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Harry S Truman Presidential Oral History Files is a themed microfiche collection composed of transcribed interviews relating to the professional career of Harry S Truman. From 1961 to 1989, the Harry S Truman Library conducted over 400 interviews for the oral history project, each relating to aspects of Truman's professional life, including his career as an artillery officer during World War One; district judge, 1922-1934; US Senator, 1934-1944; and President of the United States, 1945-1953. Included among the interviewees are Dean Acheson, US Secretary of State, 1949-1953; Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor, Federal Republic of Germany, 1949-1963; Richard Bolling, First Secretary, Office of US Political Adviser to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, Tokyo, Japan, 1950; John H Chiles, Secretary, General Staff of the Far East Command, and Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, 1948-1950; Clark McAdams Clifford, Special Counsel to the President, 1946-1950; 1st Lt Lorain H Cunningham, 129 Field Artillery, US Army, 1917-1918; Edgar C Faris, Jr, Secretary to Truman as Senator of Missouri, 1935-1938; Abraham Feinberg, friend of Truman, active in the creation of the State of Israel, 1945-1948; Raymond W Goldsmith, economist, US Department of State, 1947-1949; Gordon Gray, Secretary of the Army, 1949-1950 and Special Assistant to the President, 1950; (William) Averell Harriman, US Ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1943-1946 and to Great Britain, 1946, Special Assistant to the President, 1950- 1951, and Chairman, NATO Commission on Defence Plans, 1951; Edwin A Locke, Jr, Personal Representative of the President to China, 1945, Special Assistant to the President, 1946-1947, and Ambassador in Charge of US Mission to the Near East, 1951-1952; Robert Abercrombie Lovett, US Secretary of Defense, 1951-1953; Sir Roger Mellor Makins, British Deputy Under Secretary of State, 1948-1952, and British Ambassador to the United States, 1953-1956; and Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States, 1953-1969

Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, part 2: 1946-53 is a themed microfilm collection containing copies of official documents of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), 1946-1953. Documents include meeting minutes and memoranda and reports relating to strategic issues; Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); the Far East; the Middle East; the Soviet Union; and the United States. Meeting minutes include those of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1948-1954, and its committees, the US Joint Logistics Committee, 1946-1947; the US Joint Logistics Plans Committee, 1946-1947; the US Joint Staff Planners, 1946-1947; and the US Joint Strategic Plans Committee, 1947-1953. Documents relating to strategic issues include Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting memoranda and official reports concerning the effect of the atomic bomb on warfare and military organisation; scientific representation from British Admiralty and Air Ministry at the atomic bomb trials, 1945; projected Soviet atomic capabilities; armed forces participation in proof-testing operations for atomic weapons; the control and direction of strategic atomic operations; requirements for the stockpile of atomic weapons in North America and Western Europe; atomic requirements from NATO member states; US psychological and unconventional warfare; US industrial mobilisation planning; US Joint Chiefs of Staff plans for global demarcation into areas of strategic control; and post-war US military requirements, 1945-1954. Documents relating to Europe and NATO include Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting minutes concerning the political stability of post-war Austria, Hungary, Finland, the Balkans, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Iceland, Italy, the Trieste Free Territory, and Spain; the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty; NATO command arrangements; the state of the armed forces in European NATO member states; the defensive capabilities of Western Europe; the establishment of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers in Europe (SHAPE); and the establishment and function of the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR). Documents relating to the Far East include meeting minutes and memoranda concerning the demilitarisation of China, 1945; reform of the Japanese government, 1945; British and Canadian requests for information on the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945-1948; US military assistance to the Netherlands Indies Forces, Netherland East Indies, 1946; US military assistance to the Philippines; US policy in reference to the adoption of the Japanese Constitution, 3 Nov 1946; the post-war disposition of combatant vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy; the implications of possible Chinese Communist attack on foreign colonies in South China, 1949; the defence of Formosa, 1949-1953; the withdrawal of US occupation forces from Japan; the planning and conduct of the Korean War, 1950-1953; talks with French and British military representatives regarding the defence of Indochina, 1950; possible US military involvement in Indochina, 1950-1953; the Treaty of Peace with Japan, Aug 1951; US military assistance to Japan, 1951-1954. Documents relating to the Middle East include US Joint Chiefs of Staff reports on political and military relations with Iran, Palestine and Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, 1946-1954. Documents relating to the Soviet Union include US Joint Chiefs of Staff political estimates of Soviet policy; intelligence estimates assuming war developed between the Soviet Union and the Non-Soviet Powers, 1946-1953; Soviet objectives in relation to the strength of its armed forces; Soviet capabilities in the Far East, Central and South America, and the Middle East; estimates of the scale and nature of Soviet attacks on the United Kingdom and Western Europe; plans for military aid to US allies and NATO member states. Documents relating to the United States include US Joint Chiefs of Staff memoranda and reports concerning the strategic defence of US territory; US programmes for national security; and civil defence capabilities, 1946-1953.

Anti-British propaganda leaflet, in Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu; anti-British propaganda leaflet calling for the Indian Independence League in East Asia to assist the Japanese in ridding Asia of all British influences; anti-French propaganda leaflet distributed in Indo- China announcing the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, 1942

Typescript papers relating to Territorial Army annual training exercises, UK, 1935-1937. Papers relating to Barber's time as a Japanese POW in Changi POW Camp, Singapore, 1942-1945, including detailed manuscript diary, 25 Aug 1942-4 Sep 1945, with notes on diet, casualties, disease and nominal rolls of prisoners; eight manuscript letters home from Barber, written after the liberation of Singapore, 1945; printed 'Memorandum for the information of prisoners of war of United Kingdom Forces detained in the Far East' [1945]; two 18 Division Association printed booklets, 1950 and 1993. Two portrait photographs of Barber [1939]. Papers relating to the campaign in France, 1940, including four printed maps of France, Belgium and the Netherlands, various scales, 1938-1939; typescript 'Orders for troops in transit at Cherbourg' and 'Orders for disembarkation' [1940]. Printed training manuals, 1925-1945, including Royal Army Service Corps training manual Mechanical transport. Maintenance, upkeep and operation (HMSO, London, 1925); Section leading (HMSO, London, 1928); Air Raid Precautions. Respirators (HMSO, London, 1939).

Signal from Chiefs of Staff to Barker, 1945, outlining the role of Shield Force in the re-establishment of British administration in Hong Kong.

Typescript memoir entitled 'Ships in bottles' covering his life and naval career, 1902-1952, notably his service in the North Sea and the English Channel, 1915-1916, off the West coast of Ireland, 1917-1918, in Turkey, 1922, China, 1927-1929, the Mediterranean, 1934-1936 and 1939-1940, the North Sea, 1941-1942, the Indian Ocean, 1942-1944, at destroyer base HMS DEFENDER, Liverpool, 1944-1945, and in West Africa, 1945-1946.

A themed microfilm collection containing copies of messages, telegrams, and reports sent from US Department of State personnel to the United States Executive Branch relating to civil, military, and political events in Korea, 1950-1957.

Papers relating to writings, broadcasts and lectures, 1969-1985, including typescripts for Evelyn Baring the last Proconsul, incorporating copy source material from 1942 and correspondence with publishers; newspaper articles, 1971-1985; and memoirs of boyhood and schooldays. Papers relating to conferences and travels, 1965-1982, including typescript and manuscript accounts of visits to South Africa, Swaziland, Rhodesia and Kenya in 1976, Iran in 1978, China, Hong Kong and India, 1979 and Brazil and Chile, 1980; and diary of travels, 1976-1980. Personal papers, including invitations and correspondence, 1970-1985.

Copies of papers relating to his military career, dated [1951-1952] and 1994, notably including obituary from [regimental magazine], 1994, and newspaper cutting relating to his service in Korea, [1951-1952]

Edition of A Gazetteer of Greece published by the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for the Admiralty and War Office (House of the Royal Geographical Society, London, 1942). Also, official 1945 edition of RAF Map Catalogue containing lists of maps of Europe, the Middle East and the Far East held by the RAF and published by Directorate of Military Survey, Middle East; Directorate of Survey, Geographical Section General Staff, India; the Australian Survey Corps; the Aeronautical Chart Service; US Army Air Forces; and the Army Map Service, US Army. Book of maps published by the Institute for Army Education relating to the British campaign in Burma, 1942-1945, and including maps of Northern Arakan, the Assam Front, the Kohima Sector, the Imphal Sector, the Irrawaddy, and campaigns in Burma and Eastern India, 1942-1945. Ministry of Defence map and air chart sales catalogue containing details of all maps and aeronautical chart series released for sale to the public by the Ministry of Defence, including world surface maps, aeronautical topographical and planning charts, and special navigational charts, 1968- 1971.

Papers relating to his military career, 1939-1962, principally his service in Burma, 1939-1941, UK, 1941-1943, North Africa, 1943, Italy, 1943-1944, and Korea, 1955-1956, notably including battalion orders for 2 Bn, Sherwood Foresters, 1945; German propaganda leaflets for US and Allied troops, [1944]. 'An ancient Yorkshire family', a history of the Slingsby family, written by Slingsby in 1989.

Copies of papers relating to his career and the strategic significance of seapower, 1915-1962, including official and personal correspondence, 1915-1936, including letters from Adm Sir Arthur Cavenagh Leveson, Commander-in-Chief, China Station, 1923, R Adm Montagu William Warcop Peter Consett, 1923, V Adm Sir Lewis Clinton-Baker, 1926, Lt Gen John Greer Dill, 1929-1936, Adm Sir Herbert William Richmond, 1929, Maj Gen William Henry Bartholomew, 1929, R Adm Ragnar Musgrave Colvin, Chief of Staff, Home Fleet, 1931, Cdre Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1932; manuscript narrative diary, HMS HAREBELL, Fishery Protection, 1925-1926; typescript copies of lectures given at the Imperial Defence College, 1927-1935; manuscript notes on the history of the Peninsular Campaigns, Napoleonic Wars, 1807-1814 [1928]; published articles by Dickens, letters to the press and book reviews, mainly relating to the Royal Navy and the projection of seapower, 1929-1962; manuscript narrative war diary, 1940-1945, with manuscript notes on the Korean War, 1950; official and personal correspondence, 1940-1945, including letters from Rt Hon Maurice Paschal Alers Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey of The Chart, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1940, letter from Capt Wilfrid Rupert Patterson, Captain of HMS KING GEORGE V, on the sinking of the German battleship BISMARCK, 1941, letters from Adm Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Bt, 1941-1944, letter from Augustus (Edwin) John, 1943, letter from R Adm John Anthony Vere Morse, 1943, letter from AF Sir John Cronyn Tovey, Commander-in-Chief, the Nore, 1945, also, typescript report by Dickens to the Admiralty on the German attack on the Netherlands, 22 May 1940 and copy of Adm Cunningham's official signal to the Admiralty on the surrender of the Italian Fleet, Malta, 10 Sep 1943; newspaper cuttings and correspondence relating to Bombing and strategy. The fallacy of total war (Sampson Low, Marston and Company, London, 1947), including letters of congratulation from Adm Cunningham, US Adm Richard L Conolly, Maj Gen John Frederick Charles Fuller, and Cdre Guy Willoughby, 1947; personal correspondence, 1947-1962, including letters from AF Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, 1947-1959, Adm Bruce Austin Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape, 1948, Adm Sir (Eric James) Patrick Brind, Commander-in-Chief, Far East Station, 1949, Rt Hon Maurice Paschal Alers Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey of The Chart, 1949, AF Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, 1954, AF Alfred Ernie Montacute Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield of Ditchling, 1959, R Adm George Pirie Thomson, 1959; manuscript notes and annotated typescript draft chapters for projected autobiography [1960].

Papers relating to the career and publications of Lieutenant General Cyril Durnford, 1914-1956, notably correspondence including letters of thanks and congratulations from colleagues, government officials and industry figures; progress reports and testimonials; official notices regarding promotion, awards and transfers; sailing orders; leave arrangements; mess arrangements and pay information, 1914-1947. Administrative papers including minutes, memorandums and reports including: "Summary of the Principal Military Reasons for the Urgent Construction of the Tauda China - Wana Road", 1930; "Passage of troops via the Imphal Road", 1942; "Despatching Stores along the Imphal Road", 1942; "Reorganisation of Command in Deccan District and Sind Area", 1943; "Report on Operations on Shatt Al Charraf (Sharaf) by 34 Brigade Column"; minutes of extraordinary meeting of the War Projects Coordination and Administrative Committee to consider Inter-Branch Subjects, 18-20 May, 1943; file regarding coordination of administrative functions at General Headquarters, India, 1943. Papers relating to Durnford's publications, including copies of articles "Imperial Organisation in Relation to Imperial Defence" and "The Arab Insurrection of 1920-21", [1924-25]; copies of The Journal of the United Service Institute of India , Vol LX, No 261, Oct 1930, including Gold Medal Prize Essay by Durnford on the subject of assisting economic development of tribal territories and finding employment for tribesmen; copies of The Journal of the United Service Institute of India , Vol LXIX, No 294, Jan 1939; including Highly Commended Essay by Durnford on modern army strategy and tactics; correspondence with Edward Machie of The Statesman newspaper, Mar-Sept 1947, regarding a series of articles by Durnford on 'The Foundations of India's Security', with drafts of the articles entitled: 'A Strong Man Armed Keepeth His House', 'Threats to India's Security', 'Can an Independent India Stand Alone?', 'The Bases of Defence Planning' and 'Internal Unity'; draft of article, 'Forgotten Men', Jan 1949, about the officers of the Indian Army; copy of 'Planning, Development and Operation of the Assam Lines of Communication, 1941-45', by Maj Gen George Neville Russell and Brig Richard Gardiner, 1951, with annotations by Durnford and related memo from Quartermaster General's Branch regarding maintenance of troops in Kalewa, Burma, 1942; correspondence with the Observer newspaper regarding Durnford's review of Defeat into Victory by FM Sir William Joseph Slim and correspondence with others regarding the review, 1956. With portrait photograph of Durnford, July 1943.

Report by Gavin on 101 Special Training School, 1942, including details of its formation, organisation, training and operations in the Far East, May 1941-Mar 1942. The School aimed to train all types of personnel, whether military, civilian, European or native, in irregular warfare.

Papers relating to Watts' RN career, training of RN Engineers and meteorology, 1945-1990, including three telegrams relating to the German and Japanese surrenders, May and Aug 1945, and to the signing of the Japanese surrender, Tokyo Bay, Japan, Sep 1945; lectures and talks by Watts relating to RN Engineer training, 1960-1962; typescript lecture notes entitled 'The Instructor Branch' [1961]; typescript address to Royal Naval Reserve Instructor Officers, [1964]; correspondence with R Adm Sir William (Alfred) Bishop, R Adm Christopher John Howard, Capt John Athol Burnett, RN, Capt Arthur Ernest Johnston, RN, Capt Alexander Malcolm Morrice, RN, Cdr William Nimmo Bowman, RN, and Richard J Ogden, Apr-Nov 1988, relating to research for a lecture by Watts on 'Meteorology in the Royal Navy in World War Two' to the History Group of the Royal Meteorological Society, Oct 1988, with edition of Meteorology and World War II. Second conference, October 1988, edited by Brian Douglas Giles (Royal Meteorological Society, School of Geography, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, 1989); typescript account of German bombing of HMS ILLUSTRIOUS off Pantelleria, Mediterranean, 10 Jan 1941, entitled 'A day to remember', with two sketch maps of the operation [1990]; typescript lecture notes on the organisation of the RN Meteorological Service in World War Two [1990].

US Strategic Bombing Survey, Civil Defense Division, report entitled Target Report of Civilian Defense Division Field Team No 82, covering air-raid protection facilities and allied subjects in the city of Hamburg, Germany, 1945. The report is in two volumes. The first volume contains the field report of the US Strategic Bombing Survey, Civil Defense Division, and includes information on the organisation and operation of German civil defence, including fire control and incident control precautions; German passive defence installations and precautions, including gas protection and camouflage; information on German evacuation techniques and civil defence training measures. The second volume contains photographic, manuscript, and typescript exhibits for the first volume. Included in the second volume are population figures of Hamburg, 1940-1945; damage statistics for dwellings, cultural buildings, and industrial buildings, 1940-1945; statistics on those killed during the bombing of Hamburg, 1940-1945; organisation of German anti-aircraft divisions; organisational chart of German air raid personnel; photographs of oil refinery and storage fires caused during Allied bombing raids in Jul 1943; photographs of civilians killed during Allied bombing raid in Jul 1943; translation of German instructional regulations on how to handle the dead; report on the activities of German medical and emergency personnel; statistics on the heavy raids on Hamburg, 24 Jul-3 Aug 1943; reports of interviews with German civil servants, police and fire personnel, and air defence personnel.

Papers relating to his military career, 1937-1972, principally comprising recruitment poster for North Staffordshire Regt, 1937; unsigned account of operations of 2 Bn North Staffs Regt, France, 12 May-1 Jun 1940, written in [1940]; unsigned account of operations of 6 Bn North Staffordshire Regt, France, 1 Jul-31 Aug 1944, written in [1944]; The Battle of Flanders by Kenneth Adam (Hutchinson and Co, London, 1940); papers relating to his service with North Staffordshire Regt in Trieste, 1951-1953, principally comprising press cuttings concerning protests against the Allied Military Government in Trieste, 1953, and official photographs of visit by Adm Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, [1952-1953]; copies of letters written to his family during his service in Korea, 1953-1954; press cuttings relating to evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, 1940. Papers relating to Bird's grandfather Gen James Lewis Bird, 1857- 1938, notably including copy of a letter from Gen James Lewis Bird to his sister Pamela, 2 Jun 1857, describing the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny at Meerut, India, May-Jun 1857.

Photographs relating to his naval career, 1912-1949, including photograph album containing photographs taken during his service on HMS BACCHANTE, 1914-1915, at Gallipoli, 1915, and in the North Sea, 1916-1918, Baltic Sea, 1918-1920, East Indies and East Africa, 1921-1924, China Station, 1932-1934, Mediterranean, 1941-1943; photographs of Allied landings at Sword Beach, Normandy, France, 1944. Two volumes of press cuttings relating to the publication of Bless our ship (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1958), 1958, The flowers of the sea (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1962), 1962 and 1971, and Salute the soldier, (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1966), 1966, and Gallipoli (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1975), 1975.

Documents of the National Security Council, 1947-1985 are microfilmed copies of memoranda, policy papers, directives and records of actions undertaken by the US National Security Council, 1947-1985. Document material relates to US policy with respect to Japan, the Soviet Union, China, 1948-49; military assistance to non-communist nations, 1948-49; US policy on atomic warfare, 1948; the Berlin Blockade; the United Nations decision to introduce military forces to Palestine, 1948; US policy towards Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe, 1949; US courses of action with respect to the Republic of Korea, 1950-53; responsibilities of the Central Intelligence Agency with respect to guerrilla warfare, 1952; US policy and courses of action to counter possible Soviet or satellite action against Berlin, 1952; US objectives and actions to exploit the unrest in the Soviet satellite states, 1953; US courses of action with respect to Latin America, Iran and South Asia, 1953-85; covert operations, 1954-75; nuclear attack warning channel and procedures for civilians, 1955-65; the political implications of Afro-Asian military take-overs, 1959; US policy towards Cuba, 1959-60; US strategic nuclear forces capabilities, 1960-85; US military, political and psychological operations in South East Asia, 1961-74; US training objectives for counterinsurgency, 1962-85; the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT); US policy on arms transfers, 1975-85; the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; US policy towards Cuba and Central America, 1982; the US approach to the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START), 1982-85. Policy papers and progress reports relate to all European nations, the Soviet Union and its satellites, Canada, Latin America, Japan, The Middle East, the People's Republic of China, South East Asia, Angola, North Africa, 1947-1985.