Reference code: GB99 KCLMA Allfrey
Title: ALLFREY, Lt Gen Sir Charles Walter (1895-1964)
Dates of creation of material: 1928-1947
Level of description: item level
Extent: 0.02m3 or 2 boxes of papers
Born in 1895; educated at Royal Naval College, Dartmouth; joined Royal Artillery, Aug 1914; served in World War One, 1914-1918; Capt, 1917; Brevet Maj, 1931; served in northern Kurdistan, 1932; Maj, 1933; Brevet Lt Col, 1935; served World War Two, 1939-1945; Col, 1939; commander of 43 Div, Home Forces, 1941-1942; acting Lt Gen, 1942; commanded 5 Corps, North Africa and Italy, 1942-1944; Maj Gen and temporary Lt Gen, 1943; General Officer Commanding British Troops in Egypt, 1944-1948; Lt Gen, 1946; Col Commandant, Royal Artillery, 1947-1957; retired in 1948; Col Commandant, Royal Horse Artillery, 1948-1957; died in 1964.
Placed in the Centre by the family in 1976.
The collection comprises papers relating to Allfrey's career during World War Two, notably his command of 43 Div as part of Home Forces, 1941-1942, and 5 Corps in North Africa and Italy, 1942-1944.
43 Div was part of 12 Corps, under the command of Lt Gen Bernard Law Montgomery, and there are a series of interesting memoranda, May 1941-Jun 1942, from Montgomery to Allfrey, notably on training. Papers relating to Allfrey's command of 5 Corps include detailed personal diaries on the Tunisian and Italian campaigns, with entries gleaned from both personal experience and official sources. These diaries contain detailed descriptions of troop deployment and the outcomes of various actions, and also highly personal observations of both people and events. Reports and narrative accounts emphasise the role played by sections of 5 Corps both in Tunisia and Italy; in addition there are military maps of both areas.
Other material of note includes texts of speeches made by Allfrey from 1941-1944, and a series of copy letters from military correspondents of all ranks, mainly personal. There are a number of miscellaneous papers copied from a scrapbook compiled by Allfrey, including his equitation certificate.
The papers are mainly arranged chronologically by campaign, Transcripts of speeches, correspondence, and papers copied from the album compiled by Allfrey, are grouped together.
Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the College Archivist.
Mostly English, with some items in French.
Lady Allfrey retains the photograph album of Tunisian battlefields, a microfilm of which exists in the collection, and the originals of the correspondence and the album.