Hectic Summer part 1: National Archives (and recently-declassified antique records)

This past summer, I worked on two different internships (more on that later).  One of them was at the National Archives and Records Administration, specifically their College Park location.  I digitized records of Operation Crossbow in preparation for creating a finding aid and adding them to the online catalog.  For those who don’t know, Operation Crossbow was a World War II operation to counter German V1 and V2 rockets, which were being launched at British cities, mainly London, from the occupied European mainland.

I had applied basically as a declaration of interest; there was nothing on my resume except some volunteer work so I figured that they would never accept me, there had to be dozens of other candidates with more experience.  During the phone interview, though, I expressed interest in WW2-era intelligence and counterintelligence, which probably got me the job.  I was ecstatic; I didn’t shut up about it for days, I mean it’s the NATIONAL ARCHIVES.

There were a lot of other interns there, but I was working on my own, except for my supervisor.  I spent most of my time in the digitization lab, skim-reading the records of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, looking for mention of Crossbow.  (At one point, I was temporarily pulled off of the project to help my supervisor rehouse pre-1975 records from the Environmental Protection Agency, but that was only for a few weeks before I went back to SHAEF.)  I actually had very little contact with my fellow interns, they had their projects and I had mine.  Some interesting points unrelated to the actual internship: once a person has gone through the security check process once, they don’t need to do it again if they come back for another internship.  Also, the Archives apparently has a long history of hiring former interns; I met at least four while I was there.  There is a bus line that will take you very nearly to the front door, and the Archives has an arrangement with the Department of Transportation to waive fares for commuting interns (I ride the bus, so this was very cool).  There are a number of tours and panels available to interns; I chose to tour the conservation labs (yes labs plural, there were three) and the cartography lab.  They were all fascinating, we got to see some amazing things and the tour guides were very knowledgeable and answered any questions that we asked.

One of the carts full of SHAEF files that I read through

My very first day, I turned a page in the folder that I was going through to find a map of the plans for the D-Day landings at Normandy.  I would eventually lose count of how many of these I came across; D-Day maps, invasion maps, airfields, continued resistance, you name it.  At one point, I was reading through lists of Allied POW camps in the path of the invasion (did they have enough food, did they need medical assistance, were they okay until they could be liberated) and right there on the page I saw Stalag 17 and Stalag Luft 3 (of The Great Escape).  I came home every day babbling about the incredibly geeky things that I had gotten to see and hold.  One thing stood out, though.  One fine day in early July, I was skimming through a document, and my eyes caught on the name Stalin.  I went back to actually read it, and as it turns out, it was a typewritten draft of a memo from General Eisenhower to Stalin, informing him of the Allied plans for invading Germany.  Unsigned, so nothing worth calling the news about, but still, how amazing is that?