Abstract
The end of the British Empire in the mid-twentieth century was accompanied by a large-scale rearrangement of sensitive colonial records worldwide. A great number of these records were destroyed and a sizeable portion sent to Britain to be kept secret. This article advances studies of this policy, eventually code-named ‘Operation Legacy’, by reading the ‘migrated archives’ that have been newly discovered and declassified in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) 141 series. It asks where the policy was decided, for what reason and how it was carried out. Sources suggest that the policy was not planned in the Colonial Office in London and delivered to the colonies in a hierarchical fashion, but, rather, significant elements of the policy were developed in the colonial governments overseas in response to each local context. The general idea was to save Britain’s honour and to protect its collaborators. However, the limitations in terms of time and manpower often prevented the officers from putting sufficient thought into the actual screening of the documents. At the same time, some officers demonstrated a level of historical awareness regarding their actions. The episode reminds us that the official mind as it relates to decolonisation is to be understood not only by reference to the highest levels of strategic planning but also in terms of how it worked at the lower levels, in the colonial administrations on the ground.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 697-719 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 Jul 4 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- collaboration
- FCO special collections
- imperial legacy
- Memory
- official mind
- race
- secrecy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- History
- Development
- Political Science and International Relations
Cite this
‘Operation Legacy’ : Britain’s Destruction and Concealment of Colonial Records Worldwide. / Sato, Shohei.
In: Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Vol. 45, No. 4, 04.07.2017, p. 697-719.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘Operation Legacy’
T2 - Britain’s Destruction and Concealment of Colonial Records Worldwide
AU - Sato, Shohei
PY - 2017/7/4
Y1 - 2017/7/4
N2 - The end of the British Empire in the mid-twentieth century was accompanied by a large-scale rearrangement of sensitive colonial records worldwide. A great number of these records were destroyed and a sizeable portion sent to Britain to be kept secret. This article advances studies of this policy, eventually code-named ‘Operation Legacy’, by reading the ‘migrated archives’ that have been newly discovered and declassified in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) 141 series. It asks where the policy was decided, for what reason and how it was carried out. Sources suggest that the policy was not planned in the Colonial Office in London and delivered to the colonies in a hierarchical fashion, but, rather, significant elements of the policy were developed in the colonial governments overseas in response to each local context. The general idea was to save Britain’s honour and to protect its collaborators. However, the limitations in terms of time and manpower often prevented the officers from putting sufficient thought into the actual screening of the documents. At the same time, some officers demonstrated a level of historical awareness regarding their actions. The episode reminds us that the official mind as it relates to decolonisation is to be understood not only by reference to the highest levels of strategic planning but also in terms of how it worked at the lower levels, in the colonial administrations on the ground.
AB - The end of the British Empire in the mid-twentieth century was accompanied by a large-scale rearrangement of sensitive colonial records worldwide. A great number of these records were destroyed and a sizeable portion sent to Britain to be kept secret. This article advances studies of this policy, eventually code-named ‘Operation Legacy’, by reading the ‘migrated archives’ that have been newly discovered and declassified in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) 141 series. It asks where the policy was decided, for what reason and how it was carried out. Sources suggest that the policy was not planned in the Colonial Office in London and delivered to the colonies in a hierarchical fashion, but, rather, significant elements of the policy were developed in the colonial governments overseas in response to each local context. The general idea was to save Britain’s honour and to protect its collaborators. However, the limitations in terms of time and manpower often prevented the officers from putting sufficient thought into the actual screening of the documents. At the same time, some officers demonstrated a level of historical awareness regarding their actions. The episode reminds us that the official mind as it relates to decolonisation is to be understood not only by reference to the highest levels of strategic planning but also in terms of how it worked at the lower levels, in the colonial administrations on the ground.
KW - collaboration
KW - FCO special collections
KW - imperial legacy
KW - Memory
KW - official mind
KW - race
KW - secrecy
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85017409573&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/03086534.2017.1294256
DO - 10.1080/03086534.2017.1294256
M3 - Article
VL - 45
SP - 697
EP - 719
JO - Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History
JF - Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History
SN - 0308-6534
IS - 4
ER -