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Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London

SYM, Col John Munro (1907-1980)


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0099 KCLMA Sym

Held at: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London

Title: SYM, Col John Munro (1907-1980)

Date(s): Created [1944]

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 1 box or 0.01 cubic metres

Name of creator(s):

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born in 1907; educated at Loretto School and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; 2nd Lt, Seaforth Highlanders, 1927; Lt, 1930; served on North West Frontier, India, [1930-1931]; served at Seaforth Highlanders' Depot, Fort George, 1937-1938; Capt, 1938; joined British Military Mission, Iraq, 1939; served in North Africa, 1942-1943, and Sicily, 1943; taken prisoner by Germans in Sicily, 1943, and taken to Italy; escaped, recaptured by Italians and sought sanctuary in the Vatican City, 1943-1944; Maj, 1944; commanded 5 Seaforth Highlanders, 1945; commanded Seaforth Highlanders' Depot, Fort George, [1945-1950]; Lt Col, 1950; commanded 11 Seaforth Highlanders Territorial Army, 1950-1953; Commander, 152 Highland Infantry Bde, 1953; retired, 1953; died in 1980.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Typescript and manuscript versions of memoir covering his service with 2 Seaforth Highlanders in North Africa, 1942-1943, including the second Battle of El Alamein, 23 Oct-4 Nov 1942, and Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944, notably action around Francofonte, Sicily, Jul 1943, written in [1944]. Copy of 'The prisoners of the Vatican: the war-time life of the Diplomatic Corps', anonymous article from Catholic journal The Tablet, Apr 8 1944.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

6 files

Conditions governing access:

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

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be provided 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 Director of Archive Services.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Summary guide available on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm, and in hard copy in the Centre's reading room.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Presented to the Centre by the family in 1981.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Decorations: DSO

Date(s) of descriptions: Jul 1997


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Armed forces | State security
Memoirs | Documents | Information sources
War | International conflicts
War victims | International conflicts
World War Two (1939-1945) | World wars (events) | Wars (events)
International relations
Military organizations
Primary documents

Personal names

Corporate names
British Army

Places
El Alamein | Egypt | North Africa
Francofonte | Italy | Western Europe | Europe
Holy See | Western Europe | Europe
Sicily | Italy | Western Europe | Europe
Vatican x Holy See