Encyclopedia > Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
The Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives (LHCMA) at King's College London was set up in 1964. The Centre holds the private papers of over 500 senior British defence personnel who held office since 1900. Individual collections range in size from a single file to the 1000 boxes of Capt Sir Basil Liddell Hart's papers. To these are now being added research materials, notably interview transcripts, collected in connection with television documentaries and academic projects.
The scope of the holdings is vast, from high level defence policy and strategic planning as, for example, in the papers of FM Viscount Alanbrooke and General Lord Ismay down to the command of individual units in the field. The Boer War is strongly represented and subsequently almost every major campaign in which British troops have fought, including the Korean and Falklands Wars and the Gulf Crisis; the latter two are covered by contemporary interview transcripts.
Many significant collections reflect the revolution in weapon technology in the 20th Century and the re-evaluation of tactics and strategy which necessarily followed on from the invention of the tank and the development of air power. There is also much on the debate over nuclear issues.
The Centre's web site hosts the Location Register of Twentieth Century Defence Personnel, a database of all British defence personnel who achieved the ranks above and including Major General, Air Vice Marshal and Rear Admiral as well as their opposite numbers in the civil service between the years 1800-1975.
The archives are open to readers able to demonstrate the seriousness of their interest in the papers. Military studies have been taught at King's College since 1927 and in 1953 a department of War Studies, the only university department of its kind in Great Britain, was established.
External links
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/home.htm)
Location Register of Twentieth Century Defence Personnel (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/misc/locreg.htm)
King's College London Department of War Studies (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/wsg/)
Sir Basil Henry LiddellHart (31 October 1895–29 January 1970), usually known before his knighthood as Captain B. LiddellHart, was an English military historian who is considered to have greatly influenced the development of armoured warfare in the 20th century, and strategic theory.
Paradoxically, LiddellHart saw theories similar to or even developed from his own adopted by Germany and used against the United Kingdom and its allies during World War II with the practice of Blitzkrieg.Liddell Hart was born in Paris to a Jewish family and educated at Cambridge University.
His continued use of his rank angered the military establishment, since it was considered bad form for an officer junior to Major to continue to use his rank in civilian life.
Basil Henry LiddellHart ( October 31, 1895 - January 29, 1970) was a military historian and is considered to have greatly influenced the development of armoured warfare in the 20th century.
LiddellHart served as an officer in the British Army during World War I, where he witnessed the horrors and poor leadership.
LiddellHart's personal library is now ensconced within the LiddellHartCentre for MilitaryArchives at King's College London.
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