A Guerrilla War in World War II: How the Library Association Fought the War Office and the Army — and Lost

Abstract During World War II, a 'guerrilla war' took place on home territory. Though less public and less bloody than the main conflict, it was conducted with single-minded determination, resulting in mutual recrimination and bitterness and resentment on the side of the losers. The unlikely guerrillas were the hierarchy of the Library Association, principally Arundell Esdaile, Lionel McColvin and P. S. J. Welsford (President, Honorary Secretary and Secretary, respectively) and the targets of its attacks were the allied forces of the Army and the War Office. The issues over which hostilities were conducted were the administration of the Services Central Book Depot, a military organization charged with the collection and distribution of books to the Armed Forces, and the control of the Service Libraries and Books Fund, a body set up by the Lord Mayor of London to raise funds and public donations of books. The underlying causes of the conflict were the irreconcilably different ideologies and cultural values held by the main protagonists and the ambitions of the Library Association to extend its influence and assert control over the supply of books to the Armed Forces.