Scope and Contents

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].

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...

Scope and Contents

Memorandum [submitted by Sir Edward Bridges, Secretary to the Cabinet] examining proposition by the Lord Privy Seal [Sir Stafford Cripps] for co-operation between the Services through an overall commander. [See CHAR 20/56B/129-134 for Cripps's proposition].

Scope and Contents Letter from 1st Lord Hankey [Paymaster-General] to WSC enclosing memoranda on the use and techniques of Bomber Command and the dispersal of capital ships and their use against Japan, written before his resignation; forwarded to the Secretary of State for Air [Sir Archibald Sinclair, later 1st Lord Thurso] and Chief of Air Staff [Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal], the First Lord of the Admiralty [A V Alexander] and 1st Sea Lord [Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound]; with replies by...

Scope and Contents

Memorandum by Professor A V Hill [Member, War Cabinet Scientific Advisory Committee] on Science and the U-boat War addressed by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee to all MP's; includes covering note by Edward Salt, Deputy Chairman, Parliamentary and Scientific Committee.

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...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, September 1943. Some written by WSC when in Canada and the United States.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: senior civil servants, particularly Sir Alexander Cadogan [Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]; General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; President Roosevelt; Harry Hopkins [Special...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, October 1943.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: Lord Louis Mountbatten [Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia]; General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; Colonel Ian Jacob and Major-General Leslie Hollis [Military Assistant Secretaries to the War Cabinet]; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chiefs of Staff; senior civil servants, including...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, November and December 1943. Some written by WSC when in the Middle East [and Carthage, Tunisia, and Marrakesh, Morocco].Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: Sir Edward Bridges [Secretary to the War Cabinet]; the Chiefs of Staff; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; Sir Alexander Cadogan [Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]; Desmond Morton [Prime Minister's...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, March 1942.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: Major-General Leslie Hollis [Military Assistant Secretary to the War Cabinet]; the Chiefs of Staff; General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chief Whip [James Stuart].Subjects covered by the minutes include: matters concerning the command structure, including...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, April 1942.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chiefs of Staff.Subjects covered by the minutes include: the Japanese threat to the Falkland Islands; discussion of operation "Ironclad" [code name for British occupation of Diego Suarez, Madagascar]; the British naval...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, May 1942.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chiefs of Staff; General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence].Subjects covered by the minutes include: aircraft production; bombing policy; operation "Ironclad" in Madagascar; the availability of ammunition for the Home Guard; naval operations in the Indian Ocean;...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, October 1942.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; senior civil servants, including Sir Edward Bridges [Secretary to the War Cabinet]; General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; the Chiefs of Staff; Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Jacob [Military Assistant Secretary to the War Cabinet].Subjects covered by the minutes include:...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, December 1942.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chiefs of Staff; Director of Movements [War Office, General Noel Holmes]; General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; Colonel Ian Jacob [Military Assistant Secretary to the War Cabinet]; Chief Whip [James Stuart].Subjects covered by the minutes include:...

Scope and Contents

Telegram from Commanders in Chief (Middle East) to WSC giving details of German and Allied army strengths at the beginning of "Crusader" [codename for British North African operation], including details of losses on both sides and reasons for Allied success.

Scope and Contents Telegram from WSC to the President of the United States [Franklin Roosevelt]: states that he has not yet heard from Australia and New Zealand but that in principle there are great merits resulting from the United States controlling the Pacific sphere and Britain controlling the Indian sphere; comments on the need for the American and British navies to work to a common strategy; describes British naval force in the Central Indian Ocean; comments on the need to co-ordinate all naval commands...

Scope and Contents Telegram from WSC to the President of the United States [Franklin Roosevelt] concerning "the grave situation" arising from the large Japanese naval presence in the Indian Ocean: suggests alternative plans for moving capital ships to the Indian Ocean; presses for American heavy bombers in India; comments on his meeting with the President's envoys and states that he is sending the 1st Sea Lord [Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound] to see the President and Admiral Ernest King...

Scope and Contents Telegram from WSC to General Sir Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief, India: comments on fighter and bomber strengths in India and Ceylon [later Sri Lanka] and details reinforcements; comments on plans to build up a powerful naval force in the Indian Ocean under Admiral Sir James Somerville [Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Fleet]; comments on the strategic importance of holding Colombo [Ceylon] and preserving the link with China; states that he is sending Wavell extracts of a telegram from...

Scope and Contents Telegram from WSC to the President of the United States [Franklin Roosevelt]: comments on a plan to strengthen the British fleet in the Indian Ocean by using United States ships to reinforce the British Navy at Scapa [Scotland]; states that he is sending a note drafted by Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal [Chief of the Air Staff] regarding air reinforcements for Burma [later Myanmar], India and Ceylon [later Sri Lanka] but welcomes the proposal to use the United States aircraft carrier...

Scope and Contents Telegram from WSC to Sir Stafford Cripps [Lord Privy Seal] (India) regarding fighters for the defence of India: comments on the numbers of Hurricanes in India; states that nothing sent from Britain could affect the situation for at least two months; comments on suggestions for diverting fighters from Ceylon [later Sri Lanka] or the Middle East; refers to remarks by General Sir Archibald Wavell [Commander-in-Chief, India] regarding the inability of the Eastern Fleet to respond to a sea-borne...

Scope and Contents

Telegram from WSC to the Prime Minister of Australia [John Curtin] regarding the naval position in the Far East: describes ship movements and losses between 4 April and 9 April resulting from Japanese raids on Colombo [Ceylon, later Sri Lanka] and Trincomalee [Ceylon]; comments on the relative strengths of Britain, the United States and Japan in aircraft carriers, aircraft and personnel; comments on future policy on the Eastern Fleet.

Scope and Contents

Telegram from General Sir Archibald Wavell [Commander- in-Chief, India] to WSC outlining the situation in India, Ceylon [later Sri Lanka] and Burma [later Myanmar]: comments on air strength; comments on the naval situation; comments on the defence of Ceylon; comments on difficulties in Burma and implications with regard to China; "Our tails are well up but not wagging very much as yet.".

Scope and Contents Telegram from WSC to the President of the United States [Franklin Roosevelt]: thanks Roosevelt for his telegram about "Ironclad" [codename for operation against Diego Suarez, Madagascar] and for the use of USS Wasp; comments on the arrival of General Henri Giraud at Vichy [France]; comments on "desperate attacks" on the Tirpitz at Trondheim [Norway] and German retaliation against British towns near the coast; gives details of recent German aircraft losses over Norwich [Norfolk] and York;...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, March 1941.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chiefs of Staff; senior civil servants including Sir Edward Bridges [Secretary to the War Cabinet], Sir Horace Wilson [Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury and official Head of HM Civil Service], and Sir Alexander Cadogan...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, July 1941.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; 1st Lord Cherwell [earlier F A Lindemann] and Desmond Morton [Prime Minister's Personal Assistants]; Colonel Ian Jacob [Military Assistant Secretary to the War Cabinet]; senior civil servants including Sir Edward Bridges...