IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0099 KCLMA Purdon
Held at: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London
Title: PURDON, Maj Gen Corran William Brooke (b 1921)
Date(s): Created 1993
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 1 volume
Name of creator(s):
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Born in 1921; educated at Campbell BorneoCollege, Belfast and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; 2nd Lt, Royal Ulster Rifles, 1939; served with Army Commandos in raids on Norway and France, 1940-1942; POW, Germany, 1942-1945; 1 Bn, Royal Ulster Rifles, Palestine, 1945-1946; GHQ Middle East Land Forces, 1949-1951; on Staff, Malayan Emergency, 1956-1958; Company Commander, 1 Royal Ulster Rifles, Cyprus Emergency, 1958; Commanding Officer, 1 Bn, Royal Ulster Rifles, British Army of the Rhine, 1962-1963, and Borneo, 1963-1964; General Staff Officer Grade 1 and Chief Instructor, School of Infantry, Warminster, 1965-1967; Commander, Sultan's Armed Forces, Oman, and Director of Operations, Dhofar War, 1967-1970; Commandant, School of Infantry, Warminster, 1970-1972; Small Arms School Corps, 1970-1972; General Officer Commanding North West District, 1972-1974; General Officer Commanding, Near East Land Forces, 1974-1976; retired, 1976; publication of List the bugle, reminiscences of an Irish soldier (Greystone, Antrim, 1993).
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
List the bugle, reminiscences of an Irish soldier (Greystone, Antrim, 1993), a memoir of his life and career, 1921-1976, notably his service in the UK and France, 1942, including the Allied raid on St Nazaire,1942, his experiences as a POW, Germany, 1942-1945, his service in Palestine, 1945-1946, Egypt, 1949-1951, Malaya, 1956-1958, and Cyprus, 1958, and his command of the 1 Bn, Royal Ulster Rifles, Borneo, 1963-1964, and of the Sultan's Armed Forces, Oman, 1967-1970.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
single item
Conditions governing access:
Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.
Conditions governing reproduction:
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 Director of Archive Services.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Summary guide entry on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Presented to the Centre by Purdon in 1996.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
The Centre also holds the diary of Purdon's cousin, Lt Col Richard Gittins Wall, covering Wall's service as a beach landing officer in Normandy, Jun 1944-Sep 1944 (Ref: GB99 KCLMA Wall).
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Decorations: CBE, MC, CPM
Date(s) of descriptions: Feb 1997