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During World War II the Secretary of War and his Office had two major functions. The first was to determine general policy for the military establishment as a whole and policy with respect to special military problems as they arose; the Secretary's decisions, transmitted as directives by the Chief of Staff to his subordinates at the appropriate levels of command, were translated into action throughout the War Department and the Army. The other major function was to supervise the procurement of weapons, equipment, and supplies for the Army.
The wartime Secretaries of War were Henry L. Stimson, July 10, 1940-September 21, 1945, and Robert P. Patterson, September 27, 1945-July 18, 1947.
Records of the Secretary of War
Formerly Top Secret Correspondence of the Secretary of War Stimson ("Safe File") 1940- 1945 (Entry 99)
The records are arranged alphabetically according to subject.
Boxes 1-15 location: 390/8/32/05
Box # File Title
3 Combined Chiefs of Staff
Committee of Three (State, War, Navy) {Note 1}
4 Coordinating Committee (State, War, Navy)
5 Germany
8 Italy
12 South American Republics
Spain
13 State Department
Sweden
Treasury
15 White House Correspondence
White House Cables
Correspondence of Secretary of War Stimson ("Official File") 1940-1945 (Entry 100)
The records are arranged alphabetically according to subject or name of correspondent. Copies of speeches are filed either under the name of the group addressed or under the subject of the speech.
Boxes 1-12 location: 390/8/32/07
Cross-Reference Sheets to the General Correspondence 1943-1946 (Entry 101)
These are 5-by-8-inch carbon copies of the top potion of the 8-by-10-inch sheets interfiled with the correspondence described in Entry 102. Each sheet provides the primary decimal (upper left corner) under which either the document or the original 8-by-11-inch cross-reference sheet is filed, the decimals under which other copies of the cross-reference sheet is filed, the decimal (shown in the shaded box) under which the cross-reference sheet itself is filed, date of document, date of receipt, names of writer and recipient, security classification, subject and summary of contents, and notations concerning enclosures and the disposition of the document. The records are arranged according to the War Department decimal classification scheme. At the end of the series are cross-reference sheets for project files arranged alphabetically by subject and thereunder by decimal number.
Boxes 1-48 location: 390/8/33/02
Coordination & Records Decimal File 1943-1946 (General Correspondence) (Entry 102)
Much of the Secretary of War's general correspondence for this period was forwarded to other offices for reply and filing. In many cases, the files in this series consist only of a cross-reference sheet, the originals of those described in Entry 101, for each incoming and outgoing document and a copy of the Secretary of War's reply. The cross-reference sheets generally indicate to which office the incoming document was referred. The cross-reference sheets in this series contain many references to other series among the records of the Office of the Secretary of War. The most frequent cross-reference is to a "secret file." The documents thus referred to may be filed in Stimson"s "Safe File," (Entry 99). Cross-References to a "new file" refer to Secretary of War Patterson's correspondence, February 1946- July 1947 (Entry 110). The records are arranged according to the War Department decimal classification scheme. At the end of the series are a number of project files arranged alphabetically by subject. The records within a project file are generally arranged alphabetically by subtopic, or, in a few cases, are arranged chronologically and numbered.
Boxes 1-175 location: 390/8/34/05
Secretary of War (Patterson) Subject File (Safe File) 1945-1947 (Formerly Top Secret Correspondence ("Safe File") (Entry 106)
Arranged alphabetically according to subject. Boxes 1-7 location: 390/9/3/03
Box # File Title
3 Committee of Three #1; Committee of Three #2
4 Germany; Germany #2
Intelligence Matters
5 Latin American Countries
Kilgore [U.S. Senate] Committee
7 State Department
Cross-Reference Sheets to the Security-Classified Correspondence 1946-1947 (Entry 107)
The cross-reference sheets in this series are identical in format to those described in Entry 101; some are duplicated in Entry 108. The records arranged in two parts: the first arranged according to the War Department decimal classification scheme; the second arranged alphabetically according to subject of the project file. Box 1 location: 390/9/3/04
Secretary of the Army (Patterson) General Decimal File 1946-1947 (Formerly Security- Classified Correspondence) (Entry 108)
This series consists largely of memorandums exchanged between the Secretary of War and the Under Secretary and the Assistant Secretaries of War; "stayback" copies of letters, memorandums, and reports to the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Navy, the President, and other high officials of the Federal Government; memorandums and position papers received from the War Department General and Special Staffs; copies of processed documents and publications of the War Department; and cross-reference sheets. Included are documents originally classified as "top secret," and "secret." Unlike the "Safe File" (Entry 106), which was maintained in Patterson's immediate office, this series was kept in the Coordination and Records Division of the Secretary's Office. Arranged according to the War Department decimal classification scheme followed by six project (subject) files. Boxes 1-10 location: 390/9/3/06
Box # Decimal # File Title
5 334 Allied Commission for Italy
334 Executive Committee on Economic Foreign Policy
334 Central Intelligence Group; Central Intelligence Group II
334 Committee of Three
334 National Intelligence Authority
6 383.6 Germany
8 Argentina
Germany
9 Madrid, Spain
Italy
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Cross-Reference Sheets to the General Correspondence 1946-1948 (Entry 109)
These are 5-by-8-inch carbon copies of the top portion of the 8-by-10-inch sheets interfiled with the correspondence described in Entry 110. Each sheet provides the primary decimal (upper left corner) under which either the document or the original 8-by-11-inch cross-reference sheet is filed, the decimals under which other copies of the cross-reference sheet are filed, the decimal (shown in the shaded box) under which the cross-reference sheet itself is filed, date of document, date of receipt, name of writer and recipient, security classification, subject and summary of contents, and notations concerning enclosures and the disposition of the document. Arranged according to the War Department decimal classification scheme. At the end of the series are cross-reference sheets for project (subject) files arranged alphabetically by subject and thereunder by decimal number.
Boxes 1-31 location: 390/9/3/06
Coordination & Records Decimal File 1946-1947 (General Correspondence) (Entry 110)
Most of the Secretary of War's general correspondence of this period was forwarded to other offices for reply and filing. In many cases, the files in this series consist only of a cross-reference sheet, the originals of those described in Entry 109, for each incoming and outgoing document and a copy of Patterson's reply. The cross-reference sheets generally in boxes indicate to which office the ` incoming document was referred. The cross-reference sheets in this series contain many references to other series among the records of the Office of the Secretary of War. The most frequent cross-reference is to a "secret file." The document thus referred to may be filed in either Patterson's security-classified correspondence (Entry 108); or in Patterson's "Safe File" (Entry 106). Many are in this series in the same file with related cross-reference. References to a "previous file" or "old file" refer to the general correspondence of Stimson (Entry 102). References to a "new file" related to Patterson's correspondence as Secretary of the Army, which is part of Record Group 335, Records of the Secretary of the Army. Arranged according to the War Department decimal classification scheme. At the end of the series is a number of project files arranged alphabetically by subject. The records within a project file are generally arranged alphabetically by subtopic, or, in a few cases, are arranged chronologically and numbered.
Boxes 176-226 location: 390/9/4/06
{1}Return to text The Committee of Three was composed of the Secretaries of State, Way, and Navy.
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