King's College London
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives

Survey of the Papers of Senior UK Defence Personnel, 1900-1975

Service biography
Commissioned, Indian Army 1903; 62 Punjab Regt 1904; World War I 1914-1919; Egypt 1914-1915; Aden 1915; Mesopotamia 1916-1919; General Staff Officer Grade 2 1918; Kurdistan 1919; Imperial Defence College 1927; Commander, 1 Punjab Regt 1929-1930; Instructor, Staff College, Quetta 1930-1933; Commander, Peshawar Bde, Mohmand Operations 1933-1936; Deputy Chief of General Staff Army Headquarters, India 1936-1938; Commander, Meerut District, India 1938; Member, Expert Committee on the Defence of India 1938; World War II 1939-1945; General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Norway 1940; General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command 1940; Commander-in-Chief, India 1941; Commander-in-Chief, Middle East 1941-1942; Commander-in-Chief, India and War Member, Viceroy's Executive Council 1943-1947; Supreme Commander in India and Pakistan 1947

Papers
LIDDELL HART CENTRE FOR MILITARY ARCHIVES: The papers of FM Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke of Brookeborough, include official correspondence with Gen Auchinleck, relating to his commands in Norway, India and the Middle East 1940-1945; the papers of Reginald William Thompson, historian, include Maj Gen Eric Edward Dorman-O'Gowan's comments on Auchinleck 1960-1969; the papers of Gen Hastings Lionel Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay of Wormington, include personal correspondence with and about Auchinleck, 1941-1961, including correspondence with Maj Gen Robert John Collins about a proposed biography (ref: Ismay 4/Con/1-4); the papers of Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart include correspondence with Auchinleck 1948-1967 (144 items, ref: LH 1/30) ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION, LONDON: Draft biography of Maj Gen John Charles Campbell includes Auchinleck's written assessment of him (ref: MD/2130); BRITISH LIBRARY, ORIENTAL AND INDIA OFFICE COLLECTIONS, LONDON: Letters to Capt R A Newman 1968-1971 (ref: MSS Eur D 1196); CHURCHILL ARCHIVES CENTRE, CHURCHILL COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY: The papers of Edward Brian Seago include correspondence about painting 1957-1967 (ref: ESEA); IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, LONDON: The papers of Lt Gen Sir Thomas Riddell-Webster (ref: P29) include correspondence concerning India and the Far East 1943-1944; the papers of Maj Gen Ronald Frederick King Belchem (ref: 84/2/1) include a single letter from Auchinleck, Feb 1973; the papers of Lt Gen Sir Oliver William Hargreaves Leese (ref: Strong Rm), include four letters from Auchinleck 1944-1945, including comment on the welfare of Indian troops, and on recruitment in India; the papers of FM Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein and Hindhead, include Montgomery's notes on Auchinleck's removal of Lt Gen Sir Alan Cunningham from the command of 8 Army, North Africa, Nov 1941 (20pp, ref: BLM 54); a single letter from Auchinleck, Feb 1946 (ref: BLM 97/138); also correspondence and press cuttings 1958-1960, relating to Auchinleck and operations in North Africa, 1942, as described in The memoirs of Field Marshal the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG (Collins, London, 1958) (ref: BLM 56); Department of Sound Records holds a BBC sound recording (ref: SR 4902); JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY, MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY LIBRARY: Papers (20 folders), including correspondence, official papers and notes, mostly 1940-1947 (NRA list 25966); papers relating to Norway 1940; papers relating to Southern Command 1940; papers relating to India 1941; papers relating to Middle East Command 1941 #to 1943; papers relating to India 1943-1947; principal correspondents include FM Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke of Brookeborough, Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery, Sir Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, FM Sir John Greer Dill, Victor Alexander John Hope, 2nd Marquis of Linlithgow, Sir Neil Ritchie, FM Jan Christian Smuts and FM Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell; also series of dispatches and official accounts of military operations prepared by, or under the supervision of, Auchinleck; the papers of Maj Gen Eric Dorman-O'Gowan include correspondence 1958-1968 (NRA list 25976); MCMASTER UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, WILLIAM READY DIVISION OF ARCHIVAL AND RESEARCH COLLECTIONS, 1280 MAIN STREET W, HAMILTON L85 4L6, CANADA: Correspondence with Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, 1964-1965; NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM, LONDON: the papers of Auchinleck's private secretary, W R P Ridgeway, include material 1940-1947 (ref: 6305-49); including orders for the Narvik Campaign, Norway 1940; items relating to India 1941-1947; the papers of Gen Sir Alan Cunningham include correspondence 1940-1942 (ref: 8303-104-18, 19); the papers of Lt Gen George Noble Molesworth include correspondence 1943-1944 (ref: 6505/55); SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY LIBRARY: Papers of AF Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, include correspondence with Auchinleck relating to South East Asia Command and India 1944-1945 (ref: MB1/C136-143); Mountbatten papers include Auchinleck's reports as Commander-in-Chief, India 1943-1946 (ref: MB1/C316); Mountbatten papers include personal correspondence 1946-1947 (ref: MB1/E6); Mountbatten papers include correspondence relating to India 1947-1948 (ref: MB1/D106)

Publications
: John Connell, Auchinleck: a biography of Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck (Cassell, London, 1959); Maj Gen Sir Francis de Guingand, Generals at war includes a chapter on Auchinleck (Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1964); Roger Parkinson, The Auk: Auckinleck, victor at Alamein (Hart Davis MacGibbon, London, 1977)

Index terms
SUBJECTS strategy 1938-1942; politics 1943-1947; Allied co-operation 1943-1947; decolonisation 1947; Indian independence 1947
PLACES North Africa 1941-1942; Middle East 1941-1942; South Asia 1941; South Asia 1943-1947; Scandinavia 1940
NAMES

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