Papers of Lt Gen Sir Wilfred Gordon Lindsell, GBE, KCB, DSO, MC (1884-1973)
Reference code: GB99 KCLMA Lindsell
Title: LINDSELL, Lt Gen Sir Wilfred Gordon (1884-1973)
Dates of creation of material: 1935-1973
Level of description: item level
Extent: 0.01m3 or 1 box of papers
Introduction
- Biographical history
- Provenance
- Scope and content
- Arrangement
- Conditions of access and use
- Related material
Brief List
1 Papers relating to Lindsell's service as Quartermaster General of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) in France and Belgium during World War Two, mainly reports, war diaries and narratives, 1935, 1939-1942
2 Papers relating to Lindsell's service as Lt Gen in charge of Administration in the Middle East, 1942-1948
3 Papers relating to Lindsell's service as Principal Administrative Officer to the Indian Command, 1944-1948, 1953
4 Papers relating to Lindsell's post-war life and career, mainly texts of speeches and articles, and newspaper cuttings, 1935, 1945-1973
INTRODUCTION
Born 1884; educated Birkenhead School, Cheshire, Victoria College, Jersey, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; 2nd Lt, Royal Artillery, 1903; Lt, 1906; Aide de Camp to Maj Gen Sir Harry Barron whilst Governor of Tasmania, 1910-1913, and Governor of Western Australia, 1913-1914; served World War One, 1914-1918; Capt 1914; Aide de Camp to Brig Gen, Royal Artillery, 7 Div, BEF (British Expeditionary Force), France, 1914-1915; Staff Capt, Royal Artillery, 7 Div, France, 1915-1916; Bde Maj, Royal Artillery, 62 Div, Home Services and France, 1916-1918; Maj, 1918; General Staff Officer, Grade 2, Royal Artillery, 8 Corps, France, 1918-1919; General Staff Officer, Grade 2, Royal Artillery, Western Command, 1919; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, War Office, 1920; temporary Instructor and Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General, School of Military Administration, 1920-1922; Instructor, Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General, School of Military Administration, 1922-1924; Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General, Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, and temporary Lt Col, 1925-1929; Brevet Lt Col, 1927; General Staff Officer, Grade 1, War Office, 1930-1933; Brevet Col and Col, 1931; Commandant Senior Officers' School, Sheerness, Kent, 1933-1935; Deputy Military Secretary and Assistant Secretary of Selection Board, War Office, and temporary Brig, 1935-1936; Commander Royal Artillery, Eastern Command, and temporary Brig, 1936-1938; Maj Gen in command of Administration, Southern Command, 1938-1939; Quartermaster General, BEF (British Expeditionary Force), 1939-1940; temporary Lt Gen in command of Administration, Home Forces, 1940-1941; Senior Military Advisor to the Ministry of Supply, 1941; Lt Gen, 1941; Lt Gen in charge of Administration in the Middle East, 1942-1943; Principal Administrative Officer to the Indian Command, 1943-1945; retired 1945; supervisor of the release of war factories and disposal of government surplus stores, 1945; Col Commandant, Royal Artillery, 1940-1950; Governor and Commandant, Church Lads' Brigade, 1948-1954; Church Commissioner for England, 1948-1959; died 1973.
Publications: Military Organisation and Administration (Gale and Polden, Aldershot, c1921); A and Q or Military Administration in War (Gale and Polden, Aldershot, 1928).
Presented to the Centre by the family in three accessions in 1963, 1964 and 1974.
The collection consists mainly of papers collected by Lindsell relating to his work as Quartermaster General of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) in France and Belgium during World War Two, 1939-1940, and offers information on the activities of the 'Q', or administrative, aspect of operations, including details of the provision and maintenance of shipping, railways, hospitals and depots for petrol, ammunition, food and medical supplies. There are several war diaries and narratives written by officers under Lindsell's command, including descriptions of attempts to organise the unloading of emergency supplies in Dunkirk, France, immediately prior to the evacuation of the British forces in May/Jun 1940. There are also some printed extracts from letters written by Lindsell to his family during the 'phoney war' of Sep 1939-Apr 1940, describing his day-to-day duties and activities.
Papers relating to Lindsell's post as Lt Gen in charge of Administration in the Middle East, 1942-1943, consist of copy diary extracts describing a tour made by Lindsell of Allied administrative areas in Israel, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and India, a volume compiled by the Q Staff, Cairo, entitled The maintenance of the Eighth Army...from El Alamein to Tunisia, 1943, and memoranda and cuttings relating to the Middle East Base in Egypt. Material concerning Lindsell's post as Principal Administrative Officer to the Indian Command, 1943-1945, mainly comprises speeches and articles written by him on Indian economic problems exacerbated by the war effort, and the creation of the India Base in order to supply Allied Forces in India, Italy, Persia and the Far East.
The papers relating to Lindsell's post-war career, 1945-1973, again comprise lectures, articles and newspaper cuttings, many on the Suez Crisis of 1956 and international affairs in the Middle East.
Arranged in sections as above.
Access
Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.
Copyright
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.
Language
English.
Locations of originals
The Imperial War Museum, London, holds correspondence between Lindsell and Sir Thomas Riddell-Webster (1942-1945).
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Last modified: Monday, 08-Aug-2005 13:19:57 BST