Report on visits, state of preservation, local conditions, removal by the enemy,...

Report on visits, state of preservation, local conditions, removal by the enemy, damage, looting, etc,

Annexure VIII consists of a special report by Lieut. G.L. Stout on the MFA and A Special Inspection of the area of Geilenkirchen made in early December 1944. As Stout records, 'a shell striking into the basement of a residential house [...] in Geilenkirchen broke open a completely walled-in enclosure and revealed the existence of a number of paintings and sculptures stored in this hidden enclosure'. Most of the works of art were removed for better protection 'to the strong and well-aired basement of the house used as a detachment office', but two works could not be taken out through the shell hole and were left there: a copy of the Assumption of the Virgin by Murillo and a family group by van Thulin, signed and dated 1652. As for the other twenty-three works of art found on the premises, their details were carefully recorded in the report. These included fifteen sculptures, mostly religious subjects dating back to the 16th century of busts of bishops, and eight paintings of diverse nature: a Flemish 'portrait of a woman', an oil depicting the Ascension of Christ, another oil painting depicting one female and two male saints and 'The napkin of St. Veronica', a painting by Zucarelli, estimated late 18th century, a 'Landscape with ships and a ruined castle' labelled Abraham Storck, a painting 'Sseaside castle and ships', a triptych of the Adoration of the Magi, the Shepherds and the Circumcision, 16th century oil on wood, and another triptych depicting 'The Descent from the Cross, the Nativity and the Assumption of the Virgin', estimated German 16th century, oil on wood. According to the report, their quality was uneven, with most works being 'worthy to be included in a museum collection' but none 'of great renown'. 'The housing in which they were found is suspicious and [...] the works will have to be regarded as possible loot. It is also possible that they were hidden as a protection against looting by Allied forces'. Includes notes on the conservation of the Schloss Trips and the Schloss Breil, for which a record was found in Aachen indicating it as 'one of the repositories for works from the important Rathaus of Aachen' but no trace had been found of any repository of works of art until that point.

Annexure IX contains information on MFA and A personnel at the SHAEF, the First, Third and Ninth US Armies, the Twelfth Army Group, the Second British and First Canadian Armies, the British Line of Communications and the Communications Zone of the US Army as well as the SHAEF Missions to France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Norway.

Letter from MFA and A officer R Newell Lusby to the G-5 Section at SHAEF, dated 3 February 1945, forwarding five MFA and A field reports for the month of January 1945. Only the Second Army field report, providing details of inspections of monuments in the Netherlands, is included in the piece as 'Appendix E'.

Instructions issued by A E Grassett, Assistant Chief of Staff of the G-5 Section at SHAEF, on the treatment of archive material and art objects in Western Germany, dated 27 December 1944. Includes a translation by Major Markham of a German pamphlet on the protection of movable and fixed works of art in Baden.