Sir Donald Cleland was meticulous in keeping his papers in order. However, he seems to have been very selective in what he kept. Dame Rachel, who transferred the papers to the Library, said he destroyed a good deal of material despite her protests. He did arrange and make into files, those papers which meant much to him, which illustrated his career. He was clearly conscious of history in the making during his service in World War II. Although not a good diary-keeper, he created documents after the event, when time permitted, sometimes illustrating them with photographs he took himself.