ELLIOT, ACM Sir William (1896-1971)

Elliot

ELLIOT, ACM Sir William (1896-1971)

[1914]-1971

Papers relating to his life and career, [1914]-1971, principally comprising flying log book, 1928-1940; papers relating to his work as Assistant Secretary to Committee of Imperial Defence and War Cabinet, 1939-1941, notably including memoranda to Maj Gen Hastings Lionel Ismay, 1939-1940; papers relating to his service as Air Officer Commanding Balkan Air Force, 1944-1945, dated 1946, 1963, 1966, 1970-1971, notably including an account of the work of the British Military Mission to Yugoslav partisans by Sir Fitzroy Hew Maclean of Dunconnel, 1st Bt, 1971; correspondence and other papers relating to NATO, 1950, 1955, 1967, Army League, 1955-1957, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1957, 1958, 1960-1970, English Speaking Union, 1961, 1963, Atlantic Round Table Conference, 1957, and the Brighton Conference Association, 1957. Printed and typescript book reviews and texts of lectures and speeches given by Elliot, mainly concerning international relations, 1924, 1939, 1946, 1950-1966; correspondence and related papers, 1937-1940, 1950-1953, 1957-1971, notably including correspondence with Dean Acheson, 1961-1970, Gen (Walter) Bedell Smith, 1959-1961, Lady (Helen) Violet Bonham-Carter, 1962-1968, Ismay, 1959-1970, Gen Sir Henry Cholmondeley Jackson, 1961-1971, Gen Karel Janousek, 1968, and Capt Stephen Wentworth Roskill, 1966-1970; photographs, [1914-1960], notably relating to service in South Russia, 1919, as Air Officer Commanding RAF Gibraltar, 1944, with Balkan Air Force, 1944-1945 and as Commander-in-Chief, Fighter Command, 1948-1949, including aerial photographs of RAF actions over Yugoslavia, 1944-1945.

Very few papers remain concerning his R.A.F. and Cabinet appointments (½ & photographs 8/1 - 8/3) and the majority of the papers are from the post-war period and after his retirement from military service. During his career he made a wide circle of friends, particularly in the United States, and the surviving correspondence reflects these contacts. Although many of the series of letters are clearly incomplete, some (e.g 4/4 Ismay; 4/5 Jackson) contain interesting retrospective comments on events and personalities during the Second World War and much of it gives an interesting sidelight on Anglo-American relations and exchanges and post-war defence and political viewpoints.

Arranged in sections as follows: papers and memoranda; articles and speeches by Elliot; articles by others; named correspondence files; personal correspondence; family correspondence; miscellaneous; photographs.

Section 1 Papers and Memoranda

Elliot 1/1 1928-40 Flying Log Book

Elliot 1/2 1939-41 War Cabinet Papers

Elliot 1/3 1946-70 Balkan Air Force

Elliot 1/4 1950-67 Miscellaneous re International Affairs

Elliot 1/5 1955-57 Army League

Elliot 1/6 1957-70 Royal Institute of International Affairs

Elliot 1/7 1957 Atlantic Round Table Conference

Elliot 1/8 1957 Brighton Conference Association

Elliot 1/9 1961-1963 English Speaking Union

Section 2 Articles and Speeches by Elliot

Elliot 2/1 1950 "Reflections"

Elliot 2/2 1951-1954 Speeches and lectures delivered in USA

Elliot 2/3 1954 Speech in New York

Elliot 2/4 1954 Speeches, and correspondence, from visit of HM Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mother to

Elliot 2/5 1954-57 Chatham House Speeches

Elliot 2/6 1956 Various lectures

Elliot 2/7 1957-58 Reviews

Elliot 2/8 1957-58 Miscellaneous addresses

Elliot 2/9 1960-61 Various drafts and notes

Section 3 Articles etc. by others

Elliot 3/1 1940-1969 Copies of articles, speeches, press releases, press cuttings by other people

Section 4 Named Correspondence Files

Elliot 4/1 1961-1970 The Honourable Dean Acheson

Elliot 4/2 1959-1961 General Walter Bedell Smith

Elliot 4/3 1962-1968 Lady Violet Bonham Carter

Elliot 4/4 1959-1970 Lord (and Lady) Ismay

Elliot 4/5 1961-1971 General Sir Henry Jackson

Elliot 4/6 1968 General (Air Chief Marshal Sir) Karel Janousek

Elliot 4/7 1966-1970 Captain Stephen Roskill

Elliot 4/8 1961-1964 Royal Correspondence

Section 5

Personal Correspondence

Elliot 5/1 1949-70 General Correspondence

Elliot 5/2 1961 Correspondence A-Z

Elliot 5/3 1955-1970 Unidentified - General

Elliot 5/4 1960-1970 Private Files

Elliot 5/5 1954-1971 Private Miscellaneous

Section 6 Family Correspondence

Elliot 6/1 1934-1943 Gilbert Elliot (father)

Elliot 6/2 1956-1961 Rosemary Elliot (wife)

Elliot 6/3 1918-1928 Rosemary Elliot with her family

Elliot 6/4 1960-1969 Simon and Lutie Elliot (children)

Section 7 Miscellaneous

Elliot 7/1 1951-1970 Personal details

Elliot 7/2 1928-1960 Misc. family papers

Elliot 7/3 1957-1969 Misc. papers

Elliot 7/4 1952-1969 Memorials and obituaries (not of Elliot)

Elliot 7/5 Poetry

Elliot 7/6 Various

Section 8 Photographs

<p>Papers of Sir Henry Thomas Tizard at the Department of Documents, Imperial War Museum, include correspondence with Elliot, 1938-1957 (Ref: HTT).</p>

English

7.5 boxes or 0.07m³

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied 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 College Archivist.

Open, subject to signature to reader's undertaking form.

Presented to the Centre by the family in 1976.

Air Chief Marshal Sir William Elliot promised his papers to the Liddell Hart Centre before his death but pointed out that he had never kept a diary or retained any official or semi-official papers connected with his military appointments. Although frequently prompted by friends to write his memoirs he made only a few unsuccessful attempts to commit his reminiscences to paper. After his death in 1971 his son presented to the Centre what documentary and photographic materials had survived.

Born in 1896; served in Army Service Corps, [1915]-1918, joined No 142 Sqn, 1918; served with No 47 Sqn, South Russia, 1919; Assistant Secretary to Committee of Imperial Defence, 1937-1939, and to War Cabinet, 1939-1941; Fighter Command, 1941-1942; Director of Plans, Air Ministry, 1942-1944; Air Officer Commanding RAF Gibraltar, Feb-June 1944; Air Officer Commanding Balkan Air Force, 1944-1945; Assistant Chief Executive, Ministry of Aircraft Production, 1945-1946; Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Policy), 1946-1947; Commander-in-Chief, Fighter Command, 1947-1949; Chief Staff Officer to Minister of Defence and Deputy Secretary (Military) to Cabinet, 1949-1951; ADC to King George VI, 1950-1952; Chairman of British Joint Services Mission, Washington, and UK Representative on the Standing Group of the Military Committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, 1951-1954; ADC to Queen Elizabeth II, 1952-1954; Chairman of Council, Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, 1952-1954; died in 1971.