Intelligence, Reparations, and the US Army Air Forces, 1944-1947
Petrina, S. (2019). “Scientific Ammunition to Fire at Congress:” Intelligence, reparations and the US Army Air Forces, 1944-1947. Journal of Military History, 83(3), 795-829. “Scientific Ammunition to Fire at Congress:” Intelligence, Reparations, and the U.S. Army Air Forces, 1944-1947 "Secrets by the Thousands!" "Nazi Science Secrets!" "A Technological Treasure Hunt!" "All the war secrets, as released, are completely in the public domain." Military intelligence was not quite as accessible as it seemed to journalists in late 1946 and early 1947. This particular bounty of intelligence derived from extensive exploitation strategies hatched by American and British forces in the closing months of World War II (WWII). These efforts anticipated the Potsdam Conference and Agreement of July and August 1945, where Germany and the Nazi economy were carved up for postwar occupation and reparations. The largest was Operation LUSTY (LUftwaffe Secret TechnologY), launched by the United States (US) Army Air Forces (AAF) in 1944. LUSTY was a small army of engineers, scientists, AAF officers, and troops, numbering 3,000 at its peak in the summer of 1945. The task was no mystery, teams scoured the German countryside and cities, crating up over three million documents from Braunschweig targets alone. About 16,280 items and 6,200 tons of miscellaneous materiel and documents were shipped through London and Paris and back to Wright Field and Freeman Field in Ohio and Indiana in the first three of LUSTY's sixteen months of existence. Jets such as the Me-262 and Ju-290 were flown; He-162s, Ho-229s, Me-163s, V-2 rockets, and Ötztal's wind tunnels were shipped.1 For General Henry H.
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