Scope and Contents
This small but interesting collection of copies of papers and photographs relates to the service of Charles Terry in the Royal Navy in the First World War and in the Army as a Major in the Royal Artillery in the Second World War. In 1918, Charles Terry had the remarkable prescience to photograph the German ships as they lay at anchor at Scapa Flow the day before they were scuttled and the four resulting pictures fit together to give a panoramic view of the entire captured German Fleet. The papers relating to Major Terry's Army service belong to his period as commanding officer of 7/11 Super Heavy Battery RA with fascinating detail about the disbandment of his unit and to the work he carried out at Combined Operations H.Q. as officer in charge of training of assault artillery. Amongst the papers were retained two War Office pamphlets on disbandment of units and on the use of self-propelled guns in support of a Beach Assault. The heavy gun mounted on a railway wagon and manned by Major Terry's unit was designed to be landed in France but, in fact, was never shipped across the Channel. Too much damage had been done to the French railway system to make its transportation feasible.
Dates
- Creation: 1918 - 1945
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
Conditions Governing Use
Researchers wishing to publish excerpts from the papers must obtain prior permission from the copyright holders and should seek advice from Archives Centre staff.
Biographical / Historical
Curriculum Vitae: 1901: Born [1909]: Joined HMS Conway as a boy sailor 1915: Present at Battle of Jutland 1917-23: Service in the Royal Navy; Trinity College, Cambridge 1925-30: Office staff of Rosehaugh Co. Ltd., Colombo, Ceylon [later Sri Lanka]. 1931: Sale staff of Pytchley Autocar Ltd., London. 1932-34: Charity organiser, working with Alan Lennox-Boyd. 1935-36: Organising secretary of Homeopathic Association. 1937: Commissioned in T.A. 1937-39: Works and sales management staffs of Guest, Keen & Nettlefold Ltd. 1938: Married Una Jocelyn Swann 1939: Battery Captain R.A. in T.A. 1941: Passed War Staff Course(a); promoted Major; instructor in gunnery. 1942-43: Organised artillery side of night assault landing trials. 1943: Evolved drills for S. P. artillery, ashore and afloat. 1943-44: At Combined Operations HQ in charge of training assault artillery; served on inter-Service committees for co-ordination of fire power during assault landing; 1944: responsible, as an acting Brigadier, for drawing up Naval offshore bombardment plans on British and Canadian beachheads. 1945: Staff Officer R.A., Northern Ireland. Discharge (12 September). 1945-49: Area Manager of S.W. Sales Office of Guest, Keen & Nettlefold group of companies.
Extent
0.5 archive box(es)
Language of Materials
English
Other Finding Aids
The collection has been catalogued and the catalogue is available in the reading room at Churchill Archives Centre and at the National Register of Archives in Kew.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was deposited in Churchill Archives Centre by Terry's son, Christopher Terry, in February 1983.
Existence and Location of Originals
The original material is still held by the Terry family.
Existence and Location of Copies
The collection at Churchill Archives Centre comprises copies of documents and photographs.
General
The collection was catalogued by Marion Stewart at Churchill Archives Centre in 1983. The introduction to the collection was revised by Natalie Adams in August 2004 when the catalogue was converted to electronic form.
Date information
DateText: Dates given are those of the original documents, not date the copies were made.
Originator(s)
Terry, Charles, 1901-1949
Subject
- Terry, Charles, 1901 - 1949 (Person)
- Date
- 2004-08-10 15:17:41+00:00
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Churchill Archives Centre Repository
Churchill Archives Centre
Churchill College
Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB3 0DS United Kingdom
+44 (0)1223 336087
archives@chu.cam.ac.uk