The collection is composed almost exclusively of manuscripts submitted to Gering for publication in "Voennai︠a︡ Byl"́. These are mostly short memoirs of battles and campaigns, of life in military school, or of peacetime garrison life, by former tsarist officers. These naturally relate chiefly to the last few decades of the tsarist regime, and to the period of the Revolution and Civil War. Some contributions are more scholarly in tone; these include articles on the earlier history of the Russian army and of individual regiments, etc. Few of the manuscripts are more than 40 pages long; most are 1-20 pages. Not all of these manuscripts were published in "Voennai︠a︡ Byl"́; those that were not formed part of Gering's "archive" and have been arranged separately.

Typescript memoirs are "Chechenskai︠a︡ konnai︠a︡ divizii︠a︡ 1919 god;" "Mini︠a︡ti︠u︡ry proshlago: Leĭb-Draguny;" "Tridt︠s︡at ́piat ́let tomu nazad;" and translations into French of two poems by Aleksandr Pushkin. Also included is a mimeographed collection of pieces on the history of the Pskov Corps of Cadets, entitled "Dosug kadeta pskovicha.".

The bulk of the collection consists of memoirs and manuscripts on historical military themes by Pavel Nikolaevich Chizhov. The memoirs deal with such topics as Chizhov's military education, his military service (garrison duty in Warsaw, the Far East, World War I, and the Civil War in the south), and his life in the emigration.