Conduct of the First World War

1. Cabinet and committees, 1914-1916

• War and defence policy between August 1914 and December 1916 was the responsibility of a series of smaller groups within the full Cabinet. These small groups kept minutes.
• For photocopies of the minutes and papers of these subgroups, 1914-1916, sorted into date order and supplemented by relevant private and other official papers, look at CAB 38 and CAB 42.

• For detailed information, see PRO Handbook 9 List of Cabinet Papers 1915 and 1916.

2. War Cabinet, 1916-1919

• From December 1916 to October 1919, a much smaller War Cabinet replaced both the full Cabinet and the sub-groups.
  • minutes - in CAB 23
  • memoranda - in CAB 24 and CAB 37
  • committee papers - in CAB 27
  • registered files in CAB 21
  • Investigations (1916-1919) into the Dardanelles and Mesopotamia campaigns - in CAB 19
• For detailed information, see PRO Handbook 17 The Cabinet Office to 1945.

3. Supreme War Council, Versailles

Files for the British Secretariat 1917-1919 are in CAB 19.

4. War Office: military planning and reports on operations

For detailed guidance see M Roper, Records of the War Office and Related Departments, 1660-1964 (PRO, 1998).

• War Office Registered Files in WO 32
• Military Headquarters papers in WO 158
• Directorate of Military Operations and Intelligence papers in WO 106
• Quartermaster General's Papers in WO 107
• O and A Papers in WO 33
• B Papers in WO 287
• Gas warfare in WO 142

5. War Office: intelligence

• Directorate of Military Operations (DMO) gathered intelligence on British and allied forces (and operational planning before the appointment of an operation Commander)
• Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) gathered intelligence on the armed forces of enemy countries, distant allies and neutral countries (and censorship)

6. Other high level sources

• Earl Haig's diaries are in WO 256
• Lord Kitchener: papers are in WO 159 and PRO 30/57
• General the Earl Cavan: papers are in WO 79
• General Sir A J Murray: papers are in WO 79
• Regimental and other histories are in CAB 44 , CAB 45 , WO 79 and WO 161
• Foreign Office War Department: papers are in FO 371
• Alleged German War Crimes: papers are in TS 26
• German war plans of Count von Schlieffen: copies are in CAB 20

7. Orders of battle

• A published set of orders of battle, The History of the Great War (HMSO), is available at The National Archives. Use these to find the location of all units.
• Another set is included with the War Diaries (WO 95/5467 to WO 95/5493). The monthly returns in WO 73/97 contain similar information.

A brigade contained 4 or more battalions from different regiments (a regiment contained two or more battalions.) A daily record of each unit's activities, including at headquarters level, can be found in the British Army: First World War diaries research guide.