Piercing the Fog - Air Force Historical Studies Office

Piercing the Fog
University Library, New Haven, Connecticut. A microfilm copy is available in
the Library of Congress’s Manuscript Division. The Stimson papers for this
period are mostly of a personal nature; few bear on the question of AAF
operations and intelligence. The Stimson Diaries, however, are quite different.
Stimson made daily and often extensive entries, many of which bear on the
atomic bomb decision. Prior permission to cite or quote from the Stimson
Diaries must be obtained from the Yale University Library, Manuscripts and
Archives Division.
The Ira C. Eaker Collection, useful for its coverage of early strategic air
operations out of England, is much skimpier for the time after the general
moved to the Mediterranean in January 1944. Most likely this reflects Eaker’s
focus in his new position on diplomacy and policy in contrast to immediate
operational concerns. General Carl Spaatz’s papers contain a wealth of material
on all aspects of the air wars in both the Mediterranean and European theaters.
The reports and records of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey are
found in the National Archives, Record Group 243. They are also available in
a few major libraries nationwide. This material is an excellent after-the-fact
review of the bombing of Germany and Japan. Little in the reports, however,
describes or records the day-to-day intelligence operation by the Air Staff.
In addition, the personal and professional papers of two other key airmen
proved valuable for understanding air intelligence in the latter half of the war
in Europe. The USAF Academy Library Special Collections section holds the
papers of Brig. Gen. George C. McDonald, who served as Spaatz’s Chief
Intelligence Officer, Northwest African Air Forces, then as Director of
Intelligence, United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, from January 1944
until the end of the war. Although much more limited than either the Eaker or
Spaatz Papers, and less well organized internally, they contain some material
that does not appear in other collections of papers or in the files of HQ USSTAF
contained in the USAF Collection. Also in the Academy’s Special Collections
are the papers of Maj. Gen. Haywood S. Hansell, Jr. Although limited in
content, the papers of Lt. Gen. Elwood R. Quesada held in the Library of
Congress contain information that proved most helpful in determining the role
of signals intelligence and photointelligence in tactical air operations from the
spring of 1944 to the spring of 1945.
Primary sources dealing with ULTRA and MAGIC for both the Eurcpean and
Pacific war fall into two categories. The first includes the National Security
Agency Special Research Histories (SRHs), most of which are available at the
AFHSO at Bolling AFB. These studies are collections of declassified wartime
reports. Essential for an understanding of the handling and application of
ULTRA at the various air commands in Europe are SRH-031, Trip Reports
Concerning Use of ULTRA in the Mediterranean Theater, 1943-1944, and
SRH-023, Reports by US. Army ULTRA Representatives with Army Field
Commands in the European Theater of Operations, 1945, part 2. The former
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