Key Information
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1918-1982 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent
2 boxes, 1 microfilm
Scope and content
Papers of Brig George Mark Oswald Davy, 1918-1982, relating chiefly to Davy's service 1940-1947, including; copy of The Times , 11 Nov 1918; article written at Royal Naval Staff College, 'Some lessons of naval strategy in the Great War and their possible application to a future war with Germany', Jul 1939; papers relating to Maj Gen Sir Richard Granville Hylton Howard-Vyse's Mission to French Gen Maurice Gustave Gamelin, France, 1939-1940, including photocopy of a report on the Maginot Line, France, Dec 1939, drafted by Davy and signed by Maj Gen HRH Prince Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, Duke of Windsor, correspondence, 1974-1981, concerning the Duke of Windsor and his role in the British Military Mission, 1939; reports and correspondence, 1940-1982, relating to the British Military Mission to Belgium, led by Davy, 1940; diary of the evacuation of the British Military Mission to Belgium, May 1940; memorandum to 7 Armoured Bde by Davy, 16 Nov 1941, shortly before the battle of Sidi Rezegh; recollection of Maj Gen John Charles ('Jock') Campbell, VC [1942]; official and semi-official correspondence received by Davy as Commander of Land Forces Adriatic, 1944-1945; report and correspondence concerning Brig (later Maj Gen) Thomas Bell Lindsay Churchill and his role in operations at Sarande, Albania, Sep-Oct 1944; correspondence, 1947-1953, relating to Davy's retirement, 1947; curriculum vitae, 1918-1947; supplement to The London Gazette, Mar 1948, concerning operations in Burma, 1941-1942; supplement to The London Gazette, Jun 1950, concerning Allied Armies in Italy, 1943-1944; correspondence relating to meetings of the Military Commentators' Circle, 1954-1955; speeches in support of the Conservative Party, 1955 and 1979; correspondence with (Archibald) David Stirling and Maj Gen Sir Robert Edward Laycock concerning a Sunday Times article by Len Deighton, 1967 about David Stirling and 1 Special Air Services (SAS) Bde, Tobruk, Sep 1942, and subsequent apology by the Sunday Times. Obituaries and appreciations of colleagues, 1962-1979, including Maj Gen Sir Richard Granville Hylton Howard-Vyse, Polish Gen Wladyslaw Anders, Brig Ronald John Frederick Tod, Polish Gen Stanislaw Kopanski, and Brig the Rt Hon Sir Eric Sachs. Correspondence, 1967-1982, concerning Davy's World War Two service, 1940-1945. Manuscript memoirs [nd] relating to Davy's service in India and the UK, 1923-1939. Microfilm of typescript extract from his memoirs relating to his World War Two service 1939-1944.
System of arrangement
One reel of microfilm and two boxes of papers. The latter are arranged chronologically
General Information
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born, 1898; educated at Charterhouse and Royal Military Academy; commissioned, Royal Field Artillery (RFA), 1918; service on Western Front, World War One 1918; Prisoner of War, 1918; Gunnery course, School of Gunnery, Shoeburyness, 1919; service in 130 Bde, RFA, 28 Div, Anatolia, 1919-1920; service with RFA, India, 1920; transferred to 3 King's Own Hussars, India 1931; Staff College course, Camberley, 1932-1933; Bde Maj, 150 Bde, 1935-1936; Company Commander, Royal Military College Sandhurst, 1937-1938; Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich, 1939; Chief Staff Officer, British Mission to French Gen Maurice Gustave Gamelin, Paris, France, led by Maj Gen Sir Richard Granville Hylton Howard-Vyse, 1939-1940; Head of War Office Mission to King Leopold, Belgium, May 1940; Second in Command, 3 Hussars, 7 Armoured Bde, Western Desert, 1940-1941; General Staff Officer Grade 1, British Troops Headquarters, Greece, for evacuation of British forces from Greece, April 1941; commanded 3 Armoured Bde, Tobruk, Libya May-Jul 1941; General Officer Commanding 7 Armoured Bde, 7 Armoured Div, Western Desert Jul-Dec, 1941; Director of Military Operations, Middle East General Headquarters, 1942-1944; commanded Land Forces Adriatic, southern Italy, 1944-1945; retired from Army, 1948; became professional painter and sculptor; recommissioned for special duties, Middle East, 1956; retired from Army again, 1959; died, 1983.
Repository
Custodial history
Presented to the Centre by Brigadier Davy's executors, 1984. Copy microfilm purchased from Imperial War Museum, 1984.
Conditions governing access
Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification, to include one photographic ID.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied from open material for research purposes only.
Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, via the Archives.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Finding aids
This collection level description.
Existence and location of originals
Please note: We require 7 days notice to retrieve this collection as part, or all of it, is held off-campus. Read more ›
Existence and location of copies
Department of Documents, Imperial War Museum, also holds a microfilm copy of typescript extracts from Davy's memoirs relating to his World War Two service, 1939-1944 (ref: pp/mcr/143).
Alternative identifier(s)
Subjects
Place access points
People and Organisations
Genre access points
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000.
Script(s)
Archivist's note
Compiled by Kate O'Brien