IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0099 KCLMA West
Held at: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London
Title: WEST, Lance Corporal Victor (1919-2002)
Date(s): 1941-1999
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 2 boxes
Name of creator(s): West | Victor | 1919-2002 | Lance Corporal
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Born, 1919; 1 Rangers King's Royal Rifle Corps; served Crete 1941; Prisoner of War, Germany, escaped Apr 1945. Publications: Part 2 orders: WWII poems (Salamandar Imprint, London, 1999); The horses of Falaise: poems on the experiences of a fighting soldier in World War II (Salamandar Imprint, London, 1975).
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Wartime diaries, typescript correspondence, memoirs and poetry by Victor West, concerning the campaign in Greece, Crete and as a prisoner of war during World War Two, with recent poetry, 1941-1999; notably including a bound typescript memoir, 'The loss of Creforce Reserve: "The side show"', written 1981, including list of officers and other ranks of 9 Bn, King's Royal Rifle Corps, killed in Greece and Crete, 1941, and a copy article, 'The Rangers in Greece and Crete: a story of devotion and toil', printed 1941 in the house magazine of the Gas Light & Coke Ltd; 3 volume bound typescript memoir, 'Wash me in the water: a personal account of the first Greek campaign, 1941. The battle for Crete, including the story of the loss of Creforce Reserve', written 1983; bound typescript 1941 personal war diary, a transcription of West's original diary; bound typescript copy letters to West from a Spanish fellow POW, Sgt Basilio Marin, 1944-1945 and photocopy typescript and manuscript notes (untitled) on the Crete campaign, 1941; bound typescript 'We from Crete: Pep talks in Stalag 383', written 1982, relating to life in a POW camp (first and second drafts); bound typescript, 'Escape involuntary (we couldn't help it)', recounting West's escape from a POW camp, Germany, Apr 1945; Victor West, The horses of Falaise: poems on the experiences of a fighting soldier in World War II (Salamandar Imprint, London, 1975), bound photocopy; Victor West, Part 2 orders: WWII poems (Salamandar Imprint, London, 1999), bound photocopy; notes on West's career and on the history of 1 Rangers, King's Royal Rifle Corps; copy correspondence and illustrations relating to a painting by West presented to Winston Churchill, 1955.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Components are boxed in the order as described above.
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 available on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm, and in hard copy in the Centre's reading room.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
The collection was accumulated by Victor West during the course of his wartime career and subsequently. Some microfilm copies have been taken by the Department of Documents, Imperial War Museum.
Immediate source of acquisition:
Given by the author to the Centre in 1999.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Many of the contents of this collection are typescript copies of originals that may have been retained by the author.
Existence and location of copies:
The 3 volume memoir, 'Wash me in the water', the copy 1941 diary and first draft version of 'We from Crete' have all been microfilmed by the Department of Documents, Imperial War Museum, according to their title pages.
Related material:
The Centre holds a number of collections relating to Crete during World War Two, notably those of Sidney Armstrong; Anthony Beevor; Harold Charrington; Julian Dobrski; Samuel Griffith; Charles Hamson; Reginald Madoc; Christopher Woodhouse.
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Entry compiled by Geoff Browell for the RSLP AIM25 Project.
Date(s) of descriptions: April 2003