PENNEY, Maj Gen Sir (William) Ronald Campbell (1896-1964)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0099 KCLMA Penney
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	: PENNEY, Maj Gen Sir (William) Ronald Campbell (1896-1964)
Date(s)	: Created 1920-1962
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 3 boxes or 0.03 cubic metres
Name of creator(s)	:
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born in 1896; attended Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; commissioned into Royal Engineers, 1914; served in World War One in France and Belgium; Capt, 1917; transferred to Royal Signals, 1921; served in India, 1921-1926; Maj, 1927; Staff College, Camberley, 1928; War Office, 1929-1930; Bde Maj, Shanghai, 1931-1933; Lt Col, 1935; India, 1935-1939; North West Frontier, India, 1937; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; Col, 1939; Maj Gen, 1941; Signal Officer in Chief, Middle East, 1941-1943; commanded 1 Infantry Div, Italy, 1943-1944; Director of Intelligence, HQ Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, 1944-1945; Assistant Controller of Supplies (Munitions), Ministry of Supply, 1946-1949; Col Commandant, Royal Signals, 1947-1957; employed in London Communications Security Agency, Foreign Office, 1953-1957; died in 1964.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers relating to his command of 1 Infantry Div, Anzio, Italy, 1944, dated 1943-1962, principally comprising correspondence and memoranda, 1943-1944; diary and typescript diary entries, 1943-1944; operation orders, tactical notes and maps, 1944; written accounts of operations carried out by 1 Div and individual regiments and battalions, 1944; correspondence relating to historical accounts of the landings, 1945-1962, notably Anzio by Wynford Vaughan Thomas (Longmans, London, 1961). Other papers relating to his life and career, 1920-1958, notably including an article by Penney on his service in Wazaristan, India, 1937, reprinted from the Royal Signals Quarterly Journal, Oct 1938 and Jan 1939; memoranda from General Staff, Shanghai, from the City Government of Shanghai and from W R Connor Green, British Embassy, Tokyo, concerning relations between the Chinese and Japanese, and the role of the British garrison in the protection of Shanghai, 1931-1933; diary, 1932, referring principally to matters affecting British troops in Shanghai; press cuttings, [1932]; anti-Japanese propaganda posters produced by the Shanghai Municipality National Salvation Committee to Resist Japan, [1932]; itinerary of Penney's movements in the Middle East and North Africa, 1941-1943; diary, 1943-1944, including description of Allied Forces HQ, Algiers, and reflections on the differences between US and British signals procedure; official and personal correspondence relating to his service as Director of Intelligence, HQ Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, [1945].

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
Mainly English, but some Chinese

System of arrangement:

Arranged in sections as follows: miscellaneous personal papers; Bde Maj, Shanghai; Mediterranean and Middle East; Director of Intelligence, HQ Supreme Allied Commander; papers relating to Anzio landing.

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 and also in hard copy in the Centre's reading room.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Placed in the Centre by the family in 1968.

Allied Materials

Related material:

The papers of Capt Basil Liddell- Hart contain correspondence between Maj Gen (William) Ronald Penney, HQ 8 Army and Maj Gen William Watson Richards, Deputy Quartermaster General (Army Equipment), GHQ, Middle Eastern Forces, on difficulties in distribution of ordnance stores to 8 Army, May 1942 (Liddell-Hart, 15/10/4 1939-1943). Royal Signals Museum holds additional papers relating to his career.

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:

Date(s) of descriptions:
Mar 1997