Royal Navy
Organization
Found in 30 Collections and/or Records:
File
Literary: News of the World articles by WSC 1., Apr 1938 - May 1938
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 8/614
Scope and Contents
Includes annotated proofs, galley proofs and cuttings from the News of the World for: "How Wars of the Future will be Waged" on the importance of the horse in the Boer War, of machine-guns and tanks in World War I, the need for foresight and initiative amongst generals, and the importance of air power in a future conflict; "Future Safeguards of National Defence" on the importance of the Navy to national defence, the German submarine campaign in World War I, the threat of air attacks on ships...
Dates:
Apr 1938 - May 1938
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Literary: News of the World articles by WSC: 2., May 1939 - Jun 1939
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 8/643
Scope and Contents
Includes annotated proofs, galley proofs, and cuttings from the News of the World for: "Our Rule Britannia Office of State" on the history and structure of the Admiralty, his experience of it during World War I, the replacement of coal-driven ships with oil-powered, the Admiralty yacht, the Enchantress, and praise for the Navy; "The Cinderella of Our Fighting Services" on the War Office, his experiences over demobilisation and mutinies at the end of World War I, and conscription; "Will There...
Dates:
May 1939 - Jun 1939
Conditions Governing Access:
Open.
File
Literary: Sunday Chronicle articles by WSC., 02 Jan 1938 - 27 Mar 1938
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 8/619
Scope and Contents
Includes galley proofs and press cuttings from the Sunday Chronicle for: "I Escape" on WSC's capture by the Boers and details of his subsequent escape; "The Blunder that Beat Germany" on the Battle of the Marne [France]; "The True Story of the Tank" on the development of the tank during World War I, its initial rejection, WSC's intervention, and its first use in action; "When Britain Nearly Starved" on the German submarine campaign during World War I, British anti-submarine warfare, and...
Dates:
02 Jan 1938 - 27 Mar 1938
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Literary: "The Second World War", Volume 1 "The Gathering Storm": Appendices: Copy and provisional proofs., 20 May 1938 - 20 Feb 1948
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 4/112
Scope and Contents
Includes typescript and galley proofs of the appendices to Volume 1 including: Appendix A "A Conversation with Count [Dino] Grandi" [Italian Ambassador to Britain]; Appendix B "A Note on the Fleet Air Arm"; Appendix D "My Statement on the Occasion of the Deputation of Conservative Members of Both Houses to the Prime Minister, July 28 1936"; Appendix F "Tables of Naval Strength, September 3 1939"; Appendix G "Minute of September 12 1939, Plan 'Catherine'"; Appendix H "New Construction and...
Dates:
20 May 1938 - 20 Feb 1948
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": Book 1: 'Final' proofs., 12 Aug 1948 - 17 Feb 1949
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 4/182A-B
Scope and Contents
Includes galley proofs of: the preface, title pages and contents table for Book 1; Chapter 1 "The National Coalition"; Chapter 2 "The Battle of France. The First Week. [General Maurice] Gamelin"; Chapter 3 "The Battle of France. The Second Week. [General Maxime] Weygand"; Chapter 4 "The March to the Sea"; Chapter 5 "The Deliverance of Dunkirk"; Chapter 6 "The Rush for the Spoils"; Chapter 7 "Back to France"; Chapter 8 "Home Defence. June"; Chapter 9 "The French Agony"; Chapter 10 "The...
Dates:
12 Aug 1948 - 17 Feb 1949
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Literary: "The Second World War", Volume 2 "Their Finest Hour": Book 1: Master copy proofs., 21 Jan 1949 - 24 Mar 1949
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 4/180
Scope and Contents
Includes galley proofs of: Chapter 1 "The National Coalition"; Chapter 2 "The Battle of France. The First Week. [General Maurice] Gamelin"; Chapter 3 "The Battle of France. The Second Week. [General Maxime] Weygand"; Chapter 4 "The March to the Sea"; Chapter 5 "The Deliverance of Dunkirk"; Chapter 6 "The Rush for the Spoils"; Chapter 7 "Back to France"; Chapter 8 "Home Defence. June"; Chapter 9 "The French Agony"; Chapter 10 "The Bordeaux Armistice"; Chapter 11 "Admiral [Jean] Darlan and the...
Dates:
21 Jan 1949 - 24 Mar 1949
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Literary: "The Second World War", Volume 2 "Their Finest Hour": Book 1: Proofs for CSC., 20 Jan 1948 - 25 Nov 1948
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 4/189
Scope and Contents
Includes galley proofs of: Chapter 1 "The National Coalition"; Chapter 2 "The Battle of France. The First Week. [General Maurice] Gamelin"; Chapter 3 "The Battle of France. The Second Week. [General Maxime] Weygand"; Chapter 4 "The March to the Sea"; Chapter 5 "The Deliverance of Dunkirk"; Chapter 7 "Back to France"; Chapter 8 "Home Defence. June"; Chapter 9 "The French Agony"; Chapter 10 "The Bordeaux Armistice"; Chapter 11 "Admiral [Jean] Darlan and the French Fleet. Oran" [Algeria]...
Dates:
20 Jan 1948 - 25 Nov 1948
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Literary: "The Second World War", Volume 2 "Their Finest Hour": Book 1: Proofs for Sir Edward Marsh., 20 Jan 1948 - 14 Sep 1948
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 4/187A-D
Scope and Contents
Includes galley proofs from: the preface, title pages and contents table for Book 1; Chapter 1 "The National Coalition" (provisionally entitled "The Personal Correspondence"); Chapter 2 "The Battle of France. The First Week. [General Maurice] Gamelin"; Chapter 3 "The Battle of France. The Second Week. [General Maxime] Weygand"; Chapter 4 "The March to the Sea"; Chapter 5 "The Deliverance of Dunkirk"; Chapter 6 "The Rush for the Spoils" (provisionally entitled "The Personal Correspondence");...
Dates:
20 Jan 1948 - 14 Sep 1948
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Literary: "The Second World War", Volume 2 "Their Finest Hour": Book 1: Proofs for William Deakin., 12 Aug 1948 - 29 Nov 1948
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 4/191A-B
Scope and Contents
Includes galley proofs of: the preface, title pages and contents table for Book 1; Chapter 1 "The National Coalition"; Chapter 2 "The Battle of France. The First Week. [General Maurice] Gamelin"; Chapter 3 "The Battle of France. The Second Week. [General Maxime] Weygand"; Chapter 4 "The March to the Sea"; Chapter 5 "The Deliverance of Dunkirk"; Chapter 6 "The Rush for the Spoils"; Chapter 7 "Back to France"; Chapter 8 "Home Defence. June"; Chapter 9 "The French Agony"; Chapter 10 "The...
Dates:
12 Aug 1948 - 29 Nov 1948
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Literary: "The Second World War", Volume 2 "Their Finest Hour": Book 1: 'Starred final' proofs., 20 Oct 1948 - 17 Feb 1949
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 4/184
Scope and Contents
Includes galley proofs of: the preface, title pages and contents table for Book 1; Chapter 1 "The National Coalition"; Chapter 2 "The Battle of France. The First Week. [General Maurice] Gamelin"; Chapter 3 "The Battle of France. The Second Week. [General Maxime] Weygand"; Chapter 4 "The March to the Sea"; Chapter 5 "The Deliverance of Dunkirk"; Chapter 6 "The Rush for the Spoils"; Chapter 8 "Home Defence. June"; Chapter 9 "The French Agony"; Chapter 10 "The Bordeaux Armistice"; Chapter 11...
Dates:
20 Oct 1948 - 17 Feb 1949
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
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
Public and Political: General: Defence., 08 Jan 1938 - [1940]
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 2/336
Scope and Contents
Correspondents on defence issues include: 5th Lord Munster [earlier Geoffry FitzClarence] (2); Robert Cary on developments in Japanese naval armaments and the implications for Singapore; Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister, on WSC's notes on aircraft types (2); Sir Henry Strakosch (3); F A Lindemann [later 1st Lord Cherwell] on Strakosch's figures for the air raids on Barcelona [Spain]; [Eric] John Hodsoll [Inspector-General], Home Office ARP Department, on the state of the ARP programme,...
Dates:
08 Jan 1938 - [1940]
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Public and Political: General: Defence: Correspondence and papers., 09 Jan 1937 - 23 Feb 1938
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 2/302
Scope and Contents
Correspondents include: Sir Philip Gibbs on the inefficiency of the RAF; Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt [former Vice-President of the Tank Board] (2); Sir William Beveridge [Director of London School of Economics and Political Science]; Oswald Frewen on working with German and Italian sailors, German fanaticism, Italian aid to Franco and how the policies of Neville Chamberlain [Prime Minister] encourage Germany and Italy; Leo Amery; Basil Liddell Hart; Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson...
Dates:
09 Jan 1937 - 23 Feb 1938
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Public and Political: General: Defence: Correspondence etc., 12 Jan 1936 - 27 Nov 1936
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 2/266A-B
Scope and Contents
Correspondents include: Basil Liddell Hart [Military Correspondent to the Times] on the troop system used in India; "Harold R" [1st Lord Rothermere, earlier Sir Harold Harmsworth] on subjects including 1st Lord Weir's position in defence [as Adviser to the Air Ministry], the likely stop to any battleship programme, pilot training, the likelihood of a quick German victory against Britain and France, German contempt for the British Government, and the Government's refusal to discuss the...
Dates:
12 Jan 1936 - 27 Nov 1936
Conditions Governing Access:
Open, (folio 93 opened as a 'sanitised' photocopy, original closed on advice of Cabinet Office).
File
Public and Political: General: Defence: Inventions and suggestions., Nov 1935 - 31 Jul 1936
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 2/278
Scope and Contents
Correspondents on defence inventions and suggestions from the general public include: Richard Powell [Assistant Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty] (3); Desmond Morton [Director, Industrial Intelligence Centre]; Sir Christopher Bullock [Permanent Secretary], Air Ministry; Ralph Assheton [later 1st Lord Clitheroe]; Colonel George Turner [former Superintendent, Design Department, Royal Arsenal]; Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Thoroton on the advantages of Admiralty control of the...
Dates:
Nov 1935 - 31 Jul 1936
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Public and Political: General: Defence: Inventions and suggestions., 09 Mar 1936 - 31 Dec 1936
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 2/279
Scope and Contents
Correspondents on defence inventions and suggestions from the general public include: K N Coates [Assistant Private Secretary to the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence] (4); Vernon Bovenizer, Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for War (2); [Edward] Jerome Dyer; Harry Sellar [Private Secretary to the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence] (2); P Warburton, [Assistant Secretary], Committee of Imperial Defence (4); Lieutenant-General Sir Hugh Elles, Master General of the...
Dates:
09 Mar 1936 - 31 Dec 1936
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Public and Political: General: Defence: Memoranda etc., 14 Feb 1936 - 26 Oct 1936
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 2/268
Scope and Contents
Includes: memorandum by Desmond Morton on subjects including German propaganda on French military aviation and the Soviet army, and notes [added to file in January 1996] on a speech by the Minister for Co-ordination of Defence [Sir Thomas Inskip, later 1st Lord Caldecote], rebutting Inskip's claims for military production; memorandum by Sir Philip Gibbs on the inefficient state of the RAF, and its need for expansion; press cuttings from the Figaro, with an article on the Anglo-French crisis...
Dates:
14 Feb 1936 - 26 Oct 1936
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Public and Political: General: Minister for Co-ordination of Defence: Correspondence with., 14 May 1936 - 23 Nov 1936
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 2/269
Scope and Contents
Correspondence between Sir Thomas Inskip [later 1st Lord Caldecote], Minister for Co-ordination of Defence and WSC on subjects including: the Fleet Air Arm; progress in the 1922 Committee on realizing the inadequacy of air defences and general delays in the committee; the possibility of an airborne invasion; the usefulness of WSC's advice; the role of a Minister of Supply; the visit and report of Allen Clark, Joint Managing Director of Plessey Company Limited, to German munitions works;...
Dates:
14 May 1936 - 23 Nov 1936
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Public and Political: General: Personal Office: Correspondence T - Y., 11 Apr 1939 - 20 Dec 1939
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 2/368
Scope and Contents
Correspondents include: Colin Thornton-Kemsley, apologizing for his former opposition to WSC; representatives of Barclays Bank Limited, Thornton Heath [Surrey] on WSC standing as guarantor for Walter Thompson [WSC's former detective] (4); Benjamin Tillett, congratulating WSC on his appointment as First Lord of the Admiralty, and offering his services; Josiah Wedgwood on subjects including the policy of building aircraft carriers and battleships after [the sinking of the Royal Oak], WSC's...
Dates:
11 Apr 1939 - 20 Dec 1939
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Public and Political: General: Personal Office correspondence, T-Z., Jan 1940 - Dec 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 2/399
Scope and Contents
Correspondents include: Archbishop of York William Temple, [Sir] Hugh Tudor, Alice, Lady Wimborne (2), 2nd Lord Wimborne [earlier Ivor Guest and Lord Ashby St Ledgers], and Edward, Duke of Windsor [earlier Edward, Prince of Wales, and Edward VIII], congratulating WSC on becoming Prime Minister; Captain William Tennant on Dunkirk [France]; Benjamin Tillett praising the "gallantry of the Sea Titans"; Ronald Tree and Sir Ralph Wedgwood, [Chairman] Railway Executive Committee, thanking WSC for...
Dates:
Jan 1940 - Dec 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Speeches: House of Commons and Non-House of Commons: Speech notes., 05 Mar 1952 - 26 Jun 1952
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 5/47A-B
Scope and Contents
Speech notes, typescript and galley proofs for WSC's speech (5 March, House of Commons) entitled "Defence" on subjects including: WSC's resignation as Minister of Defence; the Conservatives' voting on defence while in Opposition; the short-fall of defence spending; aid from the United States; the scarcity of home defence, and the training of new forces, including the registration of the Home Guard and forming of new battalions; the extension of National Service; armoured forces and new...
Dates:
05 Mar 1952 - 26 Jun 1952
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Speeches: House of Commons: speech notes and source material., 28 Jul 1936 - 10 Dec 1936
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/119A-B
Scope and Contents
Notes for WSC's speeches (28 and 29 July, Secret Defence Deputation to the Prime Minister [Stanley Baldwin]) on the relative strengths of the British and German air forces, the war making capacity of British and German industry, British air training facilities, and German power to bomb British cities.Notes for WSC's speech (5 November) on supporting the League of Nations, collective security, and policy towards Germany and Italy. Published: Complete Speeches VI pp 5800-4.Notes for WSC's...
Dates:
28 Jul 1936 - 10 Dec 1936
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
Item
(Untitled), 01 Aug 1940 - 01 Sep 1940
Item
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 20/13/5
Scope and Contents
Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, August 1940. Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: Sir Edward Bridges [Secretary to the War Cabinet]; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chiefs of Staff, General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence], and other senior military figures; F A Lindemann [later 1st Lord Cherwell, Prime Minister's Personal Assistant]; a press statement by WSC; and a minute...
Dates:
01 Aug 1940 - 01 Sep 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open