Uncatalogued: Saunders, Malcolm George, Commander, 1896-1967

Notebooks, correspondence with publishers, and research material relating to publications and translation work undertaken by Saunders, circa 1949-1967. Also papers relating to the Admiralty Historical Section and Foreign Documents Section, copies of official photographs, German maps and book reviews. The subjects cover German and Italian wartime organisation and personalities, Hitler's admirals and generals, the Nurnberg war crime trials, the Dunkirk evacuation, German Naval Archives and the Soviet Navy. The printed material includes a set of 'Fuehrer Conferences on Matters Dealing with the German Navy' from 1939-1945, translated and published by the US Navy Department.

Box 1: Notes and correspondence for articles on Soviet Navy circa 1957; Notes on German naval command for article on 'Hitler's Admirals'; Draft of article for RUSI Journal on German war organisation 'The plaque of Bronze'; Notes and correspondence on approval for 1952 article on Dunkirk.

Box 2: Notebooks on 'Eisenhower's Crusade in Europe', 'Dunkerque' and 'Personalities of German service'; Notes on handling and publication of captured documents; Various maps.

Box 3: Research notes on German invasion of Soviet Union, Admiral Canaris, Admiral Raeder and on various projects for publisher 'Weidenfeld'. Various miscellaneous notes and clippings, mainly obituaries.

Box 4: Research notes on German war crimes and notes on various books and articles.

Box 5: Reports and reviews to publishers on books by other authors and notes relating to translation work.

Box 6: Copy of 'Foreign Affairs - An American Quarterly Review - July 1965'; Copies of 'Fuehrer conferences on matters dealing with the German Navy' for 1943 and 1945; Bound typed copy of novel 'Bilderbuch einer nacht' by Erik Ernst Schwabach dated 1936; Copy of 'Die trager der rapallo-politik' by Herbet Helbig.

Box 7: Copies of 'Fuehrer conferences on matters dealing with the German Navy' for 1940 (2 vols.), 1941 (2 vols.), 1942 and 1944; French booklets on American and Soviet navies; Pamphlet 'Signatures of well known German personalities' featuring reproductions of signatures of Nazi leaders; 1929 edition of Wolfgang Wegener 'Die Seestrategie des Weltkrieges'; Copy of 'The trial of German major war criminals: Speeches of the prosecutors', published by HMSO 1946; Various annotated articles on German war strategy.

Box 8: Notes on German publications and notes on draft of official history of the war covering Dunkirk.


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Administrative / biographical background
Saunders was born in Germany, during the period when his father the journalist George Saunders (1859-1922) worked as the Berlin correspondent for British newspapers. He entered the Navy in 1909. During the Second World War he worked for the Naval Intelligence Division at the Admiralty. He then worked for the Historial Section and Foreign Document Section. He became well-known among historians for his knowledge of the German Naval Archives captured at the end of the war, also his translations of German accounts such as the memoirs of the naval officer Friedrich Ruge and the story of the commerce raider ATLANTIS. His own works included editorship of 'The Soviet Navy' published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 1958, contributions to 'Purnell's History of the Second World War' first published in 1966, plus papers in the Journal of the United Service Institution.