[Sir Winston Churchill: an unpublished assessment by a close colleague.] Two documents from the papers of Sir Noel Galway Holmes: an autograph account and assessment of his wartime relationship with Churchill; and a typescript describing his own work

Two very interesting unpublished documents, the first giving an assessment of Churchill by a colleague who worked closely with him throughout the Second World War, and the second describing the important part that individual himself played in the logistical management of the war, from before Dunkirk to after D-Day. This material is from Sir Noel Galway Holmes’s private papers, another batch of which, comprising confidential reports on him, recommendations by superior officers, and particulars of his service, is offered separately. Considering Holmes’s central position in Churchill’s war entourage, and his pivotal role in the logistical management of the Second World War (as described in Item Two below), it is unaccountable that he should not have been accorded a proper biographical account, other than an obituary in the Daily Telegraph, 29 December 1982, and entry in Who Was Who. His career was highly distinguished, as his decorations suggest. He joined the army in 1910, served in France during the First World War, and in India between the wars. During the Second World War he was Deputy-Quarter-Master-General (Movements) at the War Office, in which capacity he attended most of the allied conferences, including Yalta and Potsdam. (See the quotation he gives from Sir R. M. Weeks regarding his wartime work at Item Three below) At the end of the war he spent a few months as commander of Aldershot before retiring from the army in 1946. The three items here are in fair condition, with light signs of age and wear, but clear and complete. ONE: Autograph rough draft of notes towards an autobiographical account, largely concerned with NGH’s relationship with Churchill. 6pp, 12mo. On six leaves, stapled together, with first three leaves numbered 1-3. In good condition, lightly aged, with pin holes at top left of the six leaves, and speck of rust spotting to the first leaf. A few deletions and emendations. Begins: ‘War Office Aug 39 as D[irector] of M[ovement]’ | later D Aug (M) until 1946. A longer spell than any Reg officer / Responsible for all movement men & material by Land sea & road / Attended Conferences abroad as advisor to C of Staff on movement matters. No use arranging for battles if there were not the movement facilities to get the chaps & stores there & be able to maintain them. / Personal shipping lazy dry cargo shipping very short’. A dated list of a few of the conferences he attended follows, and written near it in the margin: ‘Not many of the more senior officers alive today who attended these conferences’. This is followed by the meat of the document: ‘Roosevelt [corrected from ‘Rosefelt’] died after Yalta & Truman attended Potsdam. / Joe [i.e. Stalin] made great efforts to pall up to Winston as Truman was new: at these various conferences I had the good fortune to meet the Head Statesmen of the countries concerned & I naturally came into contact with W. S. [i.e. Churchill] both in London & at the conferences. / By His courage fortitude determination energy charm & thoughtfullness [sic] he instilled confidence into all those who worked with or near him. He never seemed to think of failure not even at Dunkirk. He never liked no for an answer & I had experience of this at Chequers. He had a conference in Oct ’42. [in margin ‘8 Nov 42’] to try & advance the landing in N aftrica so as not to interfere with Ranadan [sic] - Allan Brooke Ike - Clarke Beath Smyth Eden & Ismay. I had to say that all arrangements have been made & ships in position & some have left & I said it could not be done - / He naturally did not like the reply but I was glad the Brooke & Ike agreed / This was our first big offensive landing he had me in a month before sail asking details / When the landing in N. Africa had taken place W. S. sent me the following [text not present - presumably to be added later] / Some years after the war W. S. came up to Sheffield for the M. C. Dinner as P. Guest. I was then Chairman of the Yorkshire coal fields. In the P. Guest room before dinner he beckoned me over & shook me by the hand & said Nice to see an old friend - [?] / He often sent for me & asked very pertinent questions. / Loss of [bread?] in Shipping / What number of Kitty Hawkes loaded for Russia’. There follow references to ‘Stories’ he wishes to tell: ‘I must have Blood & Bayonet, / Drinks to ships officers / Dudley Pound & an escort. / Chequers on Toret meeting / I was late. / Speed of advance of the Bug. / Drink brought in by Lady Churchill / Roosevelt & drink to the backward [sic] room boys’. He concludes with a summation of his views on Churchill: ‘I realise how fortunate etc I have been to have met & worked with such a super man. / What people do not realise is that the work he did as M of defence was stupendous & there he had the work of other department [sic] to contend with too / A truly wonderful & loveable man.’ TWO: Part of autobiographical account in the third person, this portion covering his career from 1924 to his retirement and post-war work. 1p, foolscap 8vo. Closely-typed and single-spaced. Somewhat worn and creased, but clear and complete. With a few autograph emendations. Begins: ‘Page 2. / Commander, after being Chief of Staff of a Division-plus! which proved to be quite a change. He started work for the Staff College Exam, took it in 1924 and qualified, getting a nomination, he joined the Staff College at Camberley in 1925 and finished in December 1926. He was there with a number of chaps whom he met afterwards, Alexander, was with him, and instructors were Gort, Allen-Brooke, and Montgomery.’ Describes his subsequent activities in India, where ‘His chief was General the Lord Jeffreys, KC.B., K.C.V.O., C.M.G., a wonderful soldier and a very good friend.’ Became ‘Brigadier in charge of movement at the War Office in June 1939. / Neer having been on the Staff of the War Office, he found everything very strange at first, and did not actually care for it in those days. He had very few staff, and the first job was to prepare the move of the B.E.F. to France. Naturally he set about to collect the most able and efficient staff possible, and he spent hours combing the lists of the Royal Engineers for specialists in transportation, railway experts, and shipping agents very much used to stowage problems. It took quite a time to organise, but eventually he got together a really tip top team, trained and ready for the job on hand and among these were representatives in Canada, U.S.A., France, North Africa and Italy. [added in autograph ‘with whom he dealt direct’] / The next task was a much tougher one, it was the first large tactical landing undertaken by the British Army, the landing in North Africa. It was the first effort at the tactical loading of ships and proved to be a great succecss. On its completion the Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill sent a very pleasant letter of congratulation. However, during the war there were many taks in various parts of the world which the team carried out in perfection, all were good training for the final and greatest task of all, the landing in Normandy on 6th. June 1944. This was carried out efficiently and definitely with perfection. Movement Control lifted 13 million personel and 95 million tons of stores, and not one single peg went to the wrong place. [added in autograph] during World War Two Number. It is interesting to note that he was the first Regular Officer to be appointed Director of Movement during the War!’] / Durig the war he accompanied the Chiefs of Staffs as an advisor to: - Casablanca - Washington - twice to Quebec - Cairo - Teheran - Yalat and Potsdam. When the war was over he was given the Aldershot Command and held the appointment for six months and was personally complimented by F.M. The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, K.G., G.C.B., D.S.O., for the work he did throughout the Command.’ After explaining the reason for his retirement from the army (‘there were rumours that he was going to be given another job of work abroad and he did not wish to go abroad again’) he ends with a few lines describing his postwar career, with a final list of his decorations, and finally ‘Ireland [inserted in manuscript ‘trial’] at Rugby Football / Represented Ireland in the Davis Cup (Lawn Tennis) 1930’. NHG quotes Lieut.-General Sir Ronald M. Weeks's commendation of him in his book ‘Organisation and Equipment for War’ (CUP, 1950): ‘We were fortunate in having as D.Q.M.G. (Movements) [NGH's official title was Deputy-Quarter-Master-General for Movements] an Irishman, Major General Sir Noel Holmes who held the job throughout the war. Blessed with a sense of humour, a strong constitution (he was an International Rugby Footballer), a [Weeks writes 'the'] power of leadership and good judgement. He played no small part in the achievement of Victory’ (NGH adds an exclamation mark at the end). THREE: Typed list of conferences attended by NGH. 1p, 4to. Twenty-three dated conferences, from ‘France’, 14 to 30 October 1939, to Potsdam, 24 July 1945. See Scan of page 2 of the assessment of Churchil.