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Copy of a letter from WSC to [Walter] Long [later Lord Long, First Lord of the Admiralty] marked "most secret" on subjects including: his intentions toward the Royal Air Force and the Army; the independence of the Air Force and Air Ministry; proposals to enhance the the character of the air force with unique ranks and titles; organisation of the Air Council and proposed appointments.Carbon typescript signed with initials.

Scope and Contents Letter from WSC (War Office, Whitehall, SW1 [London]) to David Lloyd George about the situation in Mesopotamia [later Iraq] and Persia [later Iran] including: demands by [Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer] Haldane [Commander-in-Chief, Mesopotamia] for troops and cavalry forces which cannot be met; WSC's suggestions for moving troops from India, Palestine, Constantinople [later Istanbul] and the Rhine; the need for troops in India; the difficulty of the position against the Bolsheviks in Persia;...

Scope and Contents Two copies of a letter from WSC to David Lloyd George [Prime Minister] about Iraq and the impossibility of WSC's task. WSC explains his difficulties: low numbers of forces; King Feisal who is "playing the fool, if not the knave"; overstretched finances combined with the need to retain troops; the hostility of the press; and lack of progress in developing oil. He recommends that Feisal is given an ultimatum that Britian will evacuate Iraq but explains that, if they are asked to stay, it will...

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Copy of a letter from WSC to Sir Samuel Hoare [later Lord Templewood], Secretary of State for Air marked "private and personal" on the defence of Singapore, suggesting the use of air power instead of submarines.Unsigned carbon typescript.

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Draft of speech [by WSC] to the House of Commons on the Naval Estimates, particularly on oil, praising the efforts of the Royal Commission on Liquid Fuel, and on naval aviation, stating that Britain was well behind Germany in airship design and construction. [Carbon copy].

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Letter from Lord Northcliffe [earlier Alfred Harmsworth], (Hotel Majestic, Paris [France]) to WSC, enclosing a note of his conversation with Orville Wright, on airships and aircraft, stating that the effect of bombing from airships had been exaggerated, and that Britain might have more to fear from German aircraft.

Scope and Contents Letter from Desmond Morton, Crockham Hill, Kent to WSC, stating that the Civil Service proposed to give him a permanent post after 17 years "temporary Service", so that he could eventually draw a pension, and that he had named WSC as a referee. Also commenting on the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, reporting that the opinion of the Carlton Club was that SB was not going until "Death or the Coronation". Also that there was "trouble brewing aboun Anthony Eden (later Lord Avon), Foreign...

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Letter from F A Lindemann (later Lord Cherwell), Christ Church, Oxford, to WSC, enclosing draft letter from WSC and Austen Chamberlain to the Prime Minister [Ramsay Macdonald], on the need for a Committee to discuss the problem of defence against night bombers.

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Letter from WSC to [Austen Chamberlain], on draft letter from WSC and Chamberlain to the Prime Minister [Ramsay Macdonald], on the need for a Committee to discuss the problem of defence against night bombers [carbon].

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Letter from Sir [Joseph] Austen Chamberlain (58 Rutland Gate [London]) to WSC, informing him that he had signed and sent a letter [jointly from himself and WSC, on the need for an enquiry on air defence] to the Prime Minister [James Ramsay MacDonald], with a covering note.Chamberlain also says that the second volume of WSC's biography of the 1st Duke of Marlborough had formed his Christmas reading, and had fascinated him: "What a man!".

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Letter from F A Lindemann (later Lord Cherwell), Christ Church, Oxford, to WSC, on letter to the Prime Minister [Ramsay Macdonald] on air defence.

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Letter from F A Lindemann (later Lord Cherwell), Christ Church, Oxford, to WSC, on letter to the Prime Minister [Ramsay Macdonald] on air defence. Commenting that it was "hopeless the way Ramsay chops and changes", also that he had learned that Air Ministry was determined to "do everything to inhibit action of the sort we want".

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Letter from WSC to F A Lindemann, (later Lord Cherwell), on letter from the Prime Minister [Ramsay Macdonald] on air defence. Describing Macdonald as a "hopeless twister" and stating that the only solution was a debate in the House of Commons [carbon].

Scope and Contents Letter from F A Lindemann [later 1st Lord Cherwell], (Christ Church, Oxford) to WSC, sending further letters from the Prime Minister [James Ramsay MacDonald] and Sir [Joseph] Austen Chamberlain on air defence. Particularly on the composition and terms of reference of the Air Defence Research Committee, commenting that Henry Tizard was a good man, but that both he and Harry Wimperis received salaries from the Air Ministry, and that neither of the other two members "have ever had anything to...

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Parliamentary question from WSC to the Prime Minister, Ramsay Macdonald, asking if the Air Defence Research Committee had been appointed, and how many meetings it had held [carbon].

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Letter from Desmond Morton, (21 Queen Anne's gate, London SW1) to WSC, on letter from Air Commodore Peregrine Fellowes. Commenting that Fellowes had been one of the Air Ministry's experts on dirigibles, and that he might have a considerable personal bias towards "matters of air policy with which the Air Ministry would not be wholly in agreement".

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Letter from Air Commodore Peregrine Fellowes (Chester Street, London SW1) to WSC, asking for meeting to discuss air policy.

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Letter from James A Petrie, Estoril, Portugal, to WSC, on German military aviation. Stating that the Germans had 1500 new aircraft, and in time of war could put into the air 4000 machines. Suggesting that Britain should start to re-arm immediately, and that to pay for it, Super-Tax should be increased by 6d or 1s in the pound.

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Letter from Robert Dele, Geneva, Switzerland (Geneva Correspondent of the Manchester Guardian) to WSC, on the German Air Force, drawing attention to an article on enormously increased consumption of aluminium in Germany in "Das Neue Tage-Buch" published on 6 Apr. Commenting that it showed that there was every reason to believe that the German Air Force was much larger than the British or the French.

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Letter from Desmond Morton (Queen Anne's Gate, London, SW1) to WSC, commenting on letters from James Petrie and Robert Dell on German rearmament. Commenting that the figures for increased aluminium consumption in Germany were not entirely attributable to increased aircraft production, and that one could not calculate the number of aircraft built from these figures.

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Letter from Desmond Morton, Early Lands, Crookham Hill, Kent, to WSC, commenting on article in "L'Illustration" on air strength, particularly the confusion due to the lack of a universally accepted yard stick by which air strengths could be measured, and the difficulty of measuring German first line air strength.

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Letter from Major Desmond Morton, (Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1) to WSC, commenting on his draft memorandum to Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister [later Lord Swinton], Secretary of State for Air [there is a copy of the memorandum in CHAR 25/4].

Scope and Contents Letter from WSC to Sir Samuel Hoare [later Lord Templewood], Foreign Office, thanks for letter of 27 Aug on Imperial Defences, [CHAR 2/236]. Commenting on fleet dispositions in the Mediterranean, and stating that it would be quite wrong for isolated capital ships to be near Italian waters "I do hope the Admiralty will not despise the Italians and believe they will never dare to put to and face us. Mussolini's Italy may be quite different to that of the Great War". Also commenting on possible...

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Letter from WSC to Robert Dell, thanks for information about German consumption of aluminium. Commenting that there were reassuring explanations for the figures, but agreeing that there was a grave danger from the growth of German aviation [carbon].

Scope and Contents Letter from Lord Rothermere, Stratton House, Piccadilly, thanks for memorandum on German air strength. Commenting that he did not trust Hitler as a statesman, that he and his "group" had the full intention of making Germany "the world Power". Also commenting that Britain's position was tragic, and that once Hitler felt strong enough he would challenge "all three powers" and from "what one knows of their respective armaments he would have an easy win". "Germany is a great armed camp. Never...