Captain A V S Yates MVO RN CEng FIEE

Interesting ts transcription of his 73 letters (224pp) written monthly by a retired naval officer, who had been recalled at the beginning of the war to serve in the Operations Room at the Admiralty until December 1940 when he was transferred to the Signal School at Portsmouth, to an American friend and business colleague, who worked for the Sperry Gyroscope Company of New York manufacturing navigational equipment for the Royal Navy, recording the progress of the war at sea, September 1939 - August 1945; commenting on naval affairs and losses; the loss of the ROYAL OAK; German methods of war, politics; the Russo-Finnish War; the strain on officers; rivalry between the RAF and the Navy; the evacuation from Dunkirk; the role of the destroyer; air raids on London; the U-boat menace; the fall of Crete; America's neutrality and eventual entry into the war; the Home Front; the Far East; Dieppe; North Africa; Battle of the Atlantic; strategic bombing offensive; the Bismarck; the Tirpitz; V-weapons; the atom bomb; relations with the Americans and the Russians; and mentioning Sir Winston Churchill; General D D Eisenhower; Admiral Lord Mountbatten; Rear Admiral R St V Sherbrooke VC RN; Sir Robert Watson Watt; and Lord Woolton. Also included are 19 letters (43pp) from his American friend, October 1939 - October 1945, commenting on the Battle of the River Plate; technical research; German intelligence; American admiration for the Royal Navy; and American industry, and a photocopy of an undated ts article (2pp) concerning the survival at sea of the Chinese second steward of the M/V BENLOMOND in 1942

Unrestricted

This collection consists of typed copies of the letters written approximately monthly by Commander Yates (as he then was) to Reginald E Gillmor during the war, and of a number of Gillmor's original typed replies. Mr Gillmor worked for the Sperry Gyroscope Company of New York, with whose British subsidiary Yates was connected before (and after) the war. The company manufactured navigational equipment which was used by the Royal Navy. Yates, a retired officer, was called up at the beginning of the war and served in the Operations Room at the Admiralty until December 1940 when he was transferred to the Signal School at Portsmouth. The typed copies of Yates' letters were produced, at the writer's request, by Mr Gillmor's secretary and were returned to him with Gillmor's own letters, which are far less regular.