Royal Navy
Organization
Found in 30 Collections and/or Records:
Unknown
"Give us the tools", 9 Feb 1941
Unknown
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/150A/52-75
Scope and Contents
Notes for WSC's broadcast (BBC) on the war situation including: the repulsion of the threat of German invasion, the Blitz and the bombing of Britain; the strength of British spirit; the Italian attack on Greece; successes in Libya and Egypt, including victory at Sidi Barrani under General Sir Archibald Wavell [Commander in Chief Middle East] and General [Henry] Wilson; successes of the British Mediterranean Fleet against the Italian navy under Admiral [Sir Andrew] Cunningham...
Dates:
9 Feb 1941
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Literary: Sunday Chronicle articles by WSC: 1 ("The World Crisis" series)., Oct 1939 - Nov 1939
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 8/651
Scope and Contents
Includes cuttings from the Chronicle for: "War - from inside the Admiralty" on experiencing naval action at the Admiralty during World War I, and a detailed description of the battle of the Dogger Bank; "U-boats - How the Navy Beat Them" on the morality of submarine warfare, the development of the Q-boat, the U-boat campaign against supply from the United States, and its consequence, the entry of the US into the war; "War on the Western Front" on casualties among the French, Germans and...
Dates:
Oct 1939 - Nov 1939
Conditions Governing Access:
Open.
File
Literary: Sunday Chronicle articles by WSC: 1 ("The World Crisis" series)., 07 Jan 1940 - 21 Dec 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 8/674
Scope and Contents
Includes cuttings from the Chronicle for: "Escort" on transporting troops by sea and British naval policy at the beginning of World War I; "Spring Offensive" on WSC's experiences of the German offensive "Michael"; "40 Days of Hell" on the final German offensive of World War I and Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig's orders to stand firm; "Germany's Vital Bid to Beat Blockade" on the position of Romania during the War; "U-boats versus Q-boats" on British strategy against the German U-boat...
Dates:
07 Jan 1940 - 21 Dec 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open.
File
Literary: Sunday Chronicle articles by WSC: 2 ("The World Crisis" series)., 03 Mar 1940 - 21 Apr 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 8/675
Scope and Contents
Includes cuttings from the Chronicle for: "The Man Who Scared the U-Boats" on the convoy system for merchant shipping during World War I; "The German Army Myth" on the first battles on the Western Front; "The French" on the Battle of Verdun [France]; "The Blackest Day of the German Army" on the use of tanks at the Battles of Cambrai and Amiens [both France]; "The Valiant Heart of Man" on the bravery of those who fought in World War I; "Plan for Victory" on British naval strategy at the start...
Dates:
03 Mar 1940 - 21 Apr 1940
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 1 "The Gathering Storm": Chapters 34 - 38 and Appendices: Proofs for Sir Edward Marsh., 04 Nov 1947 - 19 Feb 1948
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHUR 4/130
Scope and Contents
Includes galley proofs annotated with comments and suggestions by Sir Edward Marsh of the following chapters: Chapter 33 "The Clash at Sea" (provisionally entitled "Hitler Invades Norway"); Chapter 34 "Narvik" (provisionally entitled "The Norwegian Campaign" and "The Campaign in Norway"); Chapter 35 "Trondheim"; Chapter 36 "Frustration in Norway" (provisionally entitled "Norway. Defeat" and "Failure in Norway" and "The Curtain Falls on Norway"); Chapter 37 "Norway. The Final Phase"; Chapter...
Dates:
04 Nov 1947 - 19 Feb 1948
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Official: Board of Trade: Maritime Affairs: prints., 08 Apr 1909 - 07 Sep 1909
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 11/32
Scope and Contents
Includes: a draft of the Bill to Prohibit Gambling or Loss by Maritime Perils; a memorandum by WSC on the German Naval Programme; an annotated draft of the instructions for British delegates to the International Conference on Maritime Law, with a draft of the Maritime Conventions, revised according to the Government's hoped-for amendments.
Dates:
08 Apr 1909 - 07 Sep 1909
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Official: Cabinet: papers 1 - 39., 27 Jul 1923 - 29 Jan 1925
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 22/28
Scope and Contents
Includes papers from various individuals on various subjects, including: draft instructions for the British representative at the 25th session of the governing body of the International Labour Office; Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister, [earlier Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame, later 1st Lord Swinton], President of the Board of Trade, on subjects including the export of arms to the Soviet Union, the Merchant Shipping (International Labour Conventions) Bill, the Anglo-German Treaty and British Seamen, the...
Dates:
27 Jul 1923 - 29 Jan 1925
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Official: Cabinet: papers 401 - 429., 24 Oct 1924 - 21 Oct 1925
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 22/43
Scope and Contents
Includes papers from various individuals on various subjects, including: the Board of Trade Advisory Council's monthly review of the trade outlook; 1st Lord Birkenhead [earlier F E Smith], Secretary of State for India, on the position at Canton [later Guangzhou, China]; Austen Chamberlain, Foreign Secretary, on Turkey's position over the Iraq frontier, and the German attitude to security negotiations; Joseph Caillaux, the French Minister of Finance, on the French war debt to Britain; William...
Dates:
24 Oct 1924 - 21 Oct 1925
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Official: Cabinet: printed papers on World War I., Jul 1915
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 21/40
Scope and Contents
Printed papers on various subjects including: the situation in Bulgaria and other Balkan states and the effects of the Dardanelles expedition; trade with the United States and the possibility of declaring cotton contraband; the recruitment of coal miners; the economic situation in Germany and Austria-Hungary; a loan to Romania; retaliation policy against Germany; a draft bill relating to elections and registration; the blockade against Germany; the sinking of German submarine U23; a scheme...
Dates:
Jul 1915
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Official: Committee of Imperial Defence: correspondence., 05 Aug 1909 - 12 Dec 1911
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 24/3
Scope and Contents
Correspondents include: Sir Charles Ottley [Secretary to Committee of Imperial Defence], on the cession of the island of Heligoland to Germany in 1890, the advantage a base on the island would be against Germany, the annual mobilization of German troops, the report on the military needs of the empire, the security of the naval magazines at Marchwood [Hampshire] and Chattenden [Kent], the risks of aircraft development, forming a Naval War Staff, combining a naval and military school of...
Dates:
05 Aug 1909 - 12 Dec 1911
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Official: War and Air: correspondence, mainly on demobilisation and the reorganisation of the Air Ministry., 01 Feb 1919 - 28 Feb 1919
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 16/4
Scope and Contents
Correspondents include: King Manuel II on the "future of Portugal"; General Sir William Robertson [General Officer Commanding-in-Chief the Forces in Great Britain] (3); 1st Lord Milner [Secretary of State for the Colonies] on appointing neither Major-General Sir Hugh Trenchard or General Sir John Cowans as Governor of Nigeria (2); Andrew Bonar Law [Lord Privy Seal] passing on a copy of a letter from Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Lawson on a decline in his pay and position; Philip Kerr [later...
Dates:
01 Feb 1919 - 28 Feb 1919
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Official: War and Air: correspondence, much on the Russian campaign., 01 Apr 1919 - 30 Apr 1919
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 16/6
Scope and Contents
Correspondents include: General Sir Ian Hamilton refuting press allegations; Walter Roch on the Dardanelles [Turkey] Inquiry; Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig [Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Forces in France and Flanders] (2); General Sir Henry Wilson [Chief of Imperial General Staff] on matters discussed at the Paris [France] Peace Conference (7); 1st Lord Milner [Secretary of State for the Colonies]; Colonel James Blair [Chief, British Military Mission in Siberia]; 1st Lord Haldane...
Dates:
01 Apr 1919 - 30 Apr 1919
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
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
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
Speeches: House of Commons: speech notes and source material., 27 Feb 1940 - 13 May 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/139A-B
Scope and Contents
Notes for WSC's speech (27 February) on supplementary navy estimates, protecting merchant and fishing vessels from U-boats, the strength of the Fleet, and naval losses. Also includes cutting from the Daily Telegraph reporting WSC's speech and relevant extract from Hansard. Published: Complete Speeches VI pp 6194-8.Incomplete notes for WSC's speech (11 April) on the German invasion of Norway and Denmark and the naval battle off Norway. Also includes relevant extract from Hansard. Published:...
Dates:
27 Feb 1940 - 13 May 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: House of Commons: Speech notes and source material., 23 Apr 1942 - 02 Jun 1942
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/184A-C
Scope and Contents
Speech notes for WSC's speech (23 April) in secret session on the war situation including: Japan's entry into the war; setbacks including battleship losses; defence of the Admiralty over the escape of the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau; events and operations in the Far East, the Middle East and the Soviet Union; air battles including the bombing of Germany; and aircraft and ship production. Also includes correspondence from: Maurice Dean [Assistant Under Secretary of State,...
Dates:
23 Apr 1942 - 02 Jun 1942
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Speeches: speech notes and other material., 09 Jan 1941 - 27 Apr 1941
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/150A-B
Scope and Contents
Notes for WSC's speech (9 January, Pilgrim's Society Luncheon, Savoy Hotel, London) entitled "United States co-operation" proposing a toast to Lord Halifax [earlier Edward Wood and Lord Irwin] on his appointment as British Ambassador to the United States and on the death of [11th] Lord Lothian [earlier Philip Kerr]. Also includes cutting from the Times reporting WSC's speech. Published: Complete Speeches VI, pp 6327-9. Various cuttings reporting WSC's speech (17 January, Glasgow [Scotland])...
Dates:
09 Jan 1941 - 27 Apr 1941
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
File
Speeches: speech notes (by WSC as First Lord of the Admiralty) and other material., 20 Jan 1940 - 29 Feb 1940
File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/143
Scope and Contents
Notes for WSC's broadcast (20 January, BBC) on the war situation, entitled "A house of many mansions" on the German threat to neutral and allied shipping, to neutral nations, and Finland's stand against the Soviet Union. Also includes cuttings from the Times and the Listener containing the text of WSC's broadcast. Published: Complete Speeches VI, pp 6183-6.Notes for WSC's statement (24 January, House of Commons 1922 Committee) on British naval strength, the U-boat war, pocket battleships,...
Dates:
20 Jan 1940 - 29 Feb 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
Unknown
"The supremacy of the navy", 10 Feb 1912
Unknown
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/43/41-42
Scope and Contents
Article from the Times reporting WSC's visit to Glasgow and relaying the text of WSC's speech [WSC's first major speech as First Lord of the Admiralty] on naval defence, to the Clyde Navigation Trustees, 9 Feb 1912 [Glasgow, Scotland]. Notes that during the visit Annie Grieg of the Suffrage Union smashed the glass of a car she mistakenly thought WSC was travelling in. WSC's speech covered subjects including: the strength of the Royal Navy and plans for the future; the British and German...
Dates:
10 Feb 1912
Conditions Governing Access:
Open
Item
(Untitled), Jan 1940
Item
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 19/6/1
Scope and Contents
First Lord of the Admiralty's printed minutes, January 1940.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (sometimes annotated with additional printed information) to: the Sea Lords, particularly 1st [Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound], 2nd [Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel, Admiral Sir Charles Little], and [3rd Sea Lord and] Controller [Rear-Admiral Bruce Fraser]; Deputy Chief of Naval Staff [Rear-Admiral Tom Phillips]; [Permanent] Secretary [Sir Archibald Carter]; various naval...
Dates:
Jan 1940
Conditions Governing Access:
From the File:
Open
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), 04 Sep 1939 - 30 Sep 1939
Item
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 19/3/1
Scope and Contents
First Lord of the Admiralty's printed minutes, September 1939.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (sometimes annotated with additional printed information) to: various naval directors; the Sea Lords, particularly 1st [Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound] and [3rd Sea Lord and] Controller [Rear-Admiral Bruce Fraser]; [Permanent] Secretary [Sir Archibald Carter]; Deputy Chief of Naval Staff [Rear-Admiral Tom Phillips]; Prime Minister [Neville Chamberlain]; other senior officers and...
Dates:
04 Sep 1939 - 30 Sep 1939
Conditions Governing Access:
From the File:
Open