Description
Object description
A collection of papers relating to his service in Greece during the Second World War, including: a ts essay with ms notes entitled 'Thucydides and the 1944 Greek Revolution' (23pp, written late 1960s), relating his experiences in Greece during the Greek revolution and civil war, with the classical literature he studied at Cambridge, with brief sketch of events in Greece from the end of the German invasion (April 1941 – November 1944), his own posting to a Military Intelligence unit in Cairo (February 1944), possibly 400 Mobile Unit, Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre (CSDIC), collecting intelligence about Greece and the Balkans, and then his experiences in Greece from November 1944 to April 1945, his role tracking down suspected German organisations for sabotage and resistance led by a 'Colonel Shultz', sailing to Piraeus, seeing ELAS (Greek People's Liberation Army) and communist graffiti in Athens, moving to a shattered hotel in Kifisia, opposite an ELAS battalion's HQ, fighting in Athens (December 1944), having to be re-provisioned by air drops, an attack by ELAS on the hotel he was in (17 December 1944), moving to a nearby RAF HQ perimeter, having to cease fire and hide with other officers, sneaking out after a woman sprayed the hotel with Tommy gun fire, being rescued and moving to Kalamaki aerodrome, returning to Athens, gathering information about ELAS from Greek civilians, the Allied response to the fighting, the exchange of prisoners, discovering that it was not a German plot but ELAS possibly influenced by Russia, his view of the impact of the revolution on the Greek people and the politcal landscape, the importance of British intervention, and ending with a long collection of his personal impressions of Greece and her people garnered from his experiences and conversations with Greeks and friends who had lived there, and the situation in Greece after the Colonel's Coup of 1967; ts notes with ms annotations for a talk entitled 'The Quest of Colonel Schulz' (12pp), being notes for the larger essay; a ms letter (2pp, September 1940) written by Reverend George Arthur Weekes, Master of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, to Davis, a former student, bemoaning the effect conscription and the war has had on the academic staff and student numbers, and references to mutual acquaintences; a photocopy of his CV with attached testimonials from his headmaster, L W Myers, and from Reverend G A Weekes and R Hackforth of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge (July 1939); a photocopy of his Release Certificate (May 1946); 10 photographs of Davis and others, in Italy, Greece and Austria, including photographs of Davis with Greek civilians, and a photograph of the hotel in Kifisia; seven photographs taken from a plane showing an air drop on Kifisia (16 December 1944); four propaganda leaflets including a leaflet in German (2pp, post February 1945) entitled 'Our Answer – Result of the Crimean Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalan' detailing the plans for the occupation of Germany, and saying Germans should carry on fighting to the end; a leaflet in German (4pp, August 1944) from the 'Antifascistisches Komitee Deutscher Soldaten' (AKFD, Anti-fascist Committee of German Soldiers)' calling on all German soldiers in Greece to desert and join them in the hills, and that the various Greek partisan groups had guaranteed their life and pay; a proclamation (1p, n.d.) in German from the Military Leader of ELAS inviting all Officers and Soldiers to surrender and that he personally vouches for their lives; a proclamation (1p, n.d.) from ELAS IX Division, in German, praising anti-fascists; and two 500 Million Drachma notes.
Content description
A collection of papers relating to his service in Greece during the Second World War, including: a ts essay with ms notes entitled 'Thucydides and the 1944 Greek Revolution' (23pp, written late 1960s), relating his experiences in Greece during the Greek revolution and civil war, with the classical literature he studied at Cambridge, with brief sketch of events in Greece from the end of the German invasion (April 1941 – November 1944), his own posting to a Military Intelligence unit in Cairo (February 1944), possibly 400 Mobile Unit, Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre (CSDIC), collecting intelligence about Greece and the Balkans, and then his experiences in Greece from November 1944 to April 1945, his role tracking down suspected German organisations for sabotage and resistance led by a 'Colonel Shultz', sailing to Piraeus, seeing ELAS (Greek People's Liberation Army) and communist graffiti in Athens, moving to a shattered hotel in Kifisia, opposite an ELAS battalion's HQ, fighting in Athens (December 1944), having to be re-provisioned by air drops, an attack by ELAS on the hotel he was in (17 December 1944), moving to a nearby RAF HQ perimeter, having to cease fire and hide with other officers, sneaking out after a woman sprayed the hotel with Tommy gun fire, being rescued and moving to Kalamaki aerodrome, returning to Athens, gathering information about ELAS from Greek civilians, the Allied response to the fighting, the exchange of prisoners, discovering that it was not a German plot but ELAS possibly influenced by Russia, his view of the impact of the revolution on the Greek people and the politcal landscape, the importance of British intervention, and ending with a long collection of his personal impressions of Greece and her people garnered from his experiences and conversations with Greeks and friends who had lived there, and the situation in Greece after the Colonel's Coup of 1967; ts notes with ms annotations for a talk entitled 'The Quest of Colonel Schulz' (12pp), being notes for the larger essay; a ms letter (2pp, September 1940) written by Reverend George Arthur Weekes, Master of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, to Davis, a former student, bemoaning the effect conscription and the war has had on the academic staff and student numbers, and references to mutual acquaintences; a photocopy of his CV with attached testimonials from his headmaster, L W Myers, and from Reverend G A Weekes and R Hackforth of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge (July 1939); a photocopy of his Release Certificate (May 1946); 10 photographs of Davis and others, in Italy, Greece and Austria, including photographs of Davis with Greek civilians, and a photograph of the hotel in Kifisia; seven photographs taken from a plane showing an air drop on Kifisia (16 December 1944); four propaganda leaflets including a leaflet in German (2pp, post February 1945) entitled 'Our Answer – Result of the Crimean Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalan' detailing the plans for the occupation of Germany, and saying Germans should carry on fighting to the end; a leaflet in German (4pp, August 1944) from the 'Antifascistisches Komitee Deutscher Soldaten' (AKFD, Anti-fascist Committee of German Soldiers)' calling on all German soldiers in Greece to desert and join them in the hills, and that the various Greek partisan groups had guaranteed their life and pay; a proclamation (1p, n.d.) in German from the Military Leader of ELAS inviting all Officers and Soldiers to surrender and that he personally vouches for their lives; a proclamation (1p, n.d.) from ELAS IX Division, in German, praising anti-fascists; and two 500 Million Drachma notes.
History note
Cataloguer SJO