Finding Aid for the John P. Hurndall Second World War collection 2016.172.w.r
John Encarnacion and Rob Strauss
Center for American War Letters Archives
3/29/2017
Leatherby Libraries
Chapman University
Orange, CA 92866
speccoll@chapman.edu
Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: John P. Hurndall Second World War collection
source:
Roney, Jane Hurndall, Mrs.
Identifier/Call Number: 2016.172.w.r
Physical Description:
1 Linear feet
(1 carton)
Date (inclusive): 1945 November 26 - 1966 May 5
Abstract: This collection contains photographs, letters, scrapbooks, and other material belonging to John P. Hurndall, who was part
of the United States Reparations Mission following the Second World War.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: WWII 96
Container: 1-8
Container: 1-8
Container: WWII 97
Container: 1-7
Container: 9-15
Container: WWII 95
Container: 15
Container: 16
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Jane Hurndall Roney and Julie Hurndall Yost
This collection is arranged chronologically by material type:
- Series 1, Correspondence from John P. Hurndall
- Series 2, Scrapbooks
- Series 3, Photographs
- Series 4, Los Angeles World Affairs Council speech
- Series 5, Reports on Japanese Assets
- Series 6, Biographical information
John P. Hurndall (1902-1966) was deputy chief of staff for the United States Reparations Mission after World War II from May
to September of 1946. A November 9, 1945 issue of Stars and Stripes says Hurndall joined the mission as a consulting geologist.
He also worked in the oil industry and, according to an obituary from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, served
as president of Bandini Petroleum Company from 1952 to 1958.
The obituary also says Hurndall was an associate of E.W. Pauley and Associates "for three years after World War II." Edwin
W. Pauley was the United States Representative to the Allied Reparations Committee.
According to a newspaper obituary provided by the donor, Hurndall served as a Naval Intelligence Officer during World War
II and "amphibious flotilla commander in the South Pacific."
Hurndall was born on January 17, 1902 and died of cancer in Newport Beach on May 17, 1966.
[Item title, Box number, Folder number], John P. Hurndall Second World War correspondence (2016.172.w.r), Center for American
War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
This collection contains scrapbooks, photographs, correspondence and material pertaining to John P. Hurndall while working
on the United States Reparations Mission following the Second World War from May to September 1946. The records document the
team's work in Japan, China, Manchuria, North Korea, and South Korea. There are also pictures documenting Germany, Britain,
the Philippines, and France following World War II. Hurndall was deputy chief of staff for the mission. According to a November
9, 1945 issue of Stars and Stripes, Hurndall was a consulting geologist on the mission.
Items of note 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. In letters to his wife, Hurndall also gives post-Second World War descriptions of various Chinese cities.
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War (1939-1945)
Photographs
Correspondence -- World War, 1939-1945
World War (1939-1945) -- Reparations
Manchuria (China) -- History -- 1931-1945.
World War (1939-1945) -- China -- Manchuria
World War (1939-1945) -- China
War crime trials -- Germany -- Nuremberg
War crime trials -- Japan -- Tokyo
Holocaust survivors -- History -- 20th Century
World War (1939-1945) -- Germany -- Refugees
World War (1939-1945) -- Photography
Roney, Jane Hurndall, Mrs.
Hurndall, John P., Mr., 1902-1966
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."