Harold H. Neff served as an expert and adviser on foreign economic matters to the Under Secretary of War from September 1941 until September 1945. As such, he was principally concerned with ensuring adequate supplies of critical and strategic defense materials for the United States and its Allies while denying these essential materials to the Axis powers, analyzing the industrial and economic strength of the enemy, and serving as the Under Secretary of War's major contact with the War Department liaison office attached to the Board of Economic Warfare and its successors, the Office of Economic Warfare and the Foreign Economic Administration.
Special Assistant for Economic Warfare Harold H. Neff, General File 1943-1945
(Entry 160)
Neff's correspondence with the Under Secretary of War consists largely of memorandums outlining his views on the policy the War Department should recommend or pursue on such issues as alleged Swedish violations of the Anglo- Swedish War Trade Agreement of 1939; smuggling of oil, diamonds, and other minerals into Germany by neutral countries; exportation of aviation gasoline to Sweden and Spain; and, implementation of a blockade against Japan. There are also synopses of lengthy reports and studies prepared by Neff and forwarded to the Under Secretary of War on such broader subjects as neutral trade and German economic strengths and weaknesses. The rest of the series includes short notes Neff prepared as aides-memoir, summarizing meetings he had attended and telephone conversations he had held; minutes of meetings of the BEW [Board of Economic Warfare] (with Neff's comments on the matters discussed); mimeographed copies of area studies and reports prepared by the Board of Economic Warfare; Foreign Economic Administration, and the Research and Analysis Branch of the Office of Strategic Services; War and State Departments cablegrams on economic conditions in Europe; and export license applications received from Spain, Portugal, Turkey, and Sweden. The records are arranged in two alphabetical sequences: the first by office or subject; the second by name of country. The four largest country files (Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland) are further divided as follows: general, cables, statistics, and various subjects arranged alphabetically. Boxes 906-929 location: 390/9/28/05
Box # File Title and/or Subject
906-907 Board of Economic Warfare, Office of Economic Warfare, Foreign Economic Administration; location: 390/9/28/05
910 BEW [Board of Economic Warfare], Neutral Trade
location: 390/9/28/06
912 War Refugee Board location: 390/9/28/06
913 Argentina location: 390/9/28/06
914 Europe-"Safehaven" location: 390/9/28/06
915 Germany; Italy location: 390/9/28/06
919-919 Portugal location: 390/9/28/07
920-921 Spain location: 390/9/28/07
922-926 Sweden location: 390/9/28/07
927-929 Switzerland location: 390/9/28/07
929 Turkey location: 390/9/29/01
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