A Soviet military mission operated in wartime London. The Admiralty preserved both sides of its correspondence with the British Naval Mission in Moscow.
A Soviet military mission operated in London through the Second World War. A Foreign Office despatch to Moscow of 9 July 1941 already refers to the "Russian Military Mission in London" (FO 954/24B/338), and the Foreign Office kept a dedicated file on it in 1942: "Soviet Military Mission to London. Code 38 file 23" (FO 371/32898).
The Admiralty preserved both sides of the correspondence between that mission and the British Naval Mission to Moscow — one file of letters sent to it, covering 1941 to 1945 (ADM 223/250), and one of letters received from it, covering 1941 to 1946 (ADM 223/251). The two files together are a two-way institutional record of the alliance as it was actually conducted, London to Moscow and back.
In October 1944 Lord Beaverbrook deprecated a proposal to recall a member of the Russian Military Mission, according to a paper in Anthony Eden's private office files (FO 954/26B/472).
Air missions were exchanged as well. Air Ministry files cover visits of British and Soviet Air Missions from March 1942 to 1944 (AIR 46/26) and visits and reports from January 1944 to 1945 (AIR 46/27).
No member of the mission is named in the catalogue descriptions used here, and none is supplied. These are the files' titles and dates, not their contents.
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