Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. As early as 1937, the German Messerschmitt Company developed the jet plane, the Me-262 Schwalbe (Swallow). It was flown experimentally in 1941 with a piston engine and then successfully in 1942 with jet engines, but was rejected by the … Continue reading The German Jet Me-262 in 1944: A Failed Opportunity – Part I
Category: World War II
The Monuments Men: Taking Stock and Preparing to Move Forward, December 1944
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. The Monuments Men -- the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives (MFA&A) specialists assigned to General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) -- had begun operations in France in June 1944 and by December had moved into … Continue reading The Monuments Men: Taking Stock and Preparing to Move Forward, December 1944
Rebuilding After World War II: The Experience of Saint-Lo, France
By David Langbart. Scholars are increasingly writing about the physical destruction visited upon friendly European countries during World War II’s campaign to free Western Europe from Nazi domination. Recent books such as Keith Lowe’s SAVAGE CONTINENT, Antony Beevor’s D-DAY, Max Hastings’s ARMAGEDDON, and Rick Atkinson’s THE GUNS AT LAST LIGHT (all quite excellent and worth … Continue reading Rebuilding After World War II: The Experience of Saint-Lo, France
Married Women in the U.S. Government, c. 1945
By David Langbart One never knows what will be found in the files. While undertaking holdings maintenance on some records, the document described here appeared. In September 1945, just after the formal end of World War II, the British embassy in Washington sent a diplomatic note to the Department of State requesting some information. In … Continue reading Married Women in the U.S. Government, c. 1945
Exploitation of Captured Japanese Documents by the Far Eastern Section, Foreign Intelligence Branch, of the Office of Naval Intelligence (OP-16-FE), 1944-1946
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. Most researchers dealing with the translation of captured and seized Japanese records are familiar with the primary organizations translating those records. These would include the Pacific Military Intelligence Research Service (PACMIRS), the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS), the … Continue reading Exploitation of Captured Japanese Documents by the Far Eastern Section, Foreign Intelligence Branch, of the Office of Naval Intelligence (OP-16-FE), 1944-1946
Exploitation of Captured and Seized Japanese Records by the Pacific Military Intelligence Research Service (PACMIRS) 1945-Spring 1946
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. The U.S. Army’s Pacific Military Intelligence Research Service (PACMIRS), located at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, had been established in September 1944 to exploit captured Japanese records. During 1945 it saw a steady increase in staff and workload–from 120 personnel in … Continue reading Exploitation of Captured and Seized Japanese Records by the Pacific Military Intelligence Research Service (PACMIRS) 1945-Spring 1946
Committee of the American Council of Learned Societies on the Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. The idea of establishing an American commission to assist in protecting and restituting cultural property in war areas grew out of discussions among American educators and museum officials about the potentially dangerous impact of the European war on historic … Continue reading Committee of the American Council of Learned Societies on the Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas
Everett Parker Lesley, Jr.: The Monuments Man who drafted the Wiesbaden Manifesto
Today’s post, written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, is the next installment in an ongoing series of posts on real-life Monuments Men. The movie, The Monuments Men, has focused great attention on the Monuments Men (and women) and their work during and after World War II. Of course the movie cannot tell the story of the … Continue reading Everett Parker Lesley, Jr.: The Monuments Man who drafted the Wiesbaden Manifesto
How and When Did World War II Officially Become World War II?
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. An excellent source for answering the questions posed in the title of this post, and other military questions, is the records of the Office of the Adjutant General (Record Group 407). Specifically, to answer the official designation question, … Continue reading How and When Did World War II Officially Become World War II?
The American Defense, Harvard Group’s Committee on the Protection of Monuments
Today's post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. In looking at some boxes of the Reference Collection of the Departmental Records Branch of the Army’s Office of the Adjutant General (Record Group 407), I stumbled upon two boxes labeled “Protection of Monuments.” They carried the designation “Document … Continue reading The American Defense, Harvard Group’s Committee on the Protection of Monuments