Description
Object description
Ts transcription (98pp including covering notes) of a war diary for the SPILLWAY mission, prepared in 1945 and with ms annotations and additional pages from Major Chesshire's diary, comprising a meticulous daily record of the activities of British Liaison Officers working for Special Operations Executive in Albania during the period October 1943 – April 1944, kept in turn by Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Nicholls, Major Alan Hare, Major George Seymour and Lieutenant Colonel 'Billy' McLean and with excellent details of the hazardous nature of their mission (led initially by Brigadier Edmund 'Trotsky' Davies), relations with the various resistance groups, meetings with Enver Hoxha, brushes with enemy forces, combined operations against German troops including sabotage targets, the severe privations endured and the plight of Italian servicemen in Albania after the Italian armistice, as well as mention of the ambush in which Davies was seriously wounded and captured, the later death and burial of Nicholls and the experiences of other SOE agents active in Albania, also references to supply drops in April 1944 and air raids on Tirana, together with: ms diary notes (3pp and ts transcription 2pp) kept by Major John Chesshire (22 December 1943 – 3 January 1944) after the dispersal of the HQ group, describing miserable conditions; papers in Italian relating to Lieutenant Colonel A Rossitto of the Arezzo Division, who had served with Albanian resistance members, comprising a ts report (16pp, dated September 1945) concerning his experiences in Albania 1943 – 1944 and mentioning Davies, as well as newspaper articles and a covering letter (with English translation) dated November 1945; 2 articles on Albania published in Picture Post (8 April 1944) and The Contemporary Review (April 1944) and two undated articles submitted to the War Office Military Intelligence Review, one of which concerns Davies' experiences in Albania and the character of Enver Hoxha; 167 photographs and eight negatives covering parachute training in Palestine (1943) and resistance in Albania including pictures of Enver Hoxha and other partisans, members of SOE, supply drops and general scenes of wartime Albania.
Content description
Ts transcription (98pp including covering notes) of a war diary for the SPILLWAY mission, prepared in 1945 and with ms annotations and additional pages from Major Chesshire's diary, comprising a meticulous daily record of the activities of British Liaison Officers working for Special Operations Executive in Albania during the period October 1943 – April 1944, kept in turn by Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Nicholls, Major Alan Hare, Major George Seymour and Lieutenant Colonel 'Billy' McLean and with excellent details of the hazardous nature of their mission (led initially by Brigadier Edmund 'Trotsky' Davies), relations with the various resistance groups, meetings with Enver Hoxha, brushes with enemy forces, combined operations against German troops including sabotage targets, the severe privations endured and the plight of Italian servicemen in Albania after the Italian armistice, as well as mention of the ambush in which Davies was seriously wounded and captured, the later death and burial of Nicholls and the experiences of other SOE agents active in Albania, also references to supply drops in April 1944 and air raids on Tirana, together with: ms diary notes (3pp and ts transcription 2pp) kept by Major John Chesshire (22 December 1943 – 3 January 1944) after the dispersal of the HQ group, describing miserable conditions; papers in Italian relating to Lieutenant Colonel A Rossitto of the Arezzo Division, who had served with Albanian resistance members, comprising a ts report (16pp, dated September 1945) concerning his experiences in Albania 1943 – 1944 and mentioning Davies, as well as newspaper articles and a covering letter (with English translation) dated November 1945; 2 articles on Albania published in Picture Post (8 April 1944) and The Contemporary Review (April 1944) and two undated articles submitted to the War Office Military Intelligence Review, one of which concerns Davies' experiences in Albania and the character of Enver Hoxha; 167 photographs and eight negatives covering parachute training in Palestine (1943) and resistance in Albania including pictures of Enver Hoxha and other partisans, members of SOE, supply drops and general scenes of wartime Albania.
History note
Cataloguer AC