Telegram from Admiralty to Major-General Sir George Aston, [Royal Naval Division], passing on information from the Belgian Minister of War on German aims to lay floating mines off the Netherlands, German artillery emplacements near Brussels [Belgium], and the state of railway bridges in the area. [Carbon].

Telegram from WSC to Major-General Sir George Aston, [Royal Naval Division], on his forthcoming visit to Dunkirk [France], efforts to improve supplies to the Division, and warning of large enemy forces in northern Belgium. [Carbon].

Telegram from Major-General Sir George Aston [Royal Naval Division], (Dunkirk [France]), to WSC, First Lord of the Admiralty, on a request from French Headquarters for Commander Charles Samson [Naval Air Service] with five armoured cars to destroy railway bridges between Cambrai and Valenciennes. [Carbon].

Telegram from Major-General Sir George Aston [Royal Naval Division], (Dunkirk [France]) to WSC, First Lord of the Admiralty, on a request from French Territorial Forces at Douai for cavalry support. [Carbon].

Telegram from WSC, First Lord of the Admiralty, to Major-General General Sir George Aston [Royal Naval Division], placing him on the sick list, and ordering him home to London for a rest before resuming his duties. Aston is ordered to hand over command to Major-General Archibald Paris, and the movements of the division and intelligence and organisational systems are detailed. [Carbon].

Telegram from WSC, First Lord of the Admiralty, to the General Officer Commanding, Dunkirk Force [Major- General Archibald Paris, Royal Naval Division], on the military situation in and around Antwerp [Belgium]. [Carbon].

Telegram from Major-General Archibald Paris [Royal Naval Division] (Dunkirk [France]), to Admiralty, stating that French forces had withdrawn from Tournai towards Orchies; also warning that the position of the battalion at Lille was unsound, and proposing to withdraw it to Cassel. [Carbon].

Telegram from WSC, First Lord of the Admiralty, to Major Eugene Gerrard, [Royal Naval Air Service], ordering him to concentrate his efforts on spotting the fall of shot for British naval guns at Antwerp [Belgium], to help knock out enemy siege artillery. Copied to Commander Charles Samson [Royal Naval Air Service]. [Carbon].

Telegram from the Director of Intelligence [Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver], Admiralty, to Major-General Archibald Paris [Royal Naval Division] (Dunkirk [France]), reporting a statement by the Belgian Minister of War, that the Germans were taking the siege of Antwerp [Belgium] seriously, and it was not intended as a diversion. Also reporting on German troop movements. [Carbon].

Telegram from Major-General Archibald Paris [Royal Naval Division], to WSC, First Lord of the Admiralty, stating that the battalion at Lille [France] was fairly secure, and had orders to retire on Cassel if the French were to evacuate Lille, and proposing to keep his main force in Cassel for the present. [Carbon].

Letter from Field Marshal 1st Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, to WSC, [First Lord of the Admiralty], on WSC's plans for east coast defence, and for moving ships to Ostend [Belgium]. Kitchener also comments on the state of his own troops, adding that it might be better to delay destroying [the harbour] at Ostend, as it could be needed for sending reinforcements. Also includes hand-written note by WSC about circulation.

Letter from WSC to Herbert Asquith, Prime Minister [later 1st Lord Oxford and Asquith], on the need for special mechanical devices (including tanks) for taking trenches. [carbon].

Draft telegram from WSC, First Lord of the Admiralty to the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, [Admiral Sir John Jellicoe], on bad military news from France, asking Jellicoe to consider the possibility of Germany controlling Calais and the French coasts. [Hand-written copy, initialled by WSC].

Letter from Rear-Admiral Horace Hood to WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty], giving his views on the Ostend and Zeebrugge [Belgium] expeditions, particularly on the position at Nieuport, and also on Hood's wish to return to the Dover Patrol.

Letter from Rear-Admiral Horace Hood (Hotel Crusader, Nieuport [Belgium]) to WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty], on the naval and military situation in France and Belgium, including: the use of Hood's ships at Nieuport; the placing of German guns along the shore; Hood's mining of the coastal waters; the chances of a Belgian advance; relations between the French and Belgians.

Letter from Commander Charles Samson [Naval Air Service] to WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty], reporting on the occupation of Lille [France] by a British and French force, following the withdrawal of German forces. [Typescript copy].

Letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred Ollivant [General Staff Officer, Admiralty], to Colonel Macdonagh (War Office), on the formation of a Naval Motor Force at Dunkirk [France], and keeping in communication with the army. Also includes notes on the organisation of the Motor Force. [Carbon].

Telegram from WSC to John S Churchill, stating that he hoped that John's "friend" [General Sir Ian Hamilton, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Mediterranean] would ask for more men if he needed them, and that there were 20,000 troops available in Egypt. [Hand-written draft, initialled by WSC].

Telegram from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to Grand Duke Nicholas [Russian Minister of War], reporting the success of the initial attack in the Dardanelles. WSC asks when the Russian fleet and army would be ready to co-operate. [Hand-written draft, initialled by WSC].

Minute from WSC to Sir Edward Grey [Foreign Secretary], suggesting that information on the landings in the Dardanelles should be sent to the Grand Duke Nicholas [Russian Minister of War]. [Hand-written draft, initialled by WSC].

Letter from Frederick Guest to WSC, on the military situation in France, including the halt of the German advance, the new French generals and the disappointing French cavalry.

Letter from Sir Francis Villiers, [Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Belgium] to WSC, enclosing a letter from Colonel John Seely [later 1st Lord Mottistone] on the behaviour of the sailors and marines in the retreat from Antwerp.

Letter from Francis Grenfell to WSC, asking for help in obtaining an armoured car with a machine gun for his squadron; also giving an account of an action at Neuve Chapelle [France] and of trench warfare generally, particularly the difficulties of keeping in touch with the artillery.

Letter from Francis Grenfell, (Dublin [Ireland]) to WSC, giving an account of fighting at Messines [Belgium], problems with the artillery, the shortage of machine guns, and his being wounded.

Letter from Field Marshal Sir John French [Commander- in-Chief, British Expeditionary Force, later 1st Lord Ypres] to WSC, on meeting with General Joseph Joffre [Commander-in-Chief, French Army] on the military situation in France and Belgium, particularly the possibility that a joint expedition to Ostend might have to be postponed.