The story of
The loss of SS Arandora Star
In July 1940 the Arandora Star was torpedoed by a German submarine. More than 800 people were killed, many of them Italian civilians being deported to Canada.
Series
Personal papers of Major Christopher Ronald Spear, Military Attaché to the British...
Catalogue reference: FO 1121
What's it about?
FO 1121
This series contains records created during Major Christopher Ronald Spears’ detention and subsequent release while work as Military Attaché to the British Embassy in China. The records contains correspondence exchanged between Spears and the...
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
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FO 1121
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Title (The name of the record)
- Personal papers of Major Christopher Ronald Spear, Military Attaché to the British Embassy, China 1939
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Date (When the record was created)
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1939
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Description (What the record is about)
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This series contains records created during Major Christopher Ronald Spears’ detention and subsequent release while work as Military Attaché to the British Embassy in China. The records contains correspondence exchanged between Spears and the British Embassy in China during the detention of Spears by the Japanese, a timeline of events, report on Spears’ travels before the detention, Report of Spears’ detention, personal notebook, press cuttings covering the detention and subsequent release, maps illustrating Spears' journey.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
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Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
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English
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
- Foreign Office, 1782-1968
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
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7 file(s)
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Access conditions (Information on conditions that restrict or affect access to the record)
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Open unless otherwise stated
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Immediate source of acquisition (When and where the record was acquired from)
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From 2021 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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Custodial history (Describes where and how the record has been held from creation to transfer to The National Archives)
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These records have been in the custody of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office since May 2017. Previous to that they were part of the private collection of Charles Aldington. Lord Aldington considers this collection to be public records and has therefore handed them to the FCO for appraisal and transfer because of their public record status.
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Accumulation dates (The dates the record was accumulated)
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1939
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Accruals (Indicates whether the archive expects to receive further records in future)
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The series is accruing
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Administrative / biographical background (Historical or biographical information about the creator of the record and the context of its creation)
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Christopher Ronald Spears was a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army when in 1939 he was appointed as the Military Attaché to the British Embassy in Beijing. Between 31st January and 19th May 1939 Spears travelled between Yennan to Hsia Hua Yuan in China. In Hsia Hua Yuan he met Lieutenant Cooper and the two men were taken to the Japanese Embassy in Kalgan. Cooper was released a matter of days after first being detained. The records include an account of Spears' four months detention by the Japanese. During this period China and Japan were two years into the Second Sino-Japanese War. At this time Japan ruled many of the large cities in Eastern China, while they lacked sufficient manpower to control China's vast countryside. Spears was released from his detention only days after the declaration of war between the United Kingdom and Germany which marked the beginning of the Second World War. Spears was killed in action in 1942 at the Burmese border.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C16954561/
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
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Within the department: FO
Records created or inherited by the Foreign Office
You are currently looking at the series: FO 1121
Personal papers of Major Christopher Ronald Spear, Military Attaché to the British Embassy, China 1939
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