The papers mainly consist of the manuscript notes which Lawrence Burgis made during meetings of the War Cabinet during the Second World War. There are gaps in the sequence, such as between November and December 1943 when Burgis went to the Cairo Conference with Winston Churchill.

Although Burgis' notes frequently record the actual words spoken at Cabinet meetings during the war, Burgis felt that his notes were not valuable because they were not a final record of the meetings of the War Cabinet. He did, however, use his notes to uncover an inaccuracy relating to the appointment of General Bernard Montgomery (see BRGS 1/2, letter to Jacob). Burgis was not always present throughout meetings of the War Cabinet "as I went back to my office to get the notes I had taken dictated and ready for Bridges [Sir Edward Bridges, Secretary to the Cabinet] to approve after the meeting so the Minutes were in Ministers' hands as soon as possible".