HOBBS, Brig Godfrey Pennington (1907-1985)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0099 KCLMA Hobbs, G P
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	: HOBBS, Brig Godfrey Pennington (1907-1985)
Date(s)	: 1928-1969
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 0.03 cubic metres (3 boxes)
Name of creator(s)	: Hobbs | Godfrey Pennington | 1907-1985 | Brigadier

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born, 1907; commissioned into the Northumberland Fusiliers, 1928; Lt, 1931; Aide de Camp to Gen Hon Sir (John) Francis Gathorne-Hardy, General Officer Commanding in Chief, Aldershot Command, 1933-1937; Capt, 1938; served in Palestine, 1938-1939; Adjutant, 1938-1941; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; General Staff Officer 3 (Operations), Headquarters, British Troops in Egypt, 1940-1941; General Staff Officer 2, Headquarters, British Troops in Egypt, 1941-1942; temporary Maj, 1941-1943; awarded MBE, 1942; acting Lt Col, 1942-1943; General Staff Officer 1, Headquarters, PAIFORCE (Persia and Iraq Force), 1942-1943; Chief Staff Officer, British Military Mission to the Polish Corps, and the British Military Mission to Greece, 1942-1947; War Substantive Maj, 1943; General Staff Officer 1 (Liaison), Headquarters, PAIFORCE (Persia and Iraq Force), 1943; General Staff Officer 1, General Headquarters, Middle East Land Forces, 1943-1944; temporary Lt Col, 1943-1945; Maj, 1945; General Staff Officer 1, British Liaison Officer, Greece, 1945; War Substantive Lt Col, 1945; Col (Allied Liaison Staff), General Headquarters, Middle East Land Forces, 1945-1947; temporary Col, 1945-1950; Col of Liaison, British Military Mission to Greece, 1947-1949; Deputy Director of Public Relations, War Office, 1950-1954; temporary Col, 1950-1954; Lt Col, 1952; awarded CBE, 1953; Col, 1954; Military Attaché, Athens, Greece, 1954-1957; Director of Public Relations, Ministry of Defence, 1957-1965; died, 1985.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers, 1928-1969, of Brig Godfrey Pennington Hobbs, comprising papers, 1928-1950 and undated, relating to his early service and career, including commission into the Northumberland Fusiliers, 1928, and letters of thanks and photographs recording his work in Greece and with Polish troops in the Middle East; papers, 1955-1960 and undated, relating to his service as Military Attache, Athens, Greece, including correspondence with Spiros Markezenis, leader of the Progressive Party, notes on the political and diplomatic situation in Greece, and correspondence relating to the conduct of public relations during the Suez campaign (1956); papers, 1957-1965, relating to his service as Director of Public Relations, Ministry of Defence, including correspondence on his acceptance of the post, retirement from the Army, invitations to functions, appointment of a successor and departure; personal papers, 1956-1969, including correspondence relating to The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers Comrades Association, 1959-1965, an edition of New Society, 23 Dec 1965, including an article on Nasser and the Arab world, a letter, 1969, from Admiral of the Fleet Earl Mountbatten of Burma thanking Hobbs for his comments on a television serial The Life and Times of Lord Mountbatten, and a letter, 1969, from the Rt Hon Julian Amery thanking Hobbs for his appreciation of Amery's articles on the Far Eastern situation.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

The papers are arranged chronologically within the following sections: papers relating to Hobbs' service in World War Two and subsequently in Greece; papers relating to Hobbs' service as Deputy Director of Public Relations, War Office, and as Military Attaché, Athens, Greece; papers relating to Hobbs' service as Director of Public Relations, Ministry of Defence; personal papers.

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:

Collection level description available in reading room at Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives and online at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma; detailed catalogue available in hard copy in the reading room.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Placed in the Centre by Hobbs' family in 1986.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Iain Mutch; revised by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Aug 1999, Mar 2001