The material held at Churchill Archives Centre mainly consists of Colville's diaries. They provide an insight into the decision-making of three Prime Ministers and the meetings held with other top officials, as well as the lives of key figures during World War II, and its aftermath.

"Before I forget", annotated draft of Hughes-Hallett's memoir on Combined Operations, 1941-5, including his memoir of the Dieppe Raid and the planning for D-Day (Operation Overlord); with a letter to him from Winston Churchill MP (Prime Minister), 19 September 1954

Colour film reel shot by Courtenay, mainly from his experiences in the Second World War, including footage of Winston Churchill in Canada and giving the "Iron Curtain" speech, 1946, and footage of American forces in the Pacific.

Letter from the Air Ministry (Adastral House, Kingsway [London]) to WSC informing him of his appointment as Honorary Air Commodore of No. 615 (County of Surrey) (Fighter) Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force and of the Air Council's pleasure at WSC's association with the Auxiliary Air Force.Signed typescript.

Telegram from WSC to General Sir Claude Auchinleck [Commander in Chief Middle East] marked "personal and secret" informing him of his intention to announce Auchinleck's assumption of command [ of Eighth Army] during his speech in the vote of censure debate on Thursday [2 July].

Telegram from WSC to General Sir Claude Auchinleck [Commander in Chief Middle East] marked "personal and secret" informing him that he will now be announcing his assumption of command [of Eighth Army] in the House of Commons tomorrow.

Telegram from WSC to the British Ambassador in Egypt [Sir Miles Lampson, later Lord Killearn] marked "personal and private" asking him to see his "young friend" Captain Frederick William Deakin who helped him with the Marlborough biography and is now in Egypt on Special Operations Executive work.

Telegram from WSC [Moscow, Soviet Union] to Deputy Prime Minister [Clement Attlee] reciting text of message from Averell Harriman [Special Representative of President Roosevelt with the rank of Minister] to Stalin replying to the Soviet memorandum of 13 Aug and reaffirming WSC's statement that no promise has been broken regarding the Second Front Annotated. Those annotations in red ink may have been added at the time of the writing of WSC's "The Second World War" in the period c1948-1954.

Telegram from WSC [Cairo, Egypt] to General Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence] marked "most secret and personal" asking for reports on developments in the Solomon Islands and on U-Boat sinkings Annotated, probably during writing of WSC's "The Second World War" c1948-1954.

Telegram from WSC [Cairo, Egypt] to Deputy Prime Minister [Clement Attlee], Foreign Secretary [Anthony Eden, later Lord Avon], General Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence] and the Chief of the Air Staff [Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal] regarding the long-term policy of placing an Anglo-American air force on the Russian southern flank in the Caucasus Annotated, probably during writing of WSC's "The Second World War" c1948-1954.

Telegram from WSC [Cairo, Egypt] to the Chief of the Air Staff [Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal] marked "most secret and personal" regarding heavy night bombing raids on Berlin [Germany] Annotated, probably during writing of WSC's "The Second World War" c1948-1954.

Telegram from WSC [Cairo, Egypt] to General Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence] marked "most secret and personal" suggesting that it would be wise to describe "Jubilee" [Codename for raid on Dieppe, France] as a "Reconnaissance in force." Annotated, probably during writing of WSC's "The Second World War" c1948-1954.

Telegram from WSC [Cairo, Egypt] to First Sea Lord [Admiral Dudley Pound] marked "most secret and personal" asking him to cable the latest news of the progress of the ships carrying the Sherman tanks Annotated, probably during writing of WSC's "The Second World War" c1948-1954.

Telegram from General Sir Archibald Wavell [Supreme Commander, South West Pacific] to WSC regarding military command in Burma [later Myanmar]: feels disturbed at the "lack of real fighting spirit" shown by troops in Malaya [later Malaysia] and Burma, and lists some causes; comments on Lieutenant-General Thomas Hutton [General Officer Commanding, Burma] and proposal to replace him with General Harold Alexander; refers to own rapid recovery.

Telegram from WSC to General Dwight Eisenhower [Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force in Western Europe, United States Army] marked "personal and Top Secret" congratulating him on the great victory won by the armies under his command [achieving a bridgehead over the Rhine at Remagan, Germany]. Photocopy.

Report by the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force [in Western Europe, United States Army], General Dwight Eisenhower, to the Combined Chiefs of Staff on the operations in Europe of the Allied Expeditionary Force, 8 June 1944 to 8 May 1945, dated 13 July 1945. In a presentation binding with an annotated dedication to WSC from Eisenhower and a note [by WSC's secretary] indicating that the gift was acknowledged on 23 January 1950.

Letter from WSC (RMS Dunotta Castle "en route") to "Mamma" [Lady Randolph Churchill] speculating on the progress of the [Boer War] and on the publication of ["The River War"] and asking her to send copies to Pamela [Plowden, later Lady Lytton] and to [Charles, 9th Duke of] Marlborough. Manuscript in the hand of WSC.

Letter from WSC ("In the train near East London", South Africa]) to "Mamma" [Lady Randolph Churchill] informing her that he is travelling to Natal with Captain [Alexander] Campbell and [John] Atkins from the Manchester Guardian. He observes that the Boer forces have been underestimated and that there will be "a fierce and bloody struggle" and expresses his hope that he is ahead of other newspaper correspondents.

Letter from WSC (Pretoria [South Africa]) to "Mamma" [Lady Randolph Churchill] informing her that he has been captured by the Boers and that he hopes that he will not be detained as he is a Press Correspondent. He asks her to try and secure his release, commenting "After all this is a new experience - as was the heavy shell fire". Envelope present.