By Nicole Milano
Title: American Field Service World War II Records, 1939-1958
Predominant Dates:1940-1945
ID: RG2/001
Creator: American Field Service
Extent: 83.49 Cubic Feet. More info below.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged at the box level into the following eight series, based on the administrative structure of the American Field Service and the military forces they served with during World War II: Series 1: New York Headquarters, 1939-1946 (bulk 1940-1945); Series 2: Regional Representatives, 1939-1942; Series 3: Tenth French Army, 1940; Series 4: Middle East Forces, 1941-1944; Series 5: Central Mediterranean Forces, 1943-1945; Series 6: South East Asia Command, 1942-1945 (bulk 1944-1945); Series 7: First French Army, 1943-1945; Series 8: British Liberation Army, 1945. In addition to the 109 boxes arranged by series, the collection includes two boxes of unsorted files (1 cubic foot) that have yet to be incorporated into existing series.
The collection is processed at a series and box level only; the folders (and individual items) remain unsorted within each series. See the individual series descriptions for more information.
The American Field Service (AFS) was an ambulance organization founded in World War I and reactivated in 1939 under the leadership of Director General Stephen Galatti. American volunteers drove ambulances in France, North Africa, the Middle East, Italy, Germany, India, and Burma, and carried over 700,000 casualties by the end of World War II. The American Field Service World War II Records include personnel records, identification cards, reports, printed material, publications, official war diaries and logs, correspondence, and other administrative files generated by the organization at its various offices and headquarters during the war until the start of the AFS student exchange programs in 1947.
The American Field Service World War II Records include personnel records, identification cards, reports, printed material, publications, official war diaries and logs, correspondence, and other administrative files generated by the organization at its various offices and headquarters during the war until the start of the AFS student exchange programs in 1947. The bulk of the collection consists of the correspondence, publications, scrapbooks, personnel files, and identification cards kept at New York Headquarters, although there are also administrative files from the regional representatives in Boston and Detroit. Overseas material includes administrative files, publications, war diaries, and logs from the AFS offices and field headquarters near the French and British forces. In addition to the wartime material, the collection includes post-war documents related to repatriation and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), which some AFS ambulance drivers joined after the war, as well as two boxes of unsorted material. These unsorted files contain personnel applications, documents related to 485 and 567 Ambulance Car Companies, and ambulance plaque information. They also include later correspondence dated as late as 1958, which was likely related to George Rock’s The History of the American Field Service, 1920-1955 (1956, American Field Service, Inc.)
See the individual series descriptions for more information.
Alternate Extent Statement: 154 boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 1 tube, 4 loose film cans
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research. Some of the company, unit, and platoon diaries in Series 4, 5, and the unsorted files are fragile and must be handled with care. The personnel files in Series 1 are partially restricted due to sensitive information. E-mail the AFS Archives staff for information about accessing these files.
Use Restrictions: Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be submitted in writing to the Archives. In the event that this research becomes a source for publication, a credit line indicating the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs is required. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.
Acquisition Method: The collection was transferred to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs (AFS Archives) by AFS staff at unknown dates. While the New York Headquarters files remained with the organization during and after the war, some of the files related to overseas activities were collected from overseas wartime staff in the years after the war, as indicated by correspondence within the collection. Director General Stephen Galatti appointed W. W. Phillips as AFS Historian during the war, and sent Phillips to the Middle East to issue directions for the keeping of records, and also to collect files from the Cairo Headquarters. Phillips also took down accounts of personal memories to fill in gaps from the records, and these are likely present in the collection.
Appraisal Information: Select tributes and commendations were removed by AFS Archives staff at an unknown date, and placed into a topical collection (World War II Tributes, RG2/007.) No other items were deaccessioned, separated, or removed from the collection.
Related Materials: For more tributes and commendations (in addition to those in Series 1), see the World War II Tributes (RG2/007), which was removed as a topical collection at an unknown date by AFS Archives staff. For the official photographic collection, which was kept by New York Headquarters staff during the war, see the American Field Service World War II Photographic Collection (RG2/002.) For the official records of the American Field Service during World War I, see the American Field Service World War I Records (RG1/001.)
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Date]; American Field Service World War II Records; Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs, New York, NY.
Processing Information: Certain series of this collection were partially processed by AFS Archives staff at an unknown date, and the entire collection was processed at a series level by Nicole Milano in 2011. Preliminary finding aid written by Nicole Milano in June 2011 and encoded in EAD by Nicole Milano in June 2011 under the scope of the 2010-2011 Basic Processing grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
55.82 cubic feet (111 boxes, 2 oversize boxes)
This series constitutes more than half the entire collection, and includes administrative files, publications, printed material (including promotional posters), personnel records, and identification cards generated by or kept at New York Headquarters, which was located at 60 Beaver Street in New York City for most of World War II. Staff members for this office included Director General Stephen Galatti, Assistant Director General William H. Wallace, Jr. (also known as “Uncle Bill”), Secretary Lucy MacDonald DeMaine, and Publicity Director Joan Belmont.
The bulk of the administrative files includes correspondence to and from Stephen Galatti, although there is also some correspondence to other staff members (including Wallace, DeMaine, and Dorothy Field.) Important topics include the formation of the Hadfield-Spears Hospital Unit with the Free French Forces under Charles de Gaulle, the establishment of an overseas headquarters in Cairo after AFS aligned with the British forces, major battles (including Monte Cassino), recruitment of ambulance drivers, and fundraising. Correspondents include AFS men stationed overseas (such as Major Stuart Benson, Lieutenant Alan Stuyvesant, and Major Frederick Hoeing), donors, prospective ambulance drivers, and fundraising organizations (such as the United War Fund.) Many of the administrative files were sent back to New York Headquarters during the war, and include historical information, lists, logs, reports, and nominal rolls related to the various overseas units, platoons, and companies.
In addition to the administrative files, this series includes publications, printed material, and scrapbooks related to the publicity and public relations efforts of the New York staff during the war. Publications and printed material include brochures, rosters, and the AFS Letters, a monthly compilation of letters from ambulance drivers that their families would send to the office. This publication was compiled by Dorothy Field and mailed to parents, schools, and other interested parties. The scrapbooks were likely compiled by Joan Belmont, and consist of AFS-related clippings from various newspapers.
This series also includes personnel files and identification cards (British Geneva Cards and AFS identification cards) for the ambulance drivers. Most personnel files include passport photographs (often signed across the back), letters of recommendation from people of standing in the community, a letter from a reputable doctor as to physical condition and blood type of the applicant, and the original application, as well as various other documents. There appears to be one personnel file for each ambulance driver, although many of the identification cards are missing or were never returned to New York Headquarters after repatriation.
This series is processed at box level only; the folders (and individual items) remain unsorted within the boxes. The boxes are arranged by material type, though there may be some overlap between the boxes (for example, there may be some publications in the administrative files, and vice versa.)
