Cassino to the Alps - US Army Center Of Military History

The main body of records upon
which this volume is based is to be
found in the Modern Military Records
Division of the National Archives in
Washington. They consist fcx the most
part of monthly after-action reports
together with supporting documents
such as staff journals, message files,
telephone logs, and periodic reports.
The after-action reports are narrative
summaries of operations prepared by
every unit from army down to regiment
and separate battalion. Varying in quality
from unit to unit, they must be
checked against the accompanying journals
and message files; nevertheless,
these reports provide a valuable framework
in fitting information contained in
the supporting document-Dften frag-mentary-into
place.
For operations above the army level,
records of Allied Force Headquarters
(AFHQ), consisting of a vast collection
of reports, messages, planning papers,
and correspondence, are an important
primary source. They are to be found
on microfilm at the Modern Military
Records Division.
The National Archives Records Service
is also the repository for microfilm
of captured German records; the originals,
including maps, having been returned
to Germany. An index, The
Guide to German Records Microfilmed at
Alexandria, Virginia, consists of many
volumes.
The most useful of the German
records are the War Diaries (KTB) of
the Tenth and Fourteenth Armies. In
addition to daily summaries of operations,
the diaries contain messages and
Note on Sources
transcripts of telephone conversations
between commanders. These transcripts,
especially, offer valuable insights
into the thinking of senior German
commanders in Italy, for in most cases
they, unlike American telephone logs,
are not summaries but are complete
and candid. The wealth of the army
records in large measure makes up f()r
the fact that those of Army Group Care
missing, probably lost in the war.
The War Diary of the German high
command has been published as Kriegstagesbuch
des Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
(Wehrmachtfuhrungsstab), edited by
Helmuth Greiner and Percy Ernst
Schramm, Vols. 1-4, Frankfurt alMain,
1961. Volume IV, parts 1 and 2, are
most useful for the Italian cam paign.
Unfortunately, the diary for the last
month of the war is missing.
Unofficial Records (Allied)
Three American generals-Devers,
Clark, and Walker-made their wartime
diaries available to the author.
General Clark lent that part of his diary
relating to the campaign from May
1944 to May 1945, while the other two
diaries are on file in the Center of
Military History. The diaries include
observations, comments, summaries of
meetings, and correspondence dictated,
generally on a daily basis, to each
individual's aide de camp, who actually
kept the diary. Frequently there are
candid comments on events and personalities
not to be found elsewhere in
the record.
Also on file in the Center of Military