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box WWII 96, folder 1, folder 1

Series 1, Correspondence from John P. Hurndall 1945 November 26 - 1946 July 1

Creator: Hurndall, John P., Mr., 1902-1966
Physical Description: .08 Linear Feet(1 folder)
Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series contains five letters that Hurndall sent to his wife while he was overseas on the U.S. Reparations Mission. Hurndall sent the letters from Japan, China, Manchuria, and Korea.
In the letters, Hurndall writes about the atmosphere in various Chinese cities after the war. He describes Shanghai as a "madhouse" and writes about the high prices of merchandise: "Since the Americans have come in prices have risen 400 to 500% and higher than the U.S. for the same things." In one letter dated January 1, 1946, Hurndall also writes: "Yesterday, all of China changed from driving on the left to the right side of the street."
Hurndall also writes about post Second World War foreign affairs. In one letter dated January 5, 1945 (It likely should have been 1946 - the envelope is dated 1946), Hurndall writes about the continued presence of Japanese troops in North China and mentions that disarming of the Japanese in North China "is practically at a standstill."

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Correspondence -- World War, 1939-1945
World War (1939-1945)
World War (1939-1945) -- Reparations
World War (1939-1945) -- China
World War (1939-1945) -- China -- Manchuria
box WWII 96, folder 2-8, folder 2-8, box WWII 97, folder 1-3, folder 9-11, folder 2016-172-w_Hurndall

Series 2, Scrapbooks 1945 November - 1946 October

Physical Description: .62 Linear Feet(10 folders)
Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series contains three scrapbooks: US Reparations Mission to the Far East and Europe, US Reparations Mission to Japan and the unlabeled scrapbook US Reparations Mission Asia. The scrapbooks contains photographs taken from late 1945 to mid-1946 during trips by staff members of the US Reparations Mission. The scrapbooks contain pictures of Japan, China, Korea, Manchuria, Germany, Britain, France, the Philippines, Egypt, and Guam.
The US Reparations Mission to the Far East and Europe scrapbook contains pictures taken during trips by the staff of the US Reparations Mission to Japan, China, the Philippines, and Guam. The scrapbook includes a roster of the staff of the US Reparations Mission. There are also two letters from Edwin W. Pauley, the US Representative on the Allied Reparations Commission, to Hurndall and a certificate of commendation for Hurndall.
Items of note in the US Reparations Mission to the Far East and Europe scrapbook include pictures of the war crimes trials in Tokyo and Nuremberg following the Second World War. There are also pictures from a "Jewish Displaced Persons" camp in Furth, Germany and pictures showing the damage in Germany following World War II.
Items of note in the US Reparations Mission to Japan scrapbook include pictures showing the destruction in Manila following the Second World War, pictures of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, and "street scenes" in Tokyo.
Pictures in the unlabeled scrapbook US Reparations Mission Asia include images that document the Soviet removal of equipment from industrial plants in Manchuria.
Scans of the original scrapbooks and accompanying captions are digitized (see Instance for folder location).

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Photographs
World War (1939-1945) -- Reparations
War crime trials -- Germany -- Nuremberg
War crime trials -- Japan -- Tokyo
World War (1939-1945)
World War (1939-1945) -- China
World War (1939-1945) -- China -- Manchuria
World War (1939-1945) -- Germany -- Refugees
Holocaust survivors -- History -- 20th Century
World War (1939-1945) -- Photography
box WWII 97, folder 4, folder 12

Series 3, Photographs 1946 - 1946

Physical Description: .05 Linear feet(1 folder)
Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

Items in this series include 27 photographs and 12 negatives. The photographs include images of Chinese military leader Lin Biao with two other men. A caption on the back spells his name as "Lin Piao" and describes him as the "Commander Chinese Communist Forces in Manchuria." Another picture shows five men standing in front of a statue. The Truman Library, which also has a copy of the photograph, identifies the location as the Sadong Coal Mine in North Korea. The Truman Library identifies the men in the picture as "Mr. Dick Johnston, Mr. Hendricks, guide, Lt. Lisner, and Mr. John Hurndall."
There are also pictures of wrecked Japanese planes and a man with a rickshaw.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

World War (1939-1945) -- China -- Manchuria
World War (1939-1945)
World War (1939-1945) -- Photography
Photographs
box WWII 97, folder 5, folder 13

Series 4, Los Angeles World Affairs Council speech

Creator: Hurndall, John P., Mr., 1902-1966
Physical Description: .07 Linear Feet(1 folder)
Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

According to a note on an envelope provided with this collection, this series contains the typewritten rough draft of a speech that Hurndall gave to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. The date of the speech is not known.
The rough draft includes crossed out paragraphs and the handwritten addition of text. In the draft speech, Hurndall writes about visiting Manchuria and China in the summer of 1946 as part of the US Reparations Mission. He describes life in Manchuria after the war. In one interesting section, Hurndall writes about efforts by the Chinese army to crack down on an illegal flea market by driving a truck through it.
He also writes about the objective of the mission in Manchuria and about coal mining in Manchuria. Hurndall also writes about visiting North Korea and the experience of visiting plants in North Korea while being accompanied by armed soldiers.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

World War (1939-1945) -- China -- Manchuria
World War (1939-1945) -- Reparations
World War (1939-1945)
World War (1939-1945) -- China
box WWII 97, folder 7, folder 15, box WWII 95, folder 15, folder 16

Series 5, Reports on Japanese Assets 1946 June - 1946 July

Physical Description: .24 Linear Feet
Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series contains two books: "Report on Japanese Assets in Soviet-Occupied Korea to the President of the United States June 1946" and "Report on Japanese Assets in Manchuria to the President of the United States July 1946". Both books are marked "Restricted."

Subjects and Indexing Terms

World War (1939-1945)
World War (1939-1945) -- Reparations
box WWII 97, folder 6, folder 14

Series 6, Biographical information

Physical Description: .035 Linear Feet(1 folder)
Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series contains biographical information about John Hurndall and Edwin W. Pauley, a U.S. Ambassador who was U.S. Representative on the Allied Reparations Commission. Pauley was director of the United States Reparations Mission to Japan.
The series includes a 1966 obituary about Hurndall from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. There is also a computer printout of an April 28 1945 article in the Chicago Tribune announcing Pauley's appointment. Also included are images and information about Hurndall from the Truman Library and a printout of the Wikipedia entry about Edwin Pauley. Additionally, there is a photocopy of a page of the book "On the Front Lines of the Cold War" by Seymour Topping that mentions the "American Pauley Mission."