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Second World War (1939-1945)

 Subject
Subject Source: UK Archival Thesaurus

Found in 2737 Collections and/or Records:

 Fonds

The Papers of Sir George Binney

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/BINN
Scope and Contents

Papers comprising correspondence, official reports and press cuttings.
With correspondence and notes of Ralph Barker, author of 'The Blockade Busters', 1974-80.
Mainly in English, with some items in Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and French.

Dates: 1939 - 1982
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 Fonds

The Papers of Sir George Paget Thomson

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/TMSN
Scope and Contents

These files mainly contain routine correspondence and reports regarding the early development of the atomic bomb.

Dates: 1939 - 1942
Conditions Governing Access: TMSN 5 is CLOSED until cleared by UKAEA at Harwell.
 Fonds

The Papers of Sir Harold Hartley

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/HART
Scope and Contents The papers include: diaries and engagement books; personal and general correspondence; early scientific papers and laboratory notebooks; papers and correspondence relating to Balliol College; papers relating to Hartley's chemical warfare work in the First World War; papers of the Axis Oil Committees, concerned with the problem of oil supplies to the Axis in the Second World War; the FIDO papers, from a committee headed by Hartley on Fog Investigation Dispersal Operations, also during the...
Dates: 1890-08 - 1978-08
Conditions Governing Access: With the exception of some royal correspondence, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 Fonds

The Papers of Sir John Colville

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CLVL
Scope and Contents

The material held at Churchill Archives Centre mainly consists of Colville's diaries. They provide an insight into the decision-making of three Prime Ministers and the meetings held with other top officials, as well as the lives of key figures during World War II, and its aftermath.

Dates: 1939 - 1987
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 Fonds

The Papers of Sir John Edward Lennard-Jones

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/LEJO
Scope and Contents

Personal and scientific papers

Dates: 1906 - 1955
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 Fonds

The Papers of Sir (Philip) Stuart Milner-Barry

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/MNBY
Scope and Contents

These papers mostly consist of correspondence and articles. The papers all deal with intelligence matters such as access to wartime records, claims of espionage, memories of wartime code-breaking-related activities and publications by former Bletchley Park staff or about Bletchley Park.

Dates: 1974 - 1997
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 Fonds

The Papers of Sir Winston Churchill

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR, CHUR and CHAQ
Scope and Contents The papers consist of original documents accumulated by Sir Winston Churchill throughout his life (1874-1965). They have been divided into three sections: the Chartwell Papers (CHAR) and the Churchill Papers (CHUR), with some additional material (CHAQ). Together, the three sets of papers cover the following major areas: Personal (CHAR 1, CHUR 1 and CHAQ 1/1 and 2/1), 1884-1965 The papers of Churchill as a private person. They include correspondence with or about his...
Dates: The majority of files date from the 1870s to 1965.
Conditions Governing Access: The Churchill Papers are made available to researchers using Churchill Archives Centre and worldwide in digital format. The digital edition of the Churchill Papers is published by Bloomsbury Academic and is available online to subscribing institutions at churchillarchive.com. The Churchill archive is freely available in our reading rooms and onsite at Churchill College (via the Churchill College wireless network). Researchers can download images of documents directly from churchillarchive.com and so are encouraged to consider bringing a laptop or other device for this purpose. For conservation reasons, the fragile originals are no longer issued to researchers. This digital edition is open to researchers unless otherwise marked in the catalogue. Some material has been closed by the Cabinet Office or by Churchill Archives Centre in accordance with data protection legislation.
 Fonds

The Papers of the Fairbank family

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.10082
Scope and Contents

The papers consist principally of letters, journals and photographs relating to the service of Harold Arthur Thomas Fairbank in the South African War and First World War, and of Thomas John Fairbank in the Second World War.

Dates: 1899-1945
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for researchers using Cambridge University Library.
 Fonds

The Papers of the Naval Radar Trust

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/NVRT
Scope and Contents The papers gathered by the members of the Naval Radar Trust mostly consist of reminiscences by over 150 staff who worked on British Naval Radar during WWII. These reminiscences survive in letters and transcripts of interviews, as well as some original technical papers retained by interviewees. The Trust also gathered material from other sources such as the Public Record Office and publications, therefore copies survive here of relevant material held elsewhere. The collection also includes...
Dates: 1928 - 1997
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for consultation (except where items are inaccessible for conservation reasons) by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 Fonds

The Papers of Vice-Admiral John Hughes-Hallett

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/HHLT
Scope and Contents

"Before I forget", annotated draft of Hughes-Hallett's memoir on Combined Operations, 1941-5, including his memoir of the Dieppe Raid and the planning for D-Day (Operation Overlord); with a letter to him from Winston Churchill MP (Prime Minister), 19 September 1954

Dates: 1954
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 Fonds

The Papers of Vice-Admiral Sir Cecil Charles Hughes-Hallett

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/HUHT
Scope and Contents

The papers include correspondence with naval historians and with colleagues on the Naval Review, some personal papers, reminiscences and records and also narratives from Japanese prisoner of war camps.

Dates: 1918 - 1985
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 Fonds

The Papers of Vice-Admiral Sir John Edelsten

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/EDSN
Scope and Contents

The papers chiefly consist of correspondence, naval messages and photographs from Edelsten's time with the Mediterranean and Pacific Fleets.

Dates: 1916 - 1955
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 Fonds

The Papers of William Courtenay

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CTNY
Scope and Contents

Colour film reel shot by Courtenay, mainly from his experiences in the Second World War, including footage of Winston Churchill in Canada and giving the "Iron Curtain" speech, 1946, and footage of American forces in the Pacific.

Dates: 1941 - 1946
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 Fonds

"The Tragedy of HMS Glorious"

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0014/GLOR
Scope and Contents

The collection of material held at Churchill Archives Centre relates to the preparation of the documentary and includes research notes and correspondence; transcripts and videotapes of interviews, film footage and of the documentary.

Dates: 1997
Conditions Governing Access: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Churchill Archives Centre is not able to provide access to audio-visual material unless an access copy of the relevant tape is available. In cases where a Betacam and VHS videotape exists, access to the VHS version would be possible. In other cases, access copies must be made before access can be granted. Access copies may be arranged through Churchill Archives Centre.
 File

The Visit of the Prime Minister to Iceland, 1941-08-16

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/BRDW I Photo 3
Scope and Contents From the Series:

These albums include photographs from throughout Churchill's life, particularly the conferences during the Second World War between himself, Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin.

Dates: 1941-08-16
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 Fonds

'The Whistle': manuscript periodical produced in Changi Prisoner-of-War Camp

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/RCMS 396
Scope and Contents Subtitled, 'Leisure hour literature of D workshop'. Created by prisoners-of-war in Changi Gaol's D workshop, edited by Adrian John Clark, a British subject and, prior to his internment, legal adviser to the Federated Malay States government (died March 1944 at Changi) and secretly printed and bound in the Gaol Printing Shop. After the war, this copy of the periodical, thought to be the only copy in existence, was presented to Clark's widow, Marguerite. Approximately 34 pages, with hand-drawn...
Dates: 1942
Conditions Governing Access: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Unknown

"Their Finest Hour", 18 Jun 1940

 Unknown
Reference Code: GBR/0014/CHAR 9/140A/32-55
Scope and Contents Notes for WSC's speech (18 June) entitled "Their Finest Hour" on subjects including: fighting in France; the importance of unity and respect for government Ministers; preparations, defence and forces for fighting invasion by Germany, the strength of the Royal Navy; the campaign in Norway; forecasting the Battle of Britain and the determination of the RAF; support from the Dominions. He ends "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and...
Dates: 18 Jun 1940
Conditions Governing Access: Open
 File

"Tin Hats and Silk Stockings", 1989

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/SPRS 11/4/10
Scope and Contents

Script of the BBC documentary on the Hadfield-Spears Mobile Hospital Unit, 1940-45.

Dates: 1989
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 File

"Tin Hats and Silk Stockings: 1940, St Jean le Bassel and retreat", 1943 - 1989

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/SPRS 10/2/36
Scope and Contents

Photographs used for the BBC documentary on the Hadfield-Spears Mobile Hospital Unit (including photographs of the unit in the Western Desert, 1942)..

Dates: 1943 - 1989
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 File

"Tin Hats and Silk Stockings: 1944-45, Paris and General", 1989

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/SPRS 10/2/37
Scope and Contents

Photographs used for the BBC documentary on the Hadfield-Spears Mobile Hospital Unit.

Dates: 1989
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
 File

Transcript of extracts from letters from Somerville to his wife, 1942-3

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/SMVL 3/31
Scope and Contents

Reference: SMVL 3/27-3/29.

Conditions Governing Access: From the Sub-Fonds: Closed. Items in section 3 may only be consulted with Commander John Somerville's prior consent.
 File

Transcript of interview: Ethel Cox, 2016

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/DOHP 181
Scope and Contents

Mrs Cox's reminiscences, particularly on investigations into the leakage of information from the Embassy to German intelligence, partly by Elyesa Bazna ['Cicero'], the valet of Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen, the British Ambassador to Turkey.

Dates: 2016
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Material in this collection is open to researchers unless otherwise marked in the catalogue.
 File

Transcript of interview: Heather Thomsett, 2024

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/DOHP 240
Scope and Contents Interview with Heather Thomsett (née Auchterlonie), on her work in the Foreign Secretary's Private Office from 1943 to 1947, on subjects including: the Foreign Office during wartime; working with [Robert] Anthony Eden, Foreign Secretary [later 1st Lord Avon] and others such as Sir Alexander Cadogan [Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs], 1st Lord Halifax [earlier Edward Wood and Lord Irwin, British Ambassador to the United States] and Ernest Bevin, Foreign Secretary; the...
Dates: 2024
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Material in this collection is open to researchers unless otherwise marked in the catalogue.
 File

Transcript of interview: Leslie Shiers, 1997

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/DOHP 21
Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

The programme comprises transcripts of interviews with senior diplomats.

Dates: 1997
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Material in this collection is open to researchers unless otherwise marked in the catalogue.
 File

Transcript of JEP's War Recollections, North Africa 1939-1945, as given to the Imperial War Museum, December 1987, 1987-12

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0014/POLL 1/6/26
Scope and Contents From the Sub-Series:

Mainly JEP's classical notes and papers from his time as a student and fellow of Trinity College, University of Cambridge, and as Professor of Greek at the University of Sydney [Australia]. Included among these are other personal papers, including correspondence with family, friends and colleagues, JEP's poetry and papers from his service during the war.

Dates: 1987-12
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: The majority of the collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Please see individual files for details.