The material was collected in preparation for a history of medical missions in South Africa. Unfortunately, the authors died whilst their work was still in the research stage, but among their notes are drafts which show the approach each intended to follow in writing. The papers were filmed, as they were left by Dr. Gale, in five principal categories: research material and draft chapters; mission hospitals; medical organisations and topics; papers relating to individuals; miscellaneous research material.
The forty-nine stations investigated include hospitals in Natal, KwaZulu, Transkei, Transvaal, Orange Free State, Cape Province, Botswana and Lesotho. There is, inter alia, material relating to the South African Mission Council (minutes and medical reports 1928-1934): The Salvation Army; Voluntary Organisations; the Natal Missionary Conferences, 1955 and 1956; a bibliography on medical missionaries and mission hospitals in South Africa (Pretoria, State Library).