 2 "Their Finest Hour": Various comments., 13 Jan 1945 - 15 Jul 1949
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 4/197A-B
Scope and Contents
Includes notes and correspondence on research and corrections for Volume 2 from individuals including: Daniel Longwell [Editor of Life Magazine]; Professor Albert Goodwin [former Staff Officer, Air Ministry War Room, and member of Historical Branch, Air Ministry] on the Blitz, and WSC's chapters on the Blitz and Battle of Britain (includes comments by Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pownall); George [Gordon] Allen on Operation "Sea Lion" [codename for planned German invasion of Britain], with...
Dates:
13 Jan 1945 - 15 Jul 1949
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Official: War Cabinet: Chiefs of Staff Committee: weekly resumes., 01 Aug 1940 - 03 Oct 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 23/6
Scope and Contents
Printed reviews of the naval, military and air situation, including: home waters; the Mediterranean; attacks on shipping; enemy shipping; minelaying; minesweeping; Germany; the Middle East; Africa; air defence; air attacks on Germany and Italy; enemy intelligence; the Balkans; home security; economic warfare; Italy; the North Sea; the United States; the Soviet Union.
Dates:
01 Aug 1940 - 03 Oct 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Official: War Cabinet: Chiefs of Staff Committee: weekly resumes., 03 Oct 1940 - 14 Nov 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 23/7
Scope and Contents
Printed reviews of the naval, military and air situation, including: home waters; the Mediterranean; Africa; shipping losses; enemy intelligence; enemy shipping; minelaying and minesweeping; the Soviet fleet; Italy; the Balkans; the North Sea; air intelligence; home security; the Middle East; enemy air attacks; Germany; air operations.
Dates:
03 Oct 1940 - 14 Nov 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Official: War Cabinet: Chiefs of Staff Committee: weekly resumes., 14 Nov 1940 - 26 Dec 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 23/8
Scope and Contents
Printed reviews of the naval, military and air situation, including: home waters; the Mediterranean; enemy intelligence; shipping losses; enemy shipping; minelaying and minesweeping; Germany; the Balkans; the Middle East; air attacks on enemy territory; air attacks on Britain; Italy; Africa; air intelligence; home security.
Dates:
14 Nov 1940 - 26 Dec 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Official: War Cabinet: Prime Minister's Directives., 27 Jun 1940 - 30 Dec 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 23/4
Scope and Contents
Printed directives by the Prime Minister, WSC, on subjects including: War Cabinet arrangements; the brevity of reports; the unlikelihood of invasion from the sea, including a note by Sir Dudley Pound, 1st Sea Lord; draft notes on defence against invasion, including notes by the Chiefs of Staff; the priority of the air force; strengthening the army; munitions; the reinforcement of Malta; relations with Vichy France in the Mediterranean; strengthening the forces in the Mediterranean; the...
Dates:
27 Jun 1940 - 30 Dec 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Political: Constituency, Epping [Essex]: correspondence Ro-Ru., 25 Sep 1940 - 25 Jul 1945
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 7/91A-B
Scope and Contents
Correspondents include: Sir Sydney Walter Robinson; Sir James Hawkey [Vice-Chairman of Epping Division Conservative Association and Mayor of Wanstead and Woodford] (6); Duncan Sandys [Financial Secretary of the War Office]; Royal Wanstead School (6); R A Butler [Minister of Education] on the liability of teachers for military service.Other subjects include: RAF engineers' training; length of overseas service; bomb damage claims; air raid shelter prices; local gunpowder and small arms...
Dates:
25 Sep 1940 - 25 Jul 1945
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Political: Constituency: Woodford [Essex]: correspondence with or on behalf of constituents, L-R., Jun 1945 - May 1946
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 3/26A-B
Scope and Contents
Correspondents include: [Claud] Wright, [Principal] (3) and M L Elder (8) of the War Office; J H Hughes of the Air Ministry (9); constituent R W McOwen (5); Sir James Hawkey [Chairman of Woodford Conservative Association] (8); Leslie Rowan [Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Clement Attlee]; [Hugh] Farmar [Assistant Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Air] (2); Sir George Harvie Watt; Archie Moore, Surgeon to the London Hospital, on a constituent's health; Joyce Gordon...
Dates:
Jun 1945 - May 1946
Conditions Governing Access:
Open, (folios 173-9 and 207-9 opened in 2022)
File
Public and Political: General: Defence., 06 Nov 1936 - 20 Jan 1942
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 2/371A-B
Scope and Contents
Correspondents on defence issues include: Sir Thomas Inskip [Minister for Co-ordination of Defence, later 1st Lord Caldecote]; Harry Sellar, Private Secretary to Inskip (2); Leslie Hore-Belisha, Secretary of State for War, on subjects including the arming of the Guards Battalions; Sir Kingsley Wood, Secretary of State for Air, on showing WSC [air construction graphs]; 1st Lord Swinton [former Secretary of State for Air, earlier Philip Cunliffe-Lister and Philip Lloyd-Greame] on the formation...
Dates:
06 Nov 1936 - 20 Jan 1942
Conditions Governing Access:
Open.
File
Speeches: House of Commons: speech notes and other material., 23 May 1940 - 04 Jul 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/140A-B
Scope and Contents
Statement by WSC (23 May) on fighting in France. Also includes relevant extract from Hansard. Published: Complete Speeches VI p 6223.Hansard copy of statement by WSC (28 May) on the fall of Belgium. Published: Complete Speeches VI pp 6223-4.Notes for WSC's speech (4 June) entitled "Wars are not won by evacuations" on the fall of Belgium, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk [France] and the successes of the RAF. Speech includes the phrase "We shall fight on the...
Dates:
23 May 1940 - 04 Jul 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Speeches: House of Commons: speech notes and other material., 30 Jul 1940 - 17 Sep 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/141A-B
Scope and Contents
Statement by WSC (30 July) on making the remainder of the day's sitting a secret session. Also includes relevant extract from Hansard.Statement by WSC (17 September, secret session) on the danger to the Houses of Parliament posed by air raids and possible changes to House of Commons procedures as a consequence of this threat. Published: Complete Speeches VI pp 6280-3.Hansard copy of WSC's statement (13 August) on an aeroplane disaster involving Australian ministers and military...
Dates:
30 Jul 1940 - 17 Sep 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Speeches: House of Commons: speech notes and other material., 08 Oct 1940 - 19 Dec 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/142A-B
Scope and Contents
Notes for WSC's speech (8 October) on the Battle of Britain, the Home Guard and the Home Front, Hitler's threat to invade Britain, events at Dakar [Senegal], the desertion of Vichy France, the Burma road [between Burma, later Myanmar, and China] and events in Spain. Published: Complete Speeches VI, pp 6284-94.Notes for WSC's statement (17 October) on Robert Boothby [Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Food] and Czechoslovak claims.Notes for WSC's speech (5 November) on the war situation,...
Dates:
08 Oct 1940 - 19 Dec 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Speeches: House of Commons: Speech notes and source material., 05 Sep 1940 - 08 Oct 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/174A-C
Scope and Contents
Statement by WSC (5 September) on the war situation and an agreement with the United States over destroyers and defence bases, events in Romania, the achievements of the RAF, damage through bombing and the insurance scheme, evacuation, air raid warnings and other Home Front issues. Source material includes: notes and correspondence from Air Marshal Sir Richard Peirse [Vice-Chief of Air Staff], Norman Brook [later 1st Lord Normanbrook] (2), Arthur Cary [Assistant Principal, Air Ministry] (4),...
Dates:
05 Sep 1940 - 08 Oct 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Speeches: House of Commons: Speech notes and source material., 05 Nov 1940 - 19 Dec 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/175
Scope and Contents
Speech notes for WSC's speech (5 November) on the war situation including the air battles, the bombing of London, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham, the threat posed by U Boats, the possibility of invasion by Germany, civil defence and the Home Guard, affairs in Egypt and the Middle East, and the Italian invasion of Greece. Source material includes correspondence from 1st Lord Beaverbrook [earlier Max Aitken, Minister for Aircraft Production], Henry Strutt [Assistant Under-Secretary of...
Dates:
05 Nov 1940 - 19 Dec 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Speeches: speech notes (some by WSC as First Lord of the Admiralty) and other material., 30 Mar 1940 - 01 Oct 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/144
Scope and Contents
Notes for WSC's broadcast (30 March, BBC) entitled "A hideous state of alarm and menace" on the fate of the neutral nations, German atrocities, particularly in Poland, and wishing to avoid conflict with the Soviet Union. Also includes various cuttings reporting the speech. Part published: Complete Speeches VI, pp 6199-201.Notes for WSC's broadcast (19 May, BBC) entitled "Arm yourselves and be ye men of valour" on the war situation in France and the formation of the coalition government,...
Dates:
30 Mar 1940 - 01 Oct 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
Fonds
The Papers of Sir Winston Churchill
Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR and CHUR
Scope and Contents
The papers consist of original documents accumulated by Sir Winston Churchill throughout his life (1874-1965). They have been divided into two sections: the Chartwell Papers (CHAR) and the Churchill Papers (CHUR). Together, the two sets of papers cover the following major areas:
Personal (CHAR 1 and CHUR 1), 1884-1965
The papers of Churchill as a private person. They include correspondence with or about his family and friends on non-public topics and papers relating to...
Dates:
The majority of files date from the 1870s to 1965.
Conditions Governing Access:
The Churchill Papers are made available to researchers using Churchill Archives Centre and worldwide in digital format. The digital edition of the Churchill Papers is published by Bloomsbury Academic and is available online to subscribing institutions at churchillarchive.com. The Churchill archive is freely available in our reading rooms and onsite at Churchill College (via the Churchill College wireless network). Researchers can download images of documents directly from churchillarchive.com and so are encouraged to consider bringing a laptop or other device for this purpose. For conservation reasons, the fragile originals are no longer issued to researchers.
This digital edition is open to researchers unless otherwise marked in the catalogue. Some material has been closed by the Cabinet Office or by Churchill Archives Centre in accordance with data protection legislation.
Found in:
Churchill Archives Centre
Item
(Untitled), 01 Jul 1943 - 31 Jul 1943
Item
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 20/104/1
Scope and Contents
Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, July 1943.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; the Chiefs of Staff; senior civil servants, including Sir Edward Bridges [Secretary to the War Cabinet]; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; "C" [Major General Sir Stewart Menzies, Head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service].Subjects covered by the minutes...
Dates:
01 Jul 1943 - 31 Jul 1943
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
Item
(Untitled), 01 Jun 1941 - 30 Jun 1941
Item
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 20/36/6
Scope and Contents
Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, June 1941.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: Sir Edward Bridges [Secretary to the War Cabinet]; General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; Desmond Morton and F A Lindemann [later 1st Lord Cherwell, Prime Minister's Personal Assistants]; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chiefs of Staff.Subjects covered by the minutes include: the defence of...
Dates:
01 Jun 1941 - 30 Jun 1941
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
Unknown
"War Cabinet: Chiefs of Staff Committee: Weekly Resume (no.56) of the naval, military and air situation from 12 noon September to 12 noon September 26th, 1940", 27 Sep 1940
Unknown
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 23/6/86-99
Scope and Contents
Summary of events including: attempted landing at Dakar by General [Charles] de Gaulle; U boat activity in the North Atlantic and shipping losses; operations by German raiders; information about the disposition of German and Italian troops; events in Greece, Yugoslavia [later Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia], Bulgaria, the Mediterranean and the Middle East; air attacks on Germany (including Berlin) and on invasion ports in France and...
Dates:
27 Sep 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open