Microgrants/Operation Bodyguard

Overview

I could do with some assistance obtaining source material for my ongoing project. Last year I began a major project to beef up our coverage of military deception during the Second World War. To date I've added one featured article, several good articles & DYK's and expanded numerous other articles. My work rate is increasing, to the extent I plan to rattle out at least 1 GA per month and 1 FA per 3 months in 2013 (so far, I am on track to exceed these targets with, pending the outcome of reviews, 4 GA's, 1 FA and one 'A' Class in three months).

My library so far

The major focus of this year is Operation Bodyguard, the biggest and most crucial deception of the war. It constitutes one top level article & around 11 sub-articles. I aim to achieve "good topic" status by the end of 2013 (currently 3 of the 12 articles are GA status) with good progress made toward featured topic status.

The reason I need help is that source material is becoming expensive. I have an extensive collection of books and material from the National Archives (so far having spent around £450) plus access to additional sources at my local library. However, information from this period is scattered an often contradictory. For example, I've identified a couple of major factual inaccuracies in some of my main sources. To address this I need access to primary source material, which can be used to confirm and bolster the secondary sources.

The cost for this material is not insignificant. However, it will be hugely beneficial to the project. The bulk of the material comes from the National Archives; whilst it is possible for me to view this material on-site for free this is unfeasible - the cost of travelling to London multiple times for research would probably quickly outweigh the cost of digitising the material :) Ideally I'd like all of the documents from the collection CAB154; which covers deception across the period in question. But this is an extremely large and diverse collection, so I have spent time identifying specific documents I need. In addition I'd like to obtain Dudley Clarke's "Seven Assignments", which will be useful in writing about 'A' Force later in the year.

Budget

Approximately £130-180

Based on previous orders, digitising by the TNA costs ~£10-15 per document. Some of these could cost more depending on length. I've identified 10 key documents ~£100-150, a full estimate will be available from TNA in the next few days (but I am testing the water here ASAP to see the feasibility of WMUK funding this):

• Historical record of deception in the war against Germany and Italy: volume II
• "A" Force permanent record file Narrative War diary: 1 January-31 December 1944
• History of the London Controlling Section
• Essential long term measures within the framework of Plan Bodyguard
• "Bodyguard" deception plan against Germany
• Operations BODYGUARD and VENDETTA: operations plan
• London Controlling Section
• Plan BODYGUARD (MI5-B1a)
• Plan IRONSIDE
• Plan BODYGUARD

Also I would like to obtain Dudley Clarke's Seven Assignments, available from Amazon or Abebooks for ~£30.

Timeline

I'd need these materials for the rest of the year at least (it's worth noting that the TNA documents are public domain so copies can be made and distributed to anyone that wants them!).

Expected outcomes

Main aims (end of 2013 latest):

• Operation Bodyguard "good topic" status, consisting ~12 articles
• Featured status for ~4 articles within the topic
• Extensions to Dudley Clarke and related articles based on Seven Assignments

Long term aims (mid 2014):

• London Controlling Section to featured status
• Op. Bodyguard well on its way to featured topic

These are conservative aims, based on my current outut.

Who I am

Do I need to fill this in ;) Pretty much everyone knows me one way or another. Currently I am about the only person working on military deception articles, my sole focus, and I have a proven track record over the last year of writing Good and Featured articles on the topic.

I am currently a paid technical contractor for Wikimedia UK, and have been since November 2012. I can confirm that this application for a microgrant is made in my capacity as a longstanding member and volunteer in the Wikimedia community, and should be considered on its merits alone based on meeting the mission and values of the charity, and unrelated to my employment, the nature of which will remain unaffected by the acceptance or rejection of this application.

Discussion

Thanks ErrantX for putting together this microgrant application. Overall, it sounds good to me. Would it be possible for the digitized documents to be made available on Commons and Wikisource? Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 00:49, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

I don't see why not. There is an additional charge for sending digital copies on CD, rather than paper (for some reason..), so I'd need to double check on that. --ErrantX (talk) 12:48, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Ok, I got the quotes back from TNA and... it came to a ridiculous price (about £2000 for all of the documents)! I think I can get the most important sub-set of them a lot cheaper, so lets put this on hold for a bit and I'll work out how to do that. --ErrantX (talk) 20:14, 10 April 2013 (UTC)