Focus on
Olga Gray and the Woolwich Arsenal Spy Ring
In 1938, thanks to years of work by a remarkable female agent, MI5 ensured a package of British defence plans stayed secret.
Series
Ministry of Defence: Major Committees: Registered Files
Catalogue reference: DEFE 27
What's it about?
DEFE 27
This series was created for registered files of major Ministry of Defence committees, although only the Headquarters Organisation committee and its Defence Intelligence Staff subcommittee is currently represented.
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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DEFE 27
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Title (The name of the record)
- Ministry of Defence: Major Committees: Registered Files
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Date (When the record was created)
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1900-1990
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Description (What the record is about)
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This series was created for registered files of major Ministry of Defence committees, although only the Headquarters Organisation committee and its Defence Intelligence Staff subcommittee is currently represented.
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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)
- Ministry of Defence, Headquarters Organisation Committee, 1969-1974
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
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74 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 2000 Ministry of Defence
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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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Accruals (Indicates whether the archive expects to receive further records in future)
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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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The Headquarters Organisation committee under the chairmanship of the Permanent Under Secretary of State was set up in July 1969 to examine the size and shape of the Ministry of Defence and its relationship with Command Headquarters.
It was particularly concerned with improving management and making staff economies by delegating work to Commands, thereby transferring work to the provinces and reducing the number of service and civilian posts in London (a policy known as "rustification"). It set up a number of subcommittees to examine particular areas of work, for example, one reviewed the work of the intelligence staffs in the light of defence policy and intelligence requirements, reporting to the main committee in 1971.
The work of the committee was overtaken by the change of government and the Defence Review in 1974.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C5785/
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
68,016 records
Within the department: DEFE
Records of the Ministry of Defence
You are currently looking at the series: DEFE 27
Ministry of Defence: Major Committees: Registered Files
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