Record revealed
Japanese Instrument of Surrender, 1945
After six years of brutal global conflict, this document marked the end of the Second World War.
Piece
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force [SHAEF], later Control Commission...
Catalogue reference: T 209/24
What’s it about?
This record is about the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force [SHAEF], later Control Commission... dating from 1944 - 1945 in the series British Committee on the Preservation and Restitution of Works of Art, Archives and.... It is held at The National Archives, Kew.
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Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
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T 209/24
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Date (When the record was created)
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1944 - 1945
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Description (What the record is about)
- <p>Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force [SHAEF], later Control Commission for Germany: liaison with Colonel Geoffrey Webb. </p> <p>Correspondence between James G Mann, honorary secretary of the Macmillan Committee, and Colonel Geoffrey Webb, Controller at the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives [MFA and A] branch of the Control Commission for Germany in Buende, relating to Webb's request for a copy of the memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister by the Macmillan Committee on the subject of replacement in kind of works of art, dated April 1946. Also includes a memorandum from Webb to the Macmillan Committee on restitution problems, stating that 'we are coming to a point where the decisions made over here [in Buende] may seriously affect the drain of works of art out of Germany in the future and there are a number of questions on which I think the Committee ought to be informed and on which their advice would be most valuable'. </p> <p>Records that 'there are very few works of art in the British Zone which have been directly seized by the enemy from the territories they occupied during the war. There is on the other hand a considerable amount of material purchased by the Museums of North Germany, an unknown quantity purchased by German dealers and again an unknown quantity purchased by private persons either directly from the occupied territories or through German dealers. In addition to the above there is almost certainly a certain quantity of material in private hands or in dealers hands [sic] acquired by individual looting on the part of Germans'. With regard to the restitution of this material, the main issues still to be solved include 'the practical one of locating the objects subject to restitution which are in private possession or that of dealers and [...] the problem of replacement in kind of objects which it is impossible to trace'. </p> <p>Telegram, notes and further correspondence between Col Webb, J G Mann and Lord Macmillan regarding a meeting of the Macmillan Committee with Colonel Webb 'to discuss the question of the restitution of works of art purchased by the enemy in the occupied countries during the war', dated March 1946. </p> <p>Earlier correspondence between Col Webb, Lord Macmillan, assistant secretary Miss Clay and J G Mann relating to Col Webb's enclosed memorandum on restitution as requested by Lord Macmillan and recording J Mann's official tour of Italy at the invitation of the Italian government, dated November 1945. Refers in particular to the issue of the restitution of the libraries of German institutions in Rome and includes comments on the position of the Macmillan Committee and its relationship with Sir Leonard Woolley. </p> <p>Further correspondence between J G Mann, Col Webb and Lord Macmillan recording the progressive rapprochement between Col Webb and the Macmillan Committee, dated September 1945. States that 'it is clear to me that with the gradual feeling [sic] out of the office of Sir Leonard Woolley, and the growth of importance of such major policy questions as restitution and the pictures of the German museums etc. we shall have to play together much more closely than was necessary in the merely military phase of operations'. </p> <p>Earlier correspondence between J G Mann and Professor Webb on a variety of issues, including Webb's attendance at the Macmillan Committee, Mann's talk at the short course for specialist MFA and A officers and Mann's suggestion of two officers to be employed as MFA and A officers with the Directorate of Civil Affairs, Captain Hayward and Lieutenant A N Kennard, dated May-July 1944. Includes a copy of Eisenhower's order on the preservation of historical monuments and a letter from Lord Macmillan to Sir James Grigg at the War Office requesting collaboration between his department and the newly-established Macmillan Committee, dated May 1944. </p>
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Note (Additional information about the record)
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This document forms part of the Looted Art Collection; records selection and descriptions reproduced by the kind permission of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
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Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
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English
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Closure status (Whether the record is ‘open’ (available to the public) or ‘closed’ (not available due to a legal exemption))
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Open Document, Open Description
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C2388689/
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Series information
T 209
British Committee on the Preservation and Restitution of Works of Art, Archives and...
See the series level description for more information about this record.
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
324,581 records
Within the department: T
Records created or inherited by HM Treasury
101 records
Within the series: T 209
British Committee on the Preservation and Restitution of Works of Art, Archives and...
You are currently looking at the piece: T 209/24
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force [SHAEF], later Control Commission...
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