[This document can be acquired from a sub-directory coombspapers via anonymous FTP or COOMBSQUEST gopher at the Australian National University, Canberra on the node COOMBS.ANU.EDU.AU or from the ANU Soc.Sci.WWW Server at http://coombs.anu.edu.au/CoombsHome.html] The document's ftp filename and the full directory path are given in the coombspapers top level INDEX files] [This version: 3 June 1994] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- UK NATIONAL REGISTER OF ARCHIVES - information leaflets ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NATIONAL REGISTER OF ARCHIVES information sheet no 8 sources for the history of the armed forces ________________________________________________________ This information sheet describes briefly the unpublished sources noted in the National Register of Archives (NRA), the principal specialist repositories that may be contacted and the most useful general works of reference. Among other subjects covered are education, women's history, labour history, colonial history and family history. 1. NRA INDEXES All three indexes contain information of interest to military historians. The numerical NRA references are to lists received by the NRA from libraries, record offices and other sources which may be consulted in the Commission's search room, where the NRA is made available. Personal Index Indexes the papers of individuals who can be traced in standard works of reference including the Dictionary of National Biography, Who's Who, Frederic Boase, Modern English Biography , and specialist works of reference such as the Army List and Navy List. Individual and descriptive searches are available and a thesaurus of descriptions used can be accessed on line. The index is designed to notice only groups of ten or more items of correspondence; to trace smaller quantities will normally require personal search of likely NRA reports. Business Index This index is a primary source for the history of armaments manufacture, gun makers, naval shipbuilding and military aviation, which may be trawled by name or type of business (a list of business codes and a business index vocabulary are available on line), town, county, document dates or any combination of these. 44 companies are noted under code 6 (engineers), subcode 16 (aircraft and aero-engines) including Handley-Page Ltd, Sopwith Aviation Co Ltd, De Havilland Engine Co (NRA 34342) and Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd (NRA 35584). Armaments manufacturers are to be found under code 6, subcode 13 (ordnance and small arms), including, for example, Vickers Armstrongs Ltd (NRA 27797, 31850 and 34342); William Beardmore Co Ltd (NRA 14667) and the Thames Ammunition Works Ltd (NRA 27797). Naval shipbuilders are located under Code 5, subcode 16. Subject Index This index is arranged archivally rather than thematically, comprising references to the institutions which generate records rather than the places and events to which the records relate. It may be trawled by word in an organisation's title, type of organisation (or in this case formation), town, county, document dates or any combination of these. A list of codes can be consulted on line. Army records are located under code 2 with numerical subdivisions for infantry, cavalry, territorials and volunteers, specialist corps and higher formations, commissariat, paymasters and army agents, garrisons and finally, home guard. Early militia and yeomanry records are located under code 17 (local government) subcode 6 (lieutenancy and civil defence). Researchers interested in papers relating to ordinary service in the army and navy should consult the Search room Officer about the experimental Diaries and Papers Index. For the time being, researchers are also directed to the military diaries and papers section of the old manual subject index, which is located in the search room. This is filed in chronological order. 2. SPECIALIST REPOSITORIES The following specialist repositories hold collections relating to the history of the armed forces and have been separated for ease of reference under the headings: general, army, naval and aviation. Each repository has its own numerical location code. This can be used on the register screen to identify lists received from the repository by the NRA and on the repository file to check opening times and other essential information. GENERAL Churchill Archives Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 ODS (location code 14) In addition to papers of Winston Spencer Churchill, including his military career (NRA 20556), the archive has a collection of airforce, military and naval papers, predominently 20th century, including; Marshal of the RAF, Sir William Dickson (NRA 32586), Air Marshal Sir Thomas Walker Elmhirst (NRA 14293), General Sir Charles Bonham Carter (NRA 14024), General Sir Thomas Erle (NRA 1075), Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, Viscount Slim (NRA 21963), Admiral of the Fleet, Andrew Browne Cunningham, Viscount Cunningham (NRA 24343) and Admiral of the Fleet, John Arbuthnot Fisher, Ist Baron Fisher (NRA 16615). In total the archive holds over 325 accessions of papers of political, military, naval and diplomatic figures. See Select Classified Guide To The Holdings Of The Churchill Archives Centre (1992). Imperial War Museum, Department of Documents, Lambeth Road, London SE1 6H2 (62) Holds personal diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs of over 5000 servicemen and women and civilians in wartime, as well as records of senior commanders from all three services, from both world wars, including Marshal of the RAF, William Sholto Douglas, Baron Douglas (NRA 28539), Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres (NRA 29546), Field Marshal, Bernard Law Montgomery, Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, also Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson (NRA 28567). King's College London, Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, the Library, Strand, London WC2R 2LS (99) Holds, in addition to the papers of Sir Basil Liddell Hart, private papers of higher commanders of the armed services and defence personnel in the 20th century including Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby (NRA 23083), Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke (NRA 23116), Major-General John Frederick Charles Fuller (NRA 11385), Major-General Sir Percy Hobart (NRA 19291) and Admiral Francis William Kennedy (NRA 11389). The archive holds upwards of 400 individual accessions of papers. See the Consolidated List of Accessions, 1986, further Supplement 1985-1990. University of Leeds, Edward Boyle Library, Liddle Collection, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT (1455) Holds Peter Liddle's 1914-18 Personal Experience Archive comprised of the private letters, diaries, logs and non-manuscript material of some 5000 individuals who served in the armed forces, merchant navy and wartime civilian occupations during the First World War. Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond TW9 4DU (66) Holds records of the War Office, Admiralty and Air Ministry and private papers of senior commanders. See individual service entries below; also the Public Record Office (PRO) Current Guide . Scottish United Services Museum, The Castle, Edinburgh EH1 2NG (588) Collects papers relating to the history of the Scottish soldier, sailor and airman. Holds collection of private diaries, journals and papers, regimental order books and papers including the Royal Scots Greys and the records of local militia and fencibles - 17th-20th century (NRA 30070); also papers of General Sir David Baird (NRA 27982). Southampton University Library, Highfield, Southampton SO9 5NH (738) Holds the principal collection of the 1st Duke of Wellington's papers including military correspondence and papers (NRA 20085); also papers of Earl Mountbatten of Burma covering his period in command of Combined Operations in the Second World War, as Supreme Allied Commander in SE Asia and his post war roles as First Sea Lord and Chief of the UK Defence staff. In addition the collection contains material on HMS Kelly, papers relating to the Dieppe Raid, papers of Wing Commander Marchess de Casa Maury and copies of papers (some with original material) of Vice-Admiral J Hughes-Hallett (NRA 34063). The Library also holds papers relating to the Nuremberg Military Tribunal 1945-49 (MS 200). See also CM Woolgar and K Robson, University of Southampton Occasional Papers No 11, A Guide to the Archive and Manuscript Collections of the Hartley Library, 1992. ARMY Regimental Museums Army Museums Ogilby Trust, No2 St Thomas Centre, Southgate Street, Winchester, Hants SO23 9EF (739) Holds over 1000 boxes of papers arranged by regiment; also the collection of the military historian Henry Spencer Wilkinson and the Crimea War correspondence of Lt-General Robert Beaufoy Hawley (NRA 24611). Acts as a clearing house for information about holdings of regimental and other military museums. See Survey of manuscripts in regimental museums, unpublished typescript, 1977 and additions 1988 (NRA 20951). In addition the NRA holds separate lists for some of the Scottish Regimental museums including the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (NRA 24135), the Black Watch (NRA 17576), the Royal Scots Regiment (NRA 24820); also the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berks and Wilts) (NRA 30546). National Army Museum, Department of Archives, Photographs, Film and Sound, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 4HT (63) Collects papers relating to the British Army and earlier formations from the 15th-20th cent, with a strong emphasis on the 18th and 19th centuries. Holds private papers of British Army Officers including; General Sir William John Codrington (NRA 20819), Field Marshall Sir George Nugent (NRA 20793), Lord Fitzroy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (NRA 20794), Lt-General Sir James Outram (NRA 35498) and General Henry Seymour Rawlinson, Baron Rawlinson of Trent (NRA 18642). In addition the museum holds a large collection of personal papers and memoirs of service by individual soldiers; regimental records including the 9th/12th Royal Lancers, Westminster Dragoons, the Surrey Yeomanry and Middlesex Regiment; also records of the Women's Royal Army Corps and the Royal Army Educational Corps; organisational records including the United Service Club. See National Army Museum MS collection (NRA 18641). Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond TW9 4DU (66) Holds, in addition to records created by the War Office, British Army and related bodies including the Militia, Ordnance Office, Commissariat Department, Judge Advocate's Office,etc (class mark WO); official and semi-official private papers of higher commanders of the British Army including; General Sir Robert Brownrigg (NRA 28821), General Sir Redvers Buller (NRA 28820), General Sir Miles Dempsey (NRA 28828), Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (NRA 28812), Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, Viscount Wolseley (NRA 28823); also papers of secretaries of state for war, including, Edward Cardwell, Viscount Cardwell (NRA 20657), Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (NRA 7283) and WH Smith (WO 110). In addition to the PRO Current Guide, see the following PRO Records Information Sheets; No 46 Military Muster Rolls 1522-1640, No 61 Operational Records of the British Army1660-1914, No 3 Operational Records of the British Army in the First World War, No 67 Records of the Board of Ordnance; also, The Second World War: A Guide to the Records at the Public Record Office, (HMSO), 1972 and PRO Reader's Guide No 3, Records of the Militia from 1757 (1993). Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Museum, Regimental HQ, ARANC, Royal Pavilion, Farnborough Road, Aldershot, Hampshire GU11 1PZ (1115) In addition to a small MS collection, holds papers of Dame Maud McCarthy, Army Matron in Chief. Royal Artillery Institute Library, Old Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Common, London SE18 4JJ (400) Collects papers on artillery topics 1716-20th cent. Holds papers of serving officers, including papers of General Sir Robert Biddulph (NRA 25822), General Sir Robert William Gardiner (NRA 25821), Lt-General John Henry Lefroy (NRA 25823); the collections of Lt-General Samuel Cleveland and Major-General Sir A Dickson; the Museum also holds regimental archives including Royal Artillery unit war diaries for the First and Second World Wars. See NRA 22969 - Artillery Institute MS Collection. Royal Engineers Corps Museum, Brompton Barracks, Chatham, Kent ME4 4UG (1515) Holds private papers of serving and former RE serving officers including General Sir John Burgoyne, General Sir John Hawkins, General Sir Edward Stanton comprising 43 letters from Major-General Gordon 1874-1879, miscellaneous letters, papers and notebooks of Gordon (4801.1-), papers of Major General Sir Elliot Wood (9301.15); also a collection of diaries, journals and papers of officers and other ranks 18th-20th cent; and finally a large collection of plans, maps and surveys relating to the work of the Royal Engineer Corps and predecessor bodies. (NRA 36645). Royal Engineers Corps Library, Brompton Barracks, Chatham, Kent ME4 4UG (894). Holds collection of RE Garrison letter books 18th-19th cent, RE unit war diaries, mainly WW1, RE personel registers, records of related bodies and organisations including RE sports clubs; private papers including typescript memoirs of Major FJ Mulgheen relating to tunneling 1914-18, ER James' narrative account of Crimean War experiences (3 vols), Sir John Glubb's diaries 1914-18 and a typescript history of General Sir Charles W Pasley (founder of Royal School of Military Engineering) by Colonel JC Tyler. The Library also holds an extensive collection of MS and typescript technical reports, a photograph collection and a collection of maps and plans. (NRA 36689). Royal Military Academy Library, Sandhurst, Camberley, Surrey GU15 4PQ (506) Holds records of the Academy and predecessor bodies, the Royal Military Academy (Woolwich) and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Also papers of General JG Le Marchant (NRA 184). Royal Signals Museum, Blandford Camp, Blandford Forum, Dorset DT11 8RH (863) Collects papers relating to the history of military communications from the Crimean War to the present day. As well as records of the Royal Corps of Signals (formed in 1920) holds records of predecessor bodies, the Telegraph Battalions Royal Engineers and subsequently the Royal Engineers Signal Service; also diaries and papers of officers and soldiers who served in the various units 19th-20th century. The Tank Museum, Bovington Camp, Wareham, Dorset BH 20 6JG (1384) Originally the museum of the Royal Tank Corps, now all regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps. Collects manuscripts and other material relating to the history of mechanical armoured warfare on land 1914 to the present day. Holds war diaries and histories of British armoured regiments and papers of serving individuals. Contemporary Medical Archives Centre, 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BQ (121) Holds the muniment collection of the Royal Army Medical Corps, comprising private journals and papers of army surgeons including Sir John Hall and Sir Thomas Longmore; also ms collections relating to army medical services including the Mytchet Collection (NRA 5981 book series). Administrative records of the Corps, its component units and predecessor bodies are kept in the Public Record Office (class mark WO), including war diaries of individual units, WO 95 (First World War) and WO 177 (Second World War). For further information see the army medical services administrative history (704.2.7) in the PRO Current Guide. NAVAL Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond TW9 4DU (66) Holds Admiralty records and in addition individual Royal Naval ships records including logs, paybooks and ships musters etc. ; also records of the Royal Marines including office letter books (ADM 56-64) (Class mark ADM). See the PRO Current Guide, and also the following PRO Information Sheets: No 3 Operational Records of the Royal Navy 1660-1914; No 49 Operational Records of the Royal Navy in the First World War, No 43 Operational Records of the Royal Navy in the Second World War, 1939-1945; No 74 Royal Marines Records in the Public Record Office; No 122 Naval Research and Development. Ministry of Defence, Naval Historical Branch Library, 3-5 Great Scotland Yard, Whitehall, London SW1. (800) In addition to a large collection of printed material including charts, atlases, pamphlets etc., the Library holds papers of Admiral of the Fleet, John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher. National Maritime Museum, Manuscripts Section, Greenwich, London SE10 9NF (64) Holds official records including papers of Board of Admiralty, Navy Board, Royal Dockyards and related bodies 17th-19th century; also, personal papers of serving officers including Admirals Beatty, Hawke, Hood and Nelson in addition to several large artificial collections of naval MSS comprising of letters, papers, journals, logs and order books. The Museum also holds some papers of the Royal Naval Air Service, early 20th cent and business records of shipbuilding firms including Vickers-Armstrong Ltd. See NRA 30121, part i: Guide to the Manuscripts of the National Maritime Museum, part i; The Personal Collections, part ii: Public Records, Business Records and Artificial Collections, (1980), RJB Knight . The Royal Marines Museum, Royal Marines Corps Secretariat, Royal Marines, Eastney, Southsea, Hampshire PO4 9PX (1198) Holds archives of the Corps, including material transferred from the Ministry of Defence, comprising divisional order books 1664 - present day; also, a collection of personal correspondence, papers, diaries and log books of serving officers. Royal Naval Museum Library, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 3LR (1070) Collects, by private donation and selective purchase, papers and photographs relating to the general and in particular the social history of the Royal Navy from the 17th century to the present day. In addition to some 200 hundred logs and journals, several hundred personal records of service and the official WRNS collection, the museum holds the correspondence and papers of Admiral Sir Arthur Auckland Cochrane (NRA 33425), Admiral Sir Robert Stopford (NRA 33428) and Admiral Sir Reginald Godfrey Otaw Tupper (NRA 33426). The Museum also holds some official clerk's office papers of Portsmouth Dockyard (NRA 32708). AVIATION Brooklands Museum, Brooklands Road, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 OQN (1452) Holds collection of aviation archives relating to British Aerospace and its predecessor companies engaged in aircraft manufacture at Brooklands, Vickers and the British Aircraft Corporation, including De Havilland Engine Co Ltd, De Napier and Son Ltd, Rolls-Royce and Vickers- Armstrongs Ltd. Also a large collection of technical drawings and manuals. In addition the Museum holds records of aircraft designers including Barnes Wallis (with information relating to the Dams raid). (NRA 34342). Ministry of Defence, Air Historical Branch Library, 3-5 Great Scotland Yard, Whitehall. London SW1 Holds official RAF unit diaries, photographs, casualty records; also papers of Sir John Slessor, (to be deposited with the Public Record Office). Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond TW9 4DU (66) Holds records of the Air Ministry and related bodies (class mark AIR); also operational records of the Royal Air Force and the Royal Flying Corps. Details of officers serving in the Royal Naval Air Service 1914-1918 are found under class mark ADM 273. Records of the Fleet Air Arm are located under class mark ADM 207 and AIR 50. Records of the Army Air Corps are found at WO 295. Records of the Ministry of Aircraft Production, including the RAF Establishment, are located under class mark AVIA. In addition to the PRO Current Guide, see Public Record Office Information Sheet No 16, Operational Records of the Royal Air Force. Royal Air Force Museum, Department of Research and Information Services, Grahame Park Way, Hendon, London NW9 5LL (67) Collects records relating primarily to British military aviation (although they also hold some civil aviation material). Holds private papers of former serving officers including senior commanders; most notably, Air Chief Marshals - Hugh Caswell Tremenhere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, Sir Douglas Evill, Sir Roderic Hill, Sir Leslie Hollinghurst; Marshals of the RAF, Sir Arthur Tedder and Sir Hugh Trenchard. The Museum also holds a collection of air crew log books and diaries and papers of airmen and women and also papers of pioneer aviators such as Lord Brabazon of Tara and Sir Charles Richard Fairey. The Museum also holds business records of aircraft manufacturers (mainly drawings) including Handley Page Ltd and HG Hawker Engineering Co deposited via British Aerospace. The museum also holds records of Sopwith Aviation Co Ltd. See Annual Reports for further details of holdings. University of Keele, Air Photo Library, Department of Geography, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 SBG. Holds photographic print library of the Allied Central Interpretation Unit, RAF Medmenham, comprising 5 million vertical air-photographs 1939-1945. 3. OTHER USEFUL ADDRESSES In addition to the specialist repositories noted above there are several military museums which hold some manuscript material. These include the Airborne Forces Museum, RHQ The Parachute Regiment, Browning Barracks, Aldershot, Hampshire GU11 2BU; also the Intelligence Corps Museum, Templar Barracks, Ashford, Kent, TN 23 3HH. Those interested in military aviation may also care to contact the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Research Officer, Mr MD Richardson, Box No:D6 RNAS Yeovilton Nr Ilchester, Somerset BA22 8HT, also the Royal Air Force Association, Central HQ, 43 Grove Park Road, London W4 3RU and the Royal Aeronautical Society, 4 Hamilton Place, London W1V 0BQ. The Ministry of Defence, Army Historical Branch, 3-5 Great Scotland Yard, Whitehall, London SW1 assists with enquiries regarding the British Army, in addition to the Army Museums Ogilby Trust (see separate entry under Army). The Royal Armouries Library, at the Tower of London EC3N 4AB, holds papers of students of armoury 19th-20th century. For sources relating to oral history consult the National Sound Archive, 29 Exhibition road, London SW7 2AS 4. SURVEYS AND WORKS OF REFERENCE CT Atkinson, 'Material for military history in the Reports and Calendars of the Historical Manuscripts Commission', Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, XX1 (1942), pp 17-34 *C Cook, Sources for British Political History 1900-51, volume 2, A Guide to the Private Papers of Selected Public Servants, 1975; volume 6, First Consolidated Supplement, 1985 H Hall, British Archives and the sources for the history of the World War (1925) N Holding, The location of British army records: a national directory of World War 1 sources (Federation of Family History Societies, 2nd edn, 1987) SL Mayer and WJ Koenig, The Two World Wars: a guide to manuscript collections in the United Kingdom (1976) A Swinson, A Register of the Regiments and Corps of the British Army. The ancestry of the regiments and corps of the Regular Establishment (Archive Press, London, 1972) T Wise, A Guide to Military Museums and other places of Military Interest (1992 revised) IN PROGRESS Southampton University Library, in conjunction with the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College, London, has recently undertaken a survey of the papers of senior commanders and defence staff, covering some 9000 individuals for the period 1793-1970. The information gathered is now being edited for inclusion in a database which will be accessible on-line via JANET from Febuary 1994. For further information contact CM Woolgar at Southampton University Library or Patricia Methven at the Liddell Hart Centre (see repository entries above for addresses). CM Woolgar can be contacted using E-mail via JANET under the following reference: C.M. Woolgar@UK.AC.SOTON. Please note: the NRA is very much dependent on the archivists and researchers who voluntarily contribute to it lists and other forms of information. If you know of any library or archive, group of papers, survey or finding aid of which we appear to be unaware, please let us know in writing so that this information can be made available to others. Enquiries about any matters relating to manuscript sources can be directed to the Historical Manuscripts Commission, Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HP. The public search room is open 9-30 to 5-00, Monday to Friday, and no appointment is necessary. Limited enquiries can be dealt with by post or e-mail (sargent@uk.ac.ulcc.clus1) February 1994 (4th revision) (c) The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts 1994. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- end of file