SPOONER, Megan (1898-1987)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0099 KCLMA Spooner
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	: SPOONER, Megan (1898-1987)
Date(s)	: Created 1941-[1959]
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 0.5 box or 0.005 cubic metres
Name of creator(s)	:

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born Megan Foster in 1898; noted soprano; married Cdr Ernest John Spooner, 1926; accompanied him to his final posting in Singapore as R Adm, Malaya, 1941-1942; evacuated immediately prior to the fall of Singapore, 1942; died in 1987.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers relating to her life in Singapore, 1941-1942, dated 1941-[1959], principally comprising diaries and personal letters describing her voyage to Malaya, 1941, and life in Singapore, 1941-1942; press cuttings, 1942, 1945-1946, relating to R Adm Ernest John Spooner's appointment as R Adm Malaya, 1942, and to his death on the island of Chibia (Tjibia, Tjebia) following his escape from Singapore, 1942; photographs, 1940, 1946, notably of Capt Sir David Bone and his search party on Chibia during their search for R Adm Spooner, 1946; correspondence relating to Megan Spooner's claim for war damages, 1945-1947. Also an account, 'Fall of Singapore and the Dutch East Indies and defence of Ceylon' by Capt Andrew Nichol Grey, RN, detailing his experiences on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Far East, ACM Sir (Henry) Robert (Moore) Brooke-Popham and subsequently Gen Sir Henry Royds Pownall, from early 1941 to Feb 1942, written [1946].

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

The papers are arranged in the following sections: diaries and narrative accounts; correspondence; photographs; press cuttings; other 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 provided 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 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 1989, 1991 and 2001.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Royal Naval Museum, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, holds two journals kept by Midshipman Ernest John Spooner during his service on HMS GOLIATH and HMS HIBERNIA.

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:

Date(s) of descriptions:
Apr 1997