Military Agency Records
Theaters of Operations
Records of Allied Operational and Occupation Headquarters,
World War II
(RG 331)
Records of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF)
On February 13, 1944 Headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces, known also as SHAEF, replaced and absorbed the planning group called the Chief of Staff Supreme Allied Command, or COSSAC, that had been established in April 1943. COSSAC and SHAEF, as as integrated U.S.-British organizations responsible to the Combined Chiefs of Staff, successively had the task of integrating the British forces and the American forces for operations on the Continent. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was designated as the Supreme Allied Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces, and on his arrival in England from the North African Theater in January 1944 he became also the commanding general of the European Theater of Operations United States Army (ETOUSA).
The staff organizations of SHAEF and ETOUSA were, however, distinct. Each headquarters as a rule had its own staff sections manned by separate personnel. The staff organization in SHAEF was headed by the Chief of Staff. SHAEF directed the operations of several subordinate interallied headquarters, including separate commands for ground, air, and naval operations.
SHAEF was located at London until August 1944; at Versailles, France, August 1944-May 1945; and at Frankfurt, Germany, May-July 1945. On July 14, 1945, SHAEF was discontinued, and its civil-affairs and military-government functions were assumed by the Allied Group Control Council, in Berlin. Some of its United States components continued in Headquarters United States Forces, European Theater.
During 1944-1945 operated SHAEF Missions that were established in liberated nations to represent the Supreme Allied Commander and to maintain contact with these countries without interfering with military operations. These missions were located in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway. As combined organizations they were disbanded in July 1945 with the termination of SHAEF, but as national missions some of them continued as late as 1947.
Records of SHAEF General Staff Organizations
Records of the Office of the Chief of Staff
Records of the Secretary, General Staff (SGS)
Decimal Correspondence File May 1943-August 1945 (Entry 1)
Boxes 1-103
| Box # | Decimal# | File Title or Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 000.4 | Preservation of Historical Monuments, Art Objects, etc. |
| 000.5 | War Crimes, Acts of | |
| 000.5/2 | War Criminals, Individuals and Groups | |
| 88-89 | Refugees and Displaced Persons (5 files) |
Geographic Correspondence File 1943-July 1945 (Entry
2)
Boxes 104-121
| Box # | Country | Decimal# | File Title or Subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| 121 | Spain | 092 | Spanish Relations, Vol. I, June 1944- |
| Sweden | 091 | Sweden, Vol. I June 8, 1944- | |
| Sweden | 092 | Swedish Relations, Vol. I September 1944- | |
| Switzerland | 091 | Swiss Relations, Vol. I September 1944- | |
| Switzerland | 091/1 | Swiss Observers, Vol. I September 1944- | |
| Switzerland | 373.5 | Violations of Swiss Neutrality, Vol. I, May 1944 |
Records of the G-1 Division
Decimal Correspondence File 1944-1945 (Entry 6)
Boxes 1-45
| Box # | Decimal # | File Title or Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 000.4-1 | Preservation of Archives |
| 000.4-2 | Prohibition of Sale of Export Work of Art in Germany | |
| 1-2 | War Crimes | |
| 4 | 007 | Fine Arts |
| 5 | 091.112-5 | Officials- |
| 11 | 250/2-1 | General |
| 250/2-2 | Control of Looting in Germany | |
| 250/2-10 | Investigation of Alleged Looting by American Soldiers in Vicinity of Nismegens, Holland | |
| 383.4 | Handling of Allied and Neutral Nationals Who Collaborated | |
| 383.4-11 | Swiss Nationals | |
| 29 | 383.7 | Refugees and Displaced Persons (13 files) |
| 383.7/1 | UNRRA (2 files) |
Records of the G-2 Division
Executive Sub-Division Decimal File 1944-July 1945 (Entry 11)
Boxes 1-8
| Box # | Decimal # | File Title or Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 000.4 | Preservation of Archives |
| 091 | Spain | |
| 091 | Sweden | |
| 091.31 | Swiss Aid to Germany (1944-1945) | |
| 092-3 | Political Intelligence |
Operational Intelligence Library Publication File 1942-1945 (Entry 13A)
Boxes 50-61
| Box # | File Title or Subject |
|---|---|
| 53 | Foreign Workers in Camp and Hostilities in Germany |
| 59 | Directory of Public Personalities in Germany Life-Rhineland and Westphalia-Banking |
Records of the G-5 Division
Records of the Secretariat
Numeric File August 1943-July 1945 (Entry 47)
Boxes 1-65
| Box # | File # | File Title or Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1/13 | Financial Branch Folder FINANCIAL - GERMANY- DISCOVERIES OF GOLD AND OTHER VALUABLES contains numerous documents dated April, May, and June, 1945. |
| 4 | 21/4 | Blocking (Freezing) and Property Control |
| 51 | Displaced Persons | |
| 18-19 | 751 | Public Monuments and Fine Arts |
| 20-21 | 751/1 | Museum, Fine Arts and Archives Operations Reports |
| 21 | 751/3/1 | SHAEF Official Lists |
| 751/3 | Museum, Fine Arts and Archives Lists | |
| 751/4 | MFA&A Archives | |
| 751/3/2 | Lists-Miscellaneous | |
| 751/2/21 | Depositories-Germany | |
| 30 | 853 | Vichy Officials |
| 856 | Enemy Atrocities | |
| 858 | Protection of Private Property | |
| 904/3 | Public Safety Planning-Concentration Camps | |
| Legal Branch | ||
| 35 | 1802 | Claims |
| 1816 | War Criminals | |
| Displaced Persons Branch | ||
| 47 | France (2 files) | |
| 48 | France (3 files) | |
| Belgium (4 files) | ||
| Netherlands (2 files) | ||
| 49 | Netherlands (2 files) | |
| Norway (3 files) | ||
| Denmark (2 files) | ||
| Poland (2 files) | ||
| USSR (3 files) | ||
| 50 | 2707/6 | USSR-PW |
| Czechoslovakia (3 files) | ||
| Jugoslavia (2 files) | ||
| Italy (3 files) | ||
| Germany (5 files) | ||
| 2711/7 | Germany-Concentration Camps | |
| 2711/7.1 | 21 AG [Army Group]-Bergen-Belsen | |
| 2711/7.2 | 12 AG [Army Group]-Mauthausen | |
| 2711/7.21 | Buchenwald | |
| 2711/7.3 | 6 AG [Army Group]-Dachau | |
| 51 | 2711/7.4 | SAARF Luxembourg (2 files) |
| 2713 | Channel Islands | |
| 2715 | Greece | |
| 2717 | Austria | |
| 2718 | Sweden | |
| 2719 | Baltic States | |
| 51-52 | UNRRA (12 files) | |
| 56 | 2840 | Persecuted Persons |
| 2843 | Foreign Workers in Germany | |
| 2847 | TODT Organization Workers | |
| 2852 | Racial and Political Prisoners | |
| 58 | Field Reports (5 files) | |
| Information Branch | ||
| 65 | 4693 | Intelligence-G-5 Weekly Journal of Information |
| 4694 | Intelligence-G-5 Political Intelligence Newsletter | |
Subject Files 1944-July 1945 (Entry 48)
Boxes 66-72
| Box # | File Title |
|---|---|
| 67 | Handbooks- Archives - West Germany |
| 72 | Weekly Information Bulletin |
| Weekly Progress Reports | |
| Weekly Summaries | |
| Weekly Field Reports | |
| Weekly CA [Civil Affairs] Summaries |
Records of the Economics Branch
Subject File April 1944-July 1945 (Entry 49)
Boxes 73-94
| Box # | File Title |
|---|---|
| 78 | Displaced Persons |
| 82 | Handbooks(Germany)-Fianncial and Property Control |
| 87 | Misc. MFA&A Personnel Correspondence |
| 91 | Refugees and Displaced Persons |
| 93 | Supplies—Swiss and Spain |
| 94 | UNRRA |
Records of the Information Branch, Historical Section
Subject Index to Entry 54 (Entry 51)
Arranged alphabetically by subject. Boxes 1-15
Numeric-Subject Planning File 1943-July 1945 (Entry 53)
Boxes 95-108
| Box # | File# | File Title |
|---|---|---|
| 102 | 15.13 | Displaced Persons Section |
| 15.14 | Arts,Monuments and Archives | |
| 106 | 23 | UNRRA |
Numeric-Subject Operations File 1943-July 1945 (Entry
54)
Boxes 109-321
| Box # | File # | File Title or Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 110 | 6 | UNRRA |
| 165 | 17.6 | Historical Report, dated April 1945, under headings FINANCE and MONUMENTS, FINE ARTS AND ARCHIVES pp. 21-43--deals with recovery of Gold and Art work. (Jacket #10) |
| 195 | 25 | German Documents |
| 198-199 | 31.06 | US Group Control Council-Museum, Fine Arts and Archives Branch |
| 207 | 51.05 | List of Archives-Berlin, Germany |
| 209 | 51.05 | Basic Handbook, Part II, Nazi Europe |
| 218-219 | 105 | G-5 Reports and Summaries of Field Operations |
| 219 | 105 | G-5 Functions in ETOUSA Operations: Merkers- Herringen-Frankfurt Areas in Germany 9 April to 22 April 1945, dated 26 April 1945. This file contains several reports on the discovery and disposition of gold and other valuables discovered in Germany by the U.S. Army in April 1945. |
| 111 | Displaced Persons Branch. | |
| 220 | Displaced Persons (files on Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Norway) | |
| 221 | 111.21 | Displaced Persons Report |
| 111.21 | Displaced Persons Directives and Instructions | |
| 224 | 113.05 | Financial Branch-Germany |
| 113.05 | Financial Branch-Germany (Special File) | |
| 272 | 130 | Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives |
| 130 | MFA&A-Italy | |
| 130.04 | MFA&A-Monuments | |
| 130.05 | MFA&A-Germany | |
| 130.21 | MFA&A-Reports | |
| 130.22 | MFA&A-Directives and Instructions | |
| 299-313 | European Civil Affairs Division | |
| 314-315 | War Office Civil Affairs Directorate | |
| 315-321 | Civil Affairs Groups |
Records of the Operations Branch, Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section
Subject File August 1943-1945 (Entry 55B)
Boxes 322-336
| Box # | File Titles or Subjects |
|---|---|
| 322 | Administration (4 folders) Administration-War Diary Archives (7 folders) Reports-Special U.S. Army B |
| 323 | The Renders Collection-Brussels Censorship Submissions Correspondence (2 folders) Communication Zone U.S. Army (2 folders) 12th Army Group 12th Army Group Correspondence 15th U.S.Army Art Protection-Miscellaneous Art Protection-Enemy |
| 324 | Correspondence |
| 325 | Intelligence-Repositories-Germany (2 folders) Intelligence-Repositories-Other Countries Intelligence-General Looting-Einsatzstab Rosenberg [ERR] |
| 326 | Looting-France Looting-France-Fench Restitution Committee
(2 folders) MFA&A List-Misc. |
| 327 | Looting-France-Fench Restitution Committee and D.G.E.R. MFA&A Intelligence-Official List of Monuments (2 folders) List of Repositories-France Looting-Belgium and Netherlands Looting-Goudstikker Collection Looting-General Looting-Italy Looting-Schloss Collection Looting-Miscellaneous Lectures |
| 328 | Maps SHAEF Mission-Belgium SHAEF Mission-France SHAEF Mission-Luxembourg SHAEF Mission-Norway SHAEF Mission-Netherlands |
| 329 | MFA&A Official Lists (2 folders) MFA&A Personnel-Enemy MFA&A Organization (4 folders) |
| 330 | MFA&A Personnel-Enemy MFA&A Personnel-Miscellaneous MFA&A Personnel-General MFA&A Personnel-Officers-British (Personal Histories) MFA&A Personnel-Officers-British-General MFA&A Personnel-Officers-U.S.-General MFA&A Personnel-Officers-U.S. (Personal Histories) MFA&A Personnel-OR/EM MFA&A Personnel-French |
| 331-332 | Policy and Procedures |
| 332 | P/W and Civilian Interrogations Posters Proclamations Public Relations-General Public Relations-Press Clippings Public Relations-Enemy Releases Publications Public Monuments, Arts and Archives (2 folders) |
| 333-336 | Reports |
| 336 | Supplies (4 folders) Technical Instructions ETO Office Working File Index (SHAEF) |
Records of the Adjutant General's Division
War Diaries (Entry 58)
G-5 Division War Diaries
Boxes 51-60 January-June
1945 contain references to looted gold, etc.
Records of the Executive Section
Decimal File (Entry 56)
Decimal File 1945
Box 190 Decimal 386 Property
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