COURTNEY, Cdr Anthony Tosswill, RN (1908-1988)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0099 KCLMA Courtney
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	: COURTNEY, Cdr Anthony Tosswill, RN (1908-1988)
Date(s)	: 1922-1985, 1991
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 1 box or 0.01 cubic metres
Name of creator(s)	: Courtney | Anthony Tosswill | 1908-1988 | RN Commander

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born 1908; educated at Royal Naval College, Dartmouth; Mid, HMS RAMILLIES, 1925; served on HMS RENOWN during world cruise of HRH Albert Frederick Arthur George, Duke of York, and HRH Elizabeth Angela Marguerite, Duchess of York, 1927; Sub Lt, HMS CORNWALL, China Station, 1930; Lt, 1930; served on HMS MALAYA, 2 Battle Sqn, Home Fleet, 1931-1933; qualified as Interpreter in Russian after language study in Bessarabia, 1934; qualified in Signals and Wireless Telegraphy, HM Signal School, Portsmouth, 1935; served at Admiralty and on the staff of V Adm Hon Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, 1936; Flag Lt and subsequently Flag Lt Cdr to R Adm Lionel Victor Wells, Flag Officer commanding 3 Cruiser Sqn, Mediterranean Fleet, HMS ARETHUSA, 1937-1939; acting Sqn Signals and Wireless/Telegraphy Officer, 3 Cruiser Sqn, Mediterranean Fleet, 1937-1939; Lt Cdr, 1938; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; Staff of Adm commanding 3 Battle Sqn and North Atlantic Escort Force, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1939-1941; Deputy Head of Naval Mission to USSR, 1941-1942; Flag Lt and Signals Officer to R Adm Sir Clement Moody, Flag Officer commanding Aircraft Carriers, Home Fleet, 1943; Signals Officer, Staff of V Adm Sir (William Eric) Campbell Tait, Flag Officer commanding South Atlantic Station, 1944; Signals Officer, Staff of R Adm Sir Harold Martin Burrough, Flag Officer, Gibraltar and Mediterranean Approaches, 1945; Naval and Marine Staff, Naval Intelligence Division, Admiralty, 1946-1948; acting Cdr, 1946-1953; awarded OBE, 1949; Chief Staff Officer (Intelligence), to R Adm Stephen Harry Tolson Arliss, Flag Officer Commanding British Naval Forces, Germany, and Chief British Naval Representative in the Allied Control Commission, HMS ROYAL ALBERT, Hamburg, Germany, 1949-1951; qualified as Interpreter in German; Intelligence Div, Naval Staff, Admiralty, 1952-1953; retired 1953; Export Consultant, ETG Consultancy Services, 1954-1965; contested Hayes and Harlington as Conservative Party candidate, UK General Election, 1955; Conservative MP for Harrow East, 1959-1966; Vice Chairman, Conservative Navy Committee, 1964; Chairman, Parliamentary Flying Club, 1965; Managing Director, New English Typewriting School Limited, 1969-1988; Chairman, Wiltshire Monday Club, 1977; Chairman of Governors, Urchfont School, 1982-1988; died 1988.Publications: Sailor in a Russian frame (Johnson, London, 1968).

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Typescript intelligence report by Courtney entitled 'Remarks on a visit to Soviet Russia-August 1935', with notes, publications and related correspondence, 1922-1936; group photograph of Courtney and officers of the Naval Mission to the USSR [1942]; two notebooks with manuscript notes by Courtney on German and Allied ship movements, USSR [1942]; papers relating to the USSR, 1943-1978, including typescript notes by Courtney entitled 'Soviet Russia and the war', Feb 1943, article by William Laurence Burn entitled 'Anglo-Russian relations: an historical retrospect', from The nineteenth century, Jan 1946; edition of US restricted publication 'The Soviet Union', US Government Printing Office, 1947; manuscript notes on Soviet governmental personnel, 1953; typescript note on internal security in the USSR, 1978; correspondence with the Admiralty, 1949-1958, relating to pay and allowances, Courtney's civilian business matters, 1954-1958, and the Admiralty's refusal to grant permission for Courtney to travel in the USSR as a private businessman, 1953-1955; personal and business correspondence relating to the development of Windermere Island, Bahamas, 1963; correspondence, publications and texts of speeches relating to the Monday Club, 1978-1985, including typescript text of speech by Courtney entitled 'The Soviet fifth column', Jun 1978; correspondence between Cdr Geoffrey Briscoe Penn and the Ministry of Defence relating to the vetting and declassification of the Courtney papers, 1991.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

5 files

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:

Summary guide 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 Cdr Geoffrey Briscoe Penn in 1997.

Allied Materials

Related material:

The papers of Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart include an article by Courtney entitled 'Ships of the Soviet' from The Listener, 15 Oct 1953 (Ref: LH 15/5/322). The papers of AVM Stewart William Blacker Menaul include a paper by Courtney, Chairman of the Wiltshire branch of the Monday Club, entitled 'Defence', Jun 1982 (Ref: Menaul 5/4/60).

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:

Date(s) of descriptions:
Jan 1999