Sunday April 1, 1945

After mess at St. Augustin, saw Bennett Archambault. Discussed with him Sam Goudsmit’s request for counter-intelligence personnel and agreed that I would work through him in supplying men for this sort of activity. He described the organization of CIOS, of which ALSOS forms a special part, and indicated his belief that this work need not be conducted as a sort of Arkansas land rush.¹ Talked with John Chase regarding termination procedures. Charlie West reported that 42^nd Bomb Wing has now had over 30 operational Shoran missions, that 16 planes are equipped, and that 55 per cent of their bombs are landing within a 400 ft. radius circle, with results regarded as 5 to 10 per cent better than their Norden bombing in Italy.² Later walked to Notre Dame, where we listened to part of the Easter service, and then continued along the Seine.

The war news continues to be favorable. The British are now 90 miles east of the Rhine. The 7^th Army has effected a Rhine crossing on a 10-mile front and has taken Heidelberg without a struggle. General Eisenhower has issued instructions to the German troops, giving them procedures for surrender.

Monday April 2, 1945

Left the Luvois for Y-46 near Aachen at 6:45 a.m. with Jim Cunningham, Lyle Tiffany, Ed Brazell, and Bill Hosier, and with Harold Striggow at the wheel of the Command car. Drove through Soisson, Laon, and Liege. Had a K-ration lunch on the bank of the Meuse. Aachen again presented a scene of thorough devastation. Arrived at Y-46, the base of the 365 and 36 Groups of 9th TAC [Tactical Air Command], at 6:00 p.m.

Abbie and Norm Morrison were on hand. Telephoned through to Ray Herb and then had a bull session on radar beaconry and field service in general in a large tent called “Boffin HQ #2”.³ Called Football, Football Switch, Forest, Frontier, Charlie Dog—to get in touch with Ernie Lyman, who promised to drive in early the next morning. Fran Magurn and Norm Leavitt arrived with two vehicles at 9:30 p.m.—24 hours overdue.

The 9th and 1st Armies are reported to have thrown pincers completely around the Ruhr. The advances of Allied forces into Germany continues, but a news black-out is apparently on. Endless convoys were seen on the roads leading to Germany. In Aachen few civilians are to be seen, and these mostly with sullen and disheartened aspect.

Tuesday, April 3, 1945

Conference with Ernie Lyman and Jim Cunningham on the SCR-584 beacon program. Ernie, just in from Charlie Dog (SCR-584 unit near Bruehl), reported the AF HQ and radar in general in a very fluid state.⁴ We proposed to install six beacons in one squadron of 365 Group and six in 36 Group, to fix up the two beacons in P-61’s of the 422nd Night-fighters, and to install in the UK two in P-38’s of the 76th Photo-Recon squadron. Jim thinks that I can win my one-pound bet with Dave Griggs that six beacon-equipped P-47’s will have flown two successful operational missions each by the first of May.

Walked through the battered town near Y-46 and had breakfast at the doughnut dug-out. Left at 11:30 a.m. for Bruehl. Duren, passed en route, was the most completely devastated town I have ever seen. Only masses of debris remained. Very few walls were left partially standing. Evidently this town had been churned and rechurned.

After dinner at Football, met General Pete Quesada and went with him to his HQ.⁵ Pete discoursed on the progress of the war. The enemy is offering little opposition. Our ground armies are not using up their ammunition and are able to maintain of themselves adequate fuel supplies. However, over one thousand air transport sorties per day are flying in gasoline to captured airfields to establish a reserve. Within the Ruhr pocket 6 to 10 enemy divisions are being supplied by air. German HQ are not informing their units of their situation in the hope that they will continue to fight. No divisions have as yet been diverted from the Eastern Front. Quesada believes the road is open to Berlin, which might be reached in two weeks.

Ninth TAC’s MEW [Microwave Early Warning radar] is now moving 125 miles to a site near Marburg. Ninth TAC [Tactical Air Command] HQ will move to Marburg in a few days. One pair of SCR-584’s is being split up to serve Army corps in the control of escort fighters. These units will not report to TAC, will move with corps to assist in fighter-rendezvous and the location of targets. This is probably the most mobile use which can be made of the SCR-584’s under these fluid conditions. The Charlie Dog SCR-584 and another pair now east of the Rhine will remain for operations over the Ruhr pocket. General Quesada was enthusiastic over the beacon program, and promised to make them operational at once. We hope the first operational missions can be on Saturday or Sunday.

In talking about the usefulness of BBRL, Quesada made a strong point for moving it into the Pacific, and indicated that he would espouse this cause when he returned to the States—about 15 April. He invited Ed Bowles, Lee DuBridge, Dave Griggs, and myself to be at his HQ in Marburg on April 13, when a special show will be put on.⁶

To Colonel Blair Garland’s with Ernie, where we confirmed the details of the air-borne beacon program. Then to Lt. Col. Gillardi’s at Frontier, where I again confirmed the beacon program and introduced Hosier and Tiffany as the new members of Lyman’s SCR-584 team. Later to Charlie Dog, where I met Capt. Byrum, Lt. McDonald, and Lt. Lincoln. Returned to Bruehl, where I introduced Bill Hosier to Carroll Zimmerman. ⁷ Bill will stay on for two weeks or less to develop proper methods of target computation for the SCR-584’s and will train two officers in this work.

Spent the evening with General Quesada, who is living in town at the home of a banker. We enjoyed a baseball catch in the garden before supper. Two Group Commanders were present at supper. Afterward Pete and I had a lively discussion of science and its contributions to the war.

Wednesday, April 4, 1945

Left General Quesada after breakfast and drove to Charlie Dog with Bill Hosier. Lyman and Hosier got to work briefing the first officer assigned to HQ computing section. Left Bruehl at 11:30 and drove to Cologne. I was shocked at the complete devastation of the city. The cathedral stood gaunt in the midst of the ruins. Most streets were not cleared. I saw now [sic, no?] buildings which were not totally damaged. Reinforced concrete structures were torn asunder, with floor slabs dripping downward. It was impossible to visualize how any life could be sustained in these ruins, and actually not more than a score of civilians could be seen during our brief tour of the city.

Drove along the super-highway to Bonn, still a livable city though much damaged. Drove along the Rhine past the Drackenfels to Koblentz. Again, much damage, though not so complete as at Cologne. The capsized Remagen bridge and the two pontoon bridges on the side were seen. We then accidentally diverted inland and drove along the Moselle Valley. The vineyards on the terraced hills were beautiful. Many of the smaller towns had suffered little damage. We finally took off from the secondary route and cut across the countryside for Idar-Obserstein, HQ of the 19th TAC [Tactical Air Command]. This trip had the appearance of getting dangerous. The tertiary route became progressively narrower. I kept inquiring our way of the peasants. It did not appear that this remote region could have been thoroughly cleared in the few weeks that it had been over-run. Our route finally became a narrow trail which ended up with a tree block. We eventually emerged onto a highway after blasting our way through a narrow wooded trail for several kilometers. During this episode I found it reassuring to keep Harold Striggow’s Colt handy, and we fortunately ran over no mines.

Idar proved to be a fine town, and undamaged. We found 19th TAC HQ located in a German barracks on the top of a hill. It was scheduled to move out of there in a few days. We called on Col. Ferguson of A-3. Col. Ferguson does not feel that the SCR-584’s can be useful in this rapid advance. Soon 19th TAC will move its MEW [Microwave Early Warning radar] far forward to Hersfeld, which is just now being cleared. Supper with Nick Smith of OAS [Operations Analysis Section] and then to the War Room to examine the progress of the armies.⁸ Long talk with John Faulkner, before and after the 8:00 p.m. briefing. Then talked with Col. Coleman, Communications Officer, until 11:30.

There is evidence that 19th TAC does not use the same imagination and energy in making its SCR-584 units effective. [Arnold] MacLean of OAS has analyzed the results of 15 missions and found that their average circular error was 1900 ft. ± 400 ft.⁹ MacLean, John Faulkner, and George Harris have done a good job in removing calculation and equipment errors. The technique of siting and orienting is now handled properly. The main remaining source of error appears to be in poor controlling. It was therefore suggested that during the fluid state of the war the SCR-584’s be set up to run “portrait” missions, in which planes are vectored over a predetermined spot and the results analyzed either by a camera obscura record or by aerial photography at the “O” point.

Thursday, April 5, 1945

Breakfast with Johnny Faulkner. Spent an hour discussing the general war situation and the utility of MEW’s and SCR-584’s with Gen. Weyland and Col. Ferguson. Gen. Weyland maintained his continuing interest in the SCR-584’s and stated he would use them again as soon as the front became more static. He is somewhat concerned lest the Germans succeed in breaking out of the Ruhr. Part of his concern is due to the fact that his HQ will lie in their path. I told him of Bowles and DuBridge’s visit.

Left Idar at 10:30 a.m. Drove over the mountains past small towns, through open country, toward Ludwigshafen. Everywhere could be seen the evidence of recent destruction of German motor transport and field artillery. In some of the towns the civilians were being rounded up by GI’s. Ludwigshafen was moderately damaged. Along the road to Bad Durkheim there were stretches in which the roadside was densely packed with burned out German motor transport, wagons, dead horses, artillery, cook stoves, and other military paraphernalia. Bad Durkheim has been thoroughly burned, and most of the center of town is in ruins. Continued on through Ungstein to Kallstadt. The countryside was in bloom.

Kallstadt looked lovely with its pastel-colored houses. After progressing once through the town, I stopped at Uncle Louie’s. All in all, it was a wonderful day. The wondering I had been doing for years, the doubts which I had had as to the propriety of my going there—were resolved. Kallstadt and its people were unchanged. Their joy at having me back was completely generous and spontaneous prompted by the affection of simple country folk. I saw them all—all that were left. Uncle Louie, Elise, Marie; Tante Elise, Wallie, and Ilsa; Uncle John still driving the bullock-drawn wagon, Tante Lanche, Hedwig and her little Anna Maria, and Annalise. That night by candle light I visited with Tante Lisette and her still extensive family. They were war weary and glad that Kallstadt was so quickly over-run. American armor had rolled in an hour after the Germans had left. Before this the civilians had pulled out the wooden road blocks, sawed them up and carted them home for firewood. A white flag was run up in the church steeple. Except for one block of bombs last December, which had burst in their Wissgasse, Kallstadt had gone through six years of war untouched. Only her young menfolk were missing.

Kallstadt today:

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Friday, April 6, 1945

Left Kallstadt at 8:00 a.m. and drove through Frankenthal, Saarbrucken, and Metz to Bar le Duc, where I spent two hours and had supper with Major Sahler. It was nice to see Otto again, and he read me a letter from Dr. [Laurence] Robbins describing the cathode-ray exposure incident at MGH [Massachusetts General Hospital]. It looks now as though all five will escape any untoward effects, with the possible exception of one who was hospitalized because of infected skin regions and may have some residual scar tissue. This case is being closely observed and will some day be recorded in medical journals.¹⁰

Left Bar le Duc at 6:00 p.m. Arrived in Paris, 150 miles away, at 9:45.

Saturday, April 7, 1945

Lee DuBridge was reported due to leave ATC [Air Transport Command], Washington, on the 6th. Ray [Herb], Dave [Griggs], and I discussed a tentative itinerary. At the morning meeting at ASB [Advanced Service Base] Bert Fowler and Al Albrecht described the limitations in GCA [Ground-controlled approach] training.¹¹ It seems desirable that an AF [Air Forces] observer be sent here soon to profit by theater experience on GCA, and a letter to this effect will be written to General McClellan. I argued that, rather than continuing to involve GCA operating techniques in the theater after the war, we should see that such studies are continued in the States with returned BBRL people to assist.

Leo Sullivan reported on the excellent results obtained by the automatic plotting unit for the SCR-584 mortar-locater. This has been tried out at the 15th Army Training School and evoked instant enthusiasm. The IBM program of producing some 36 units is proceeding—9 of them scheduled to be completed in two weeks.

Sunday, April 8, 1945

Met Lee DuBridge¹² at Orly at 8:30 a.m. It was good to see him, and he was obviously delighted to see Paris and the continent. During the day at various times we discussed the war situation and the radar program, and he rapidly saw that the time had come to work actively on the deployment of BBRL from the theater. We spent the day seeing Paris, climbed over a Wurtzberg in the Bois de Bologne, and with Ray Herb took in the Casino de Paris in the evening.

Monday, April 9, 1945

Drove out to SHAEF [Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force] in the morning, talked with Art Warner, walked through the grounds of the palace at Versailles, and had luncheon at the Petit Trianon Palace. In the afternoon left by TCC [Troop Carrier Command] plane for Defford. In the party were the following: Ray Herb, Larry Lawrence, John Chase, Lee DuBridge, Louise Winston, Louise Goldie, and myself. Arrived at Defford at 6:30, and were met by two station wagons. Had dinner at the County, after which a group of us assembled in the smoking room for an informal discussion and beer, the latter provided by Sarge.¹³

Tuesday, April 10, 1945

Tackled the problem of BBRL deployment in the morning. We are all agreed that there is no longer time or need for any suitable radar assistance to the AAF [Army Air Forces] from BBRL and that active deployment should be begun at once. Each radar program was discussed in detail, and a tentative schedule was set up in which only a dozen technical men remain after May 15, primarily to watch the final activities of their respective jobs.

In the evening there was a dinner dance at the Westminster Arms Hotel—a combination welcome and farewell party for Lee DuBridge and myself respectively.

Wednesday, April 11, 1945

Left for Pinetree at 8:00 a.m. with Gerry Tape and Lee DuBridge. Talked with General Orvil Anderson and later with Colonel Graul, Signal Officer of 8th AF, and Lt. Col. Osborne. No opposition developed here at the suggestion that BBRL be deployed fairly rapidly for the benefit of other theaters.¹⁴ We pointed out that a few key people would be left to follow through on Eagle, Micro-H, and H2X.¹⁵ General Anderson stated unequivocally that the 8th AF job was finished. The day before they had invested 300 bombers against a “ten-cent target” of 16,000 gallons of oil near Munich. He spoke of the value of MEW in fighter control and emphasized the need of air commanders for expert technical advisors.

We developed a “flat” on the return trip and had supper at the Cotswold Gateway Inn. With us were Tom Morrell and Major Fred Kartbrodt. Tom is scheduled to leave with 8th AF for General Kenney’s staff in the Pacific shortly.

Thursday, April 12, 1945

Spent the morning at TRE [Telecommunications Research Establishment] and BBRL. Had lunch with A/C [Air Commodore Hugh] Leedham during which he spoke of his plans to combine ASE [Admiralty Signals Establishment] and TRE into a single lab of 1000 people, this program to commence about V-E Day.¹⁶ Left at 3:00 p.m. via TCC [Troop Carrier Command] plane for Paris, stopping at Alconbury en route.

Lee DuBridge, Dave Griggs, Ed Bowles (who had just arrived from the States), and I had supper at the Ritz, followed by discussion of radar and counter-intelligence progress. It was tentatively agreed that Dave would go to the Pacific in Advisory Specialist Group capacity to General George Kenney’s staff of the Pacific AF [Air Force]. Tom Murrell would be the second member of his team.¹⁷ We returned to the Louvois to find a small party developing in Room 211.

Friday, April 13, 1945

At breakfast we were shocked to read the Stars and Stripes headlines announcing the sudden death of President Roosevelt yesterday evening. Everybody sincerely believes that, while the war is safely in hand, his loss is particularly serious at this time when decisions must be made for the future peace.

Ably assisted by my secretary—I purchased an oil painting at the “Tableaux” on Boulevard Hausmann. It is a colorful scene from inside the chapel of St. Etienne du Mond.

Later in the morning, Bennett Archambault, Ed Bowles, Lee DuBridge, and I discussed the counter-intelligence organization in the ETO [European Theater of Operations].

On the evening teletype, Lee DuBridge summarized our plans for deployment and asked Wheeler Loomis to investigate space for a field-service division at the Radiation Laboratory.¹⁸

Saturday, April 14, 1945

Drove Lee [DuBridge] out to Widewing in a jeep. Had lunch with Bob Snider, Col. Graul, Col. Osborne, and others. Went to special briefing in the war room on air and ground situation. The 8th AF took time out to blast the Bordeaux pocket, three days after which it was over-run by the French Army. In the afternoon Louise and I drove out with Charlie to the lower market and then to St. Etienne to see the original scene of my new oil painting.

Sunday, April 15, 1945

Left Paris in a C-45 with Ed Bowles, Lee DuBridge, and Dave Griggs for Reims, arriving at General [Carl] Spaatz’ establishment at 11:30 a.m.¹⁹ General Spaatz was ill; so we browsed about in the lazy sunshine until 1:00 p.m., when we had dinner with General Curtis and Major Svirsky [Alexander de Seversky], author of “Victory through Air Power”. Svirsky spoke of his work with Walt Disney and generally reflected the opinion that his prediction on the value of air might has been realized.

After lunch we talked with General Spaatz in his trailer. He pointed out that the need for strategic bombing is over, and he saw no strong argument against the rapid deployment of BBRL. While asking for more accurate H2X bombing, he pointed out that a large part of the value of H2X bombing was that it caused the German fighter force to give battle and resulted in their destruction. I told him of our plan to keep Ray Herb and Gerry Tape on the job until approximately June 1, and suggested that he look to them for specialized advice should the need for it arise. Ed Bowles had previously asked him to release Dave Griggs for the Pacific, and he agreed immediately to this. I brought up the great value to the 8th AF of the Alconbury group in speeding the introduction and training on new radar programs and suggested that this group would be exceedingly useful if deployed to the States in close relation to the Radiation Laboratory. This matter was further discussed, and General Spaatz agreed to recommend it—which he subsequently did. I left his trailer feeling definitely that this was really that last time I would see him in this theater.

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Our party proceeded to Reims cathedral, along with Ed Bowles’ son, who works as a private in a nearby hospital. We then returned to the airport and took off for the 9th AF HQ at Wiesbaden. The plane flew over Luxembourg and the Moselle River. Wiesbaden is badly damaged. We were met by Robert Lee, Deputy C/G of 9th AF; Colonel Cody; and a number of other officers and sat down to a steak dinner at 8:00 p.m. Colonel Cody and Major Stover discussed their radar program, agreed that most of our work for them had been done, but recommended strongly that RL keep a man with the Occupational Air Force to follow the utilization of radar during that period. Cody put in a plug for work on relay radar for the MEW.

We spent the night at General [Hoyt] Vandenberg’s house, the rather fine home of a temporarily dispossessed German doctor.

Monday, April 16, 1945

Attended the 9th AF briefing at 8:30 a.m. and then took off for the Eagle (12th Army Group) briefing at 10:00 a.m. After the Eagle briefing, we spoke a few minutes with General Omar S. Bradley, who stated that our movement to the eastward toward Berlin and Dresden was now substantially completed and that the 3rd Army would be directed southward toward the Redoubt.²⁰ This is still top secret, and the army groups are only just now being notified. The Ruhr pocket is rapidly being eliminated—150,000 P/W’s [prisoners of war] having been taken so far. The Canadian 2nd Army has broken through to the North Sea, thereby putting northwestern Holland into a pocket. The British are approaching Bremen with a thrust toward Hamburg. The 3rd Army is throwing pincers around Leipzig. Patton is closing in on Nuremberg.

Flew to Giessen, passing over Frankfurt en route. A large part of the center of the city has been leveled to the ground, and the outlying districts are merely empty shells of houses. General Quesada met us at Giessen with three L-5 Cubs. Bowles flew with Quesada. Dave and I took the second, and Lee and a sergeant-pilot the third. We flew in formation to Marburg, where Quesada’s HQ is located in a delightful wood—the place resembling a summer camp at home. After lunch our little formation took off for 9th TAC’s MEW. This time our party included a fourth L-5 containing Quesada’s successor, Brig. Gen. Ralph Stirley, flown by Lt. Col. Leghorn, C/O of the Photo Recon Group. Capt. Miller, chief controller, showed us the new ops room, which gave the appearance of even more orderliness and efficiency than before. The movement of this MEW closer to the front had been delayed in anticipation of our arrival, and the set was off the air by 5:00 p.m. that night. The 9th TAC MEW score to date is as follows:

	Destroyed	Probable	Damaged
Day Fighters	302	38	92
Night Fighters	58	3	6
On Ground	159	1	122
Totals	519	42	220

Returned to Marburg. At the ops room HQ we listened to the 8:00 p.m. briefing, which showed continued advances of all armies. The TAC’s are doing a good job in immobilizing the limited amount of German transport moving south and southeast toward the Redoubt. We spent the night at General Quesada’s house in town, also the home of a German doctor. This home, overlooking the beautiful Marburg valley, was furnished in peculiar and morbid taste—many of the rooms decorate with the antlers and skull of deer and the furniture being heavy and unattractive.

Tuesday, April 17, 1945

After breakfast at camp, flew to 1st Army HQ at Bad Windungen. Spent a half hour talking with Lt. Gen. Courtney M. Hodges, who paid tribute to the technical aid which had been made available during this war both to the ground and to the air forces and to the splendid cooperation of 9th TAC and the heavy bombers. He was aware of the work on radar location of mortars, which he claimed would always be a serious ground-force problem. He indicated that 1st Army would soon be taking up defensive positions along the Elbe River in a line which I gathered runs approximately north and south about 35 miles from Berlin. This would permit the Russians to take Berlin and the area slightly west of it, and avoid the difficulty of two gigantic offensive forces coming into head-on contact.

Our party then flew to Fritzlar in time for lunch with Colonel Ray Stecker and the staff of the 365th Group, as well as with Colonel Moon of the 404th Group on the same field. After lunch we gathered again with the pilots of the 404th Group for a half-hour session led by General Quesada on the usefulness and limitations of MEW and SCR-584 radar control. Lee DuBridge was introduced as the “Director of BBRL in Cambridge [Massachusetts]”. The pilots’ reaction was about as before: strongly in favor of MEW, somewhat doubtful about the SCR-584, and somewhat concerned about becoming too dependent on radar aids.

Norm Morrison and Abbie were on hand at the field. We saw an air-borne beacon installation in a P-47. The 404th Group work is now completed, with six planes equipped and some operations—particularly with the MBW—already carried out. We climbed over several German Messerschmit night fighters which had been captured on the field.

Flew to Kassel, first circling several times over the ruins of the city. Though not actually leveled as Frankfurt and Duren have been, the destruction of this city is complete. Landed at a nearby air strip and spent one hour driving in a jeep through the town. On our way I talked with a banker who was going to confer with the town major and with one or two of the other citizens. Kassel was first hit by the RAF at 8:00 p.m. in October. It was a city of 220,000 population, 30,000 of whom were killed in the first raid. The present population is estimated at 60,000—though I saw no place where these people might live. The roads around this city are full of displaced personnel: Italians, Poles, Russians, French, migrant Germans, and other straggling bits of unfortunate humanity.

Flew to an airstrip near Hersfeld, where we said “good-bye” to Pete Quesada. It had been a thrilling experience flying around the German countryside and catching some of his enthusiasm and belief in the usefulness of a tactical air force and the value of radio and radar aids in their operations. It is his hope to return to Washington and organize a tactical command with the necessary equipment for work in the Pacific.

Called on General O. P. Weyland at his headquarters. He showed us the new plan of Patton’s 3rd Army and of this 19th TAC which had just been handed him. They are to drive along a front running southwest through Nuremberg and Munich into the “Redoubt” area. This team will obviously be given the last real offensive job to do against Germany. Weyland was enthusiastic about the assignment.

Supper at General Weyland’s fine establishment in town. We enjoyed the luxury of table linen, full solid silver service, a superfluity of china, a Luxembourg chef, red and white wine, etc., which made this the most elegant dinner I had had on the continent.

Weyland spoke of his excellent relations with General Patton and the 3rd Army and made a point of his conviction that this team should be kept together when deployed to other theaters. After supper we attended the 19th TAC briefing which showed Leipzig nearly surrounded, the fighter groups getting a respectable score on locomotives, railroad cars, and motor transport, all headed south. The 19th TAC briefing is made amusing by the rivalry between G-2 Air and G-3.

Wednesday, April 18, 1945

After breakfast talked with Colonel Glenn Coleman, who is hopeful that air-borne beacons will come in time to 19th TAC and will then want aid from BBRL in modifying SCR-584’s and getting them installed. We left by road for Fritzlar, where we again had lunch with Colonel Stecker and then by C-45 to Y-59 near Cologne. We circled over Cologne several times and then circled Duren and Aachen. We have devised a new category of destruction, as follows: “heavily damaged” – Wiesbaden, “destroyed” – Aachen, “obliterated” – Cologne, “pulverized” – Duren.

We were unable to make a good GCA landing and later found the GCA crew fairly inexperienced, unenthusiastic, and somewhat unhappy with conditions at the field. We were met by Colonel O. B. Johnson, P-61 night-fighter king, and by Captain Marvin, radar officer, and Larry Beitel. During the first few days of the Ruhr pocket the 425th Night-Fighter Squadron brought down 14 supply planes. Johnson is undoubtedly the best night-fighter man in the theater; his squadron has the finest record. This represents a kind of air effort in which the Americans are generally deficient.

Returned to Fritzlar and drove to Hersfeld, arriving in time for dinner and the 8:00 p.m. briefing. The 3rd Army has entered the eastern tip of Czechoslovakia. It is reported to have the happy slogan of “On to Czechoslovakia and fraternization!”

At dinner Lowell Thomas and Mr. Horsch were present. They were accompanied by another ten correspondents who dined elsewhere. Among them was Quincy Howe. Thomas told of visiting the recently over-run concentration camp at Ohrdruf, a camp for political prisoners who had been starved and many finally shot, their bodies lying about when the place was taken. General Weyland believes, after questioning German prisoners of war—particularly a German lieutenant general, that such conditions existed in German prison camps without the knowledge of the majority of them. The Ohrdruf horror, however, has since been superseded by the discovery of an even larger camp at Weimar [Buchenwald], where a total of 50,000 are reported to have been killed.²¹

Thursday, April 19, 1945

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All of us, including Lowell Thomas and his associated correspondents, drove to 3rd Army HQ for a brief interview with General [George] Patton, after which we attended the 3rd Army briefing. Our party returned with General Patton to his office and discussed the general war picture. Patton is convinced that another war—this time with Russia—will closely follow the present one, and that it is necessary to keep this continually in mind. He was pleased to have a clear directive to take the offensive toward the “Redoubt” and saw no serious obstacle, even in the natural terrain, in eliminating it in short order. He declared that American equipment, including tanks, was superior to German equipment in all respects, though he had considerable difficulty in convincing his officers of this. He was the same confident, dramatic, vigorous character that Dave and I had interviewed some months before, but this time I felt that the conditions of the interview were not quite so satisfactory. Patton has caused 1500 Germans from nearby cities to be brought in to see for themselves the conditions at the concentration camps at Ohrdruf and Weimar. Lee and I, accompanied by a 3rd Army captain, drove out along the German Autobahn to Gotha, where we picked up Dave and Ed Bowles, who had flown in by C-45, and then drove in to the town of Gorgenthal to inspect the laboratory of Dr. Holman [Hans Hollmann]. Holman was reported by 3rd Army to be one of the leading German radar scientists. He and Dr. [Hubert] Engels, general manager of Telefunken, had been recently taken by the 3rd Army. The laboratory turned out to be a small garage-like building plus several rooms in nearby houses, all of which were under guard. No work relating to radar was seen. Holman had been active on high-frequency heating of laminated woods, on the hardening of metal surfaces, and other scientific-industrial applications of high frequency. My impression was that this represented a small-scale piddling effort of very little importance to immediate large-scale industrial processes. Lee and I returned to 19th TAC HQ after dropping Dave and Ed at Gotha for return flight to Paris.

After supper we interviewed Dr. Holman, who was being detained for 3rd Army by CAC in an inn in Hersfeld. It became clear that Holman himself was not in the radar picture, perhaps because he was not a good Nazi. He was, however, generally informed on what had been going on. His laboratory had first been in Berlin, but had been bombed out in May of 1943 and now has a private laboratory of about 10 men, mostly young half-Jews. He said German radar work began in 1934. The first early-warning sets had been built by Gema in 1936. Telefunken, the RCA of Germany, produced the Wurtzberg anti-aircraft set. In general, Holman recognized that German radar had been poorly coordinated and was far inferior to the British and American effort. He declared that Allied radar had defeated the German U-boat war and that this had been so stated by Admiral [Karl] Doenitz. The scientists were poorly tied in with industry, and the German military and naval mind did not appreciate the value of technical work. On the other hand, it also seemed clear that the scientists themselves felt no responsibility for following their effort through development, production, and Service use. ²²

It was too late to interview Dr. Engels, who was being detained in the same building.

Friday, April 20, 1945

Interview with Dr. [Hubert] Engels and Dr. [Rudolf] Urtel. Urtel was a good technical man; Engels concerned only with administrative features of Telefunken’s operation and did little talking. The conversation was in English. They stated that there has been no really effective exchange of radar technical information with the Japanese although Japanese military missions had come to Germany and reports of work and presumably samples of apparatus had been sent. The term for radar is “Ruckstrahl”. The Germans decided about 1941 that they would stick to wave lengths of 50 cm. or longer since their primary interest was early-warning and anti-aircraft radar. It was not until 1943 after the effectiveness of Allied cm. equipment had been demonstrated in submarine search, H2X bombing, and night-fighter operations that the Germans decided to investigate the 10 cm. field. Telefunken’s personnel increased by a factor of 10 in the course of the war, being doubled in 1944 when the Army finally returned physicists and engineers who had been fighting as common soldiers at the front. The Telefunken plants, which were mainly in Berlin, were badly damaged in May, 1943, and subsequently the development work was dispersed among twenty laboratories, the principal ones remaining in Berlin housed underground with a 15-foot thick reinforced concrete roof.

Dr. Engels and Mr. Urtel stated that it was common belief among German industrial and military circles that Allied radar had saved England from an invasion and had overcome the submarine campaign. They paid tribute to the effectiveness of the American H2X equipment as it compared with British H2S, the first set of which was brought down intact near Rotterdam in February 1943. The term “Rotterdam” was therefore applied to all H2S and X types of Allied bombing equipment. Urtel declared that the idea of Window (which they called “Dueppel”) as an anti-aircraft countermeasure was known to the Germans a full year and a half before it was first used by the Allies.²³ It was held, however, so top secret that the radar people generally were unaware of this possibility and were caught unprepared when Window was used by the Allied air forces.

The German jammers were the responsibility of Siemens and the German Reichspost. Apparently the same schism existed between the radar and jamming people in Germany as in America. Urtel said they knew nothing much about the jamming program or of its effectiveness. He believed it effective against Oboe Mark I, which they called “Boomerang”.²⁴

Industrial companies working on radar made little effort to utilize the physicist groups, Urtel explaining that these scientists did not have either the desirable training or the appropriate point of view. The scientists evidently work pretty close to their universities or in the private laboratories, coordinated somewhat ineffectively by the Reichsforschungsrat [Reich Research Council]. The last two years high-frequency work among scientists was coordinated by an agency headed first by Professor [Abraham] Esau and later by Dr. [Ludwig] Prandtl. Industrial laboratories were apparently not well coordinated, but received their directive from technical members of the Luftwaffe. Just as there was a gap between German scientists and industrialists, there was also an even greater gap between both of these and the military. It was virtually impossible for a scientist or engineer to accompany radar equipment into combat areas to observe its performance or to assist in training. Although Telefunken was the manufacturer of the Wurtzberg, Urtel was one of the few engineers who ever succeeded in seeing it under operational conditions—this only during the last year. Dr. Engels stated that after Lee DuBridge and I had left on the previous night, the three of them had discussed the surprising closeness of American scientific and military effort as evidenced by our appearance in U. S. Army uniform.

Dr. Engels, who was evidently a Nazi—if not an ardent Nazi, was much concerned over our statement that the Russians, and not the Americans, were about to enter Berlin. He said—rather stupidly, I thought, and without giving any good reason—that the Nazis and Germany had no recourse but to fight on. To me this interview proved to be quite thrilling because we had long been deeply interested in the organization and thinking of the German radar people. It seemed clear, however, that the information which we were likely to get in this field will be primarily of historical importance and can be expected to contribute only an occasional technical detail to our own development effort.

Lee DuBridge and I returned to 19th TAC HQ, talked with Johnny Faulkner and Colonel Glenn Coleman. I then called General Weyland to explain that it would be desirable to withdraw Faulkner in two to three weeks’ time from his Command in order that he might continue work on Pacific radar problems. Weyland was agreeable to this subject to our providing general coverage for his MEW and SCR-584 programs and expressed his appreciation for all the help which BBRL, John Faulkner in particular, had given him. We drove up to Fritzlar, talked with Norm Morrisson and Abbis, and watched the fighter squadrons land and take off at a great rate.

We took off at 3:30 in our C-45 for Namur to pay a brief visit to General Sam Anderson. He pointed out that his Shoran equipment, consisting of three ground stations and fifteen air-borne sets, was being set up to cover the region of the “Redoubt”. Oboe still covers some target areas in northeastern Germany, and SCR-584 was disposed of so as to provide coverage if needed in a target due east of Leipzig. He is completely sold on Shoran although they have had some technical difficulties with it. He stated that their results to date showed a mean circular error of about 700 ft.

We arrived back in Paris about 9:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 21, 1945

Decided that Louise²⁵ and I would depart for the States on Thursday, April 26, and the two of us went down to ATC [Air Transport Command] to make reservations. At 10:00 a.m. had doughnuts and coffee at the Red Cross club with Lee and Ray.

In the late afternoon drove Lee out to Widewing. Spent the rest of the day in Paris.

Sunday, April 22, 1945

Coffee and doughnuts at the Red Cross Club with Lee DuBridge, Ray Herb, Larry Lawrence, Leo Sullivan, Tom Murrell, and Louise. Tom has come over from the UK to see if he can get a more prompt flight to the States via ATC. Apparently traffic out of the UK is very tight. Returned to the Louvois to get caught up on my daily notes.

After dinner at the mess, left via Pontiac for Chartres with Lee and the two Louises (pure junket). Visited the cathedral and drove about the town. On the trip back to Paris, the good old Pontiac developed peculiar symptoms and finally stopped altogether. Fortunately there were two garage mechanics from Paris in jeeps behind us, who tried to do a roadside repair job. After a few over-optimistic starts, the motor died altogether, and we had to accept a jeep tow all the way to Paris.

After mess, Lee and I held an informal seminar in Room 211 at the Louvois, with most of the ASB-ers present. I gave a short talk on the BBRL deployment plans, and Lee discussed some of the high spots in our recent visit to the TAC’s in Germany.

Monday, April 23, 1945

Left at 9:30 a.m. in a C-45 for Malvern with Dave, Lee, and Ray.

In the afternoon our discussion with Jules and the others showed that deployment of BBRL could proceed fully as rapidly as we had planned, with about 50 per cent of the personnel departing by the 15th of May. Ray Herb is to act as Director of BBRL during the remaining term, and Jerry Tape as his deputy at Malvern. Jules [Halpern] is to leave by the 1st of May. At 6:00 p.m. there was a seminar at which this general deployment program was announced. There was a dance in the evening at the County.

Tuesday, April 24, 1945

Conference in the morning with Gene Hotchkiss and business people of ABL-15 and BBRL at which we agreed on a program of turning over, if possible, all of the assets of the two laboratories to TRE. Walked around the lab in the afternoon looking things over for the last time.

Left from Defford at 5:00 p.m. in the C-45 and dropped Lee DuBridge off at Alconbury. Picked up Dave and returned to Paris at 8:45.

Dinner at the Ritz with Abe Collier and Ray Herb.

Wednesday, April 25, 1945

Spent the day in Paris except for a few hours at Widewing in the afternoon for a teletype conference with Larry Henderson in the MTO [Mediterranean Theater of Operations]. Our activities are being closed out there in the same way as in the ETO, the closing date being arbitrarily set at V-E Day.

Talked with Ed Bowles about the problems of the Pacific and setting up a field service division at the Radiation Laboratory. He described the conflict between present plans of establishing a laboratory under General Kenney.

At 6:00 p.m. there was a cocktail party at the Luvois. After dinner at the mess Louise and I drove to the lab in a jeep along the Seine route. At the lab we assembled the courier package which I am to carry to the States, and cleaned up all unfinished business. Talked a short while with Dick Hodgson, who had just come in from Dijon.

Thursday, April 26, 1945

After various local activities about Paris, including shopping, getting a haircut, visiting QM Sales Store, etc., drove with Louise over to the Musee Rodin. After a glass of wine at a local pub, we were picked up by Ray Herb, who drove us out to Orly in the jeep. After several hours waiting around at the terminal, we took off at 9:20 p.m. for Prestwick and the good old USA.