DE GUINGAND, Maj Gen Sir Francis (1900-1979)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0099 KCLMA De Guingand
Held at	: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.kingscollections.org/catalogues/lhcma ›
Full title	: DE GUINGAND, Maj Gen Sir Francis (1900-1979)
Date(s)	: Created 1942-1946
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 2 boxes or 0.02 cubic metres
Name of creator(s)	:
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born in 1900; educated at Ampleforth School and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; joined West Yorkshire Regt, 1919; seconded to King's African Rifles, 1926-1931; Officer Commanding Troops, Nyasaland, 1930-1931; Adjutant, 1 Battalion West Yorkshire Regt, 1932-1934; Staff College, Camberley, 1935-1936; Military Assistant to the Secretary of State for War, 1939-1940; Director of Military Intelligence, Middle East, 1942; Chief of Staff, 8 Army, 1942-1944; Chief of Staff, 21 Army Group, 1944-1945; retired pay, 1947; publication of Operation Victory (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1947); African Assignment (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1953); Generals at War (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1953); From Brass Hat to Bowler Hat: Sir Francis de Guingand (Hamilton, London, 1979); died in 1979.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers relating to 8 Army operations in Western Desert and Battle of El Alamein, 1941-1942, in particular Operations LIGHTFOOT, SUPERCHARGE and GRAPESHOT, including maps, memoranda and plans; 21 Army Group, Operation OVERLORD, 1944 including notes of operations, Jun 1944-May 1945; report on Operation BLACKCOCK, attack by 12 Corps at Roermond, Jan 1945; surrender by German forces, May 1945 including plans for administration of enemy territory and troops. Excerpts from German wireless messages, 1941-1943. Printed material, including messages from Montgomery, General Officer Commanding 8 Army, Nov 1942-Jan 1944 and as Commander-in- Chief, 21 Army Group, Jun 1944-Aug 1945; personal messages from Supreme Commander, SHAEF, 1944; handbooks and pamphlets, Dec 1942-Dec 1944; limited circulation newspapers, 1943 and 1945, including 'Eighth Army News'; operational reports, 1945, including 79 Armoured Division, 21 Army Group and Allied Expeditionary Force.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Arranged chronologically in sections reflecting military service with 8 Army and 21 Army Group; German wireless messages and printed material are grouped separately.

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.

Finding aids:

Detailed catalogue available on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm, and in hard copy in the Centre's reading room.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Presented to the centre by De Guingand in 1972.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Section 1/339 of the papers of Capt Sir Basil Liddell Hart consists of correspondence with De Guingand, 1946-1958; newspaper clippings in the Liddell Hart collection on British and Canadian wartime Commanders, including De Guingand are in LH section 15; correspondence between De Guingand and Liddell Hart relating to The Rommel papers, edited by Liddell Hart (Ref:LH 9/24/30); typescript copy of note on pill boxes in France, from Army Council meeting, 20 Nov 1939, by Maj Gen Francis Wilfred De Guingand (Ref: LH 15/4/11); the papers of Gen Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor include a letter from De Guingand discussing the role in the intervention in Greece in World War Two of FM Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell (Ref: O'Connor 4/4/6); the papers of FM Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke's, include correspondence with De Guingand, relating to the future organisation of the Control Commission (Ref: Alanbrooke 6/2/38).

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:

Date(s) of descriptions:
Jun 1996