Collection MF111-MF160 - US JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF OFFICIAL PAPERS, 1942-1945

Key Information

Reference code

MF111-MF160

Title

US JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF OFFICIAL PAPERS, 1942-1945

Date(s)

  • 1980-1981 (Creation)
  • 1942-1945 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent

50 reels and 5 published guides

Scope and content

Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, part 1: 1942-1945 is a themed microfilm collection containing copies of official documents of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1942-1945. Documents include meeting minutes and memoranda and reports relating to grand strategic issues, the Pacific theatre, the European theatre, and the Soviet Union. Meeting minutes include those for the conference held at Casablanca, Morocco, codenamed ANFA, in which the Anglo-American Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) first discussed the policies of German unconditional surrender, the Combined Bomber Offensive from Great Britain against Germany and the establishment of the French National Committee for Liberation, 14-24 Jan 1943; the Allied conference held at Washington, DC, codenamed TRIDENT, in which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Prime Minister Rt Hon Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, and the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) discussed the decision to delay the invasion of France until May 1944, the Italian surrender, and the Battle of the Atlantic, 11-25 May 1943; the Allied conference at Quebec City, Canada, codenamed QUADRANT, in which the Allies endorsed a plan for the invasion of the Normandy coast in France, formed a new theatre of war, South-East Asia Command, with Acting Adm Lord Louis (Francis Albert Victor Nicholas) Mountbatten as Supreme Allied Commander, and regulated the procedures for co-operation between Great Britain and the US regarding the development and production of the atomic bomb, 12-24 Aug 1943; the Allied conferences at Cairo, Egypt, codenamed SEXTANT, in which the Allies discussed combined operations in South-East Asia with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek's Chinese forces, 22-26 Nov and 2-7 Dec 1943; the Allied conference at Teheran, Iran, codenamed EUREKA, in which the Allies first co-ordinated future strategy with Soviet Prime Minister Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, including plans to coincide military operations against Germany in France and the Soviet Union in May 1944, 28-30 Nov 1943; the conference at Quebec City, Canada, codenamed OCTAGON, in which the Allies discussed the post-war division of Germany and a plan for its de-industrialisation, 12-16 Sep 1944; the conferences at Malta and Yalta, Soviet Union, codenamed ARGONAUT, in which the Allies discussed the division of post-war Germany, the occupation of Germany and Austria, Soviet involvement in the war against Japan, and the future government and frontiers of Poland, 30 Jan-9 Feb 1945; the conference at Potsdam, Germany, codenamed TERMINAL, in which the surrender terms for Japan were discussed, the boundaries and peace terms for Europe were determined and Poland's government and frontiers were debated, 16 Jul-2 Aug 1945. Papers relating to grand strategic issues include US Joint Chiefs of Staff documents on Allied production and assignment of war materials; British and US merchant vessel losses; US policy concerning assignments of Lend-Lease military aircraft, naval vessels and munitions to Great Britain; Allied petroleum supplies; propaganda and unconventional warfare; war crimes and prisoners of war; and the summit conferences held between the Allied powers of the US, Great Britain and the Soviet Union, 1942-1945. Papers relating to the European theatre include US Joint Chiefs of Staff memoranda and operational reports concerning the planning and conduct of Allied offensive operations in Europe, including the invasion of North Africa, codenamed Operation TORCH, Nov 1942; the invasion of Sicily, Italy, codenamed Operation HUSKY, Jul 1943; the US preparation for the invasion of Europe, codenamed Operation BOLERO; and the Allied invasion of Europe, codenamed Operation OVERLORD, Jun 1944. Papers relating to the Pacific theatre include US Joint Chiefs of Staff memoranda and operational reports concerning the Japanese war economy; Japanese Imperial Army logistical capabilities; locations and strengths of Japanese forces in the Pacific; British participation in long range bombing of Japan; Allied operational efforts in Burma, India, Malaya, and the Philippines; Soviet claims on the Sakhalin and Kuril islands; and the co-ordination of Allied strategic plans for the defeat and occupation of Japan, 1943-1944. US Joint Chiefs of Staff papers relating to the Soviet Union include estimates, memoranda, conference minutes and reports concerning the disclosure of Allied technical information to the Soviet Union; Soviet military action to facilitate Operation OVERLORD; liaison between Allied theatre commanders and the Soviet Army; Soviet capabilities with reference to the Far East; US Lend-Lease requirements for the Soviet Union; and estimates of Soviet post-war capabilities and intentions, 1943-1945.

System of arrangement

Arranged in the following sections: meetings; strategic issues; the European theater; the Pacific theater; the Soviet Union — and chronologically within each section

General Information

Custodial history

University Publications of America, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Conditions governing access

Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification, to include one photographic ID.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies may be printed off the microfilm/microfiche for research purposes and are charged at cost.

Enquiries concerning the copyright of the original material should be addressed to University Publications of America Inc.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Finding aids

This collection level description. Further finding aids may be available in the Reading Room.

Existence and location of originals

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC, USA.

Related materials

Further microfilmed papers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff may be found ay KCLMA MF 1-70.

Related descriptions

Note

Compiled Aug 1999

Alternative identifier(s)

Genre access points

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000.

Script(s)

Accession area