and functions, first by the House Select Committee to Investigate the Federal Communications Commission and later by the House Appropriations Committee. The charges considered by the two committees included: (1) The FCC had exceeded its authority in establishing the FBIS; (2) analytical evaluations of broadcasts could best be prepared by the agencies using them (chiefly the Office of War Information and the War and State Departments); and (3) two officials of the Service were unfit to hold their positions.

While Congress was investigating the Service, several agencies were already conferring about the proper allocation of the analysis function. As a result, the Analysis Division was terminated and most of its personnel were transferred to the Office of War Information. In March 1945, after several reorganizations, the FBIS comprised the Office of the Director, the Office of the Chief Editor, and the Distribution, Daily Report, Far East, and Monitoring Divisions.

On December 4, 1945, an FCC news release announced the suspension of FBIS monitoring of foreign broadcasts, effective the following day, and the termination of the services of its personnel, effective December 10. In a letter to the Chairman of the FCC on December 21, 1945, however, the Secretary of War stressed the need for continuing the Service and proposed that the Commission discontinue the liquidation of the FBIS until arrangements could be made for the transfer of its personnel and facilities to the War Department. The proposal was accepted by the Commission on December 27, 1945, and, by order of the Secretary of War, the Service was transferred to the Military Intelligence Division of the General Staff on December 30. On August 5, 1946, the FBIS was transferred to the Central Intelligence Group of the National Intelligence Authority, where it was renamed the Foreign Broadcast Information Service on October 31, 1946, and the Foreign Broadcast Information Branch on December 31, 1946.

They

The records described in this inventory amount to 697 cubic feet, including 190 cubic feet of sound recordings and related indexes. are designated as Record Group 262, Records of the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service. They comprise the records of the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service and its predecessors and of its successor, the Foreign Broadcast Information Service through November 1946, when the transfer to the Central Intelligence Group of the National Intelligence Authority took practical effect. (A few papers of later date are scattered through the record group.) They were transferred to the National Archives from the Federal Communications Commission, the War Department, and the Central Intelligence Agency and its predecessors. The personnel records have been transferred to the Federal Records Center at St. Louis, Mo.

Records relating to the establishment and subsequent congressional investigation of the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service are in RG

173, Records of the Federal Communications Commission, and in RG 259, Records of the Board of War Communications. Records relating to monitoring and other activities similar to those performed by the Service are in RG 208, Records of the Office of War Information, and in RG 263, Records of the Central Intelligence Agency.

RECORDS OF THE FOREIGN BROADCAST INTELLIGENCE SERVICE

Central Files

These records were apparently maintained by the Mail and Files Section and its successors. The Section was established in 1941 to control correspondence, index and maintain files, and duplicate and distribute reports; in 1942 it was redesignated the Mail and Files Division. This Division was terminated in 1944 and its functions were transferred to the Processing and Duplicating Division. In 1945 the functions were assigned to the Distribution Division (occasionally known as the Administrative Service Division).

GENERAL RECORDS. 1941-46. 26 ft.

1

Chiefly correspondence, memoranda, and reports relating to the organization, functions, and activities of the Service from its beginning in 1941 until November 2, 1946, when the file was closed by the Central Intelligence Group. Arranged in accordance with a subject-numeric system developed from a scheme used by the FCC. As no classification scheme was found among the records, one was prepared by the National Archives (see appendix I).

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE. 1941-46. 1 ft.

2

Correspondence of FBIS officials with Members of Congress, officials of other Government agencies, editors, publishers, educational institutions, and private individuals relating to the activities of the Service. Most of the outgoing letters bear cross-reference notations to the general records described in entry 1. Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent.

Transcriptions

TRANSCRIPTS OF MONITORED FOREIGN BROADCASTS.

1940-46. 355 ft.

3

English translations of foreign shortwave broadcasts, consisting of full texts, text excerpts, and summaries sent to the national office by typed transcript, teletype, and cable. Arranged alphabetically by name of transmitting city or radio station. For a list of radio stations under which these transcripts are filed, see appendix II.

INDEXES TO FOREIGN BROADCASTS. 1941-45. 3 ft.

Daily lists of broadcasts (Form FBIS-469) giving the station, direction, time, type of program, speaker, and language. The lists are divided into three groups: (1) broadcasts from major stations (e.g., London, Berlin, Rome, Tokyo); (2) broadcasts from clandestine stations; and (3) broadcasts from other stations. Each group is arranged by name of country or city and thereunder chronologically.

SOUND RECORDINGS. 1941-45. 190 ft.

Approximately 36,000 Memovox disks and 200 glass-base sound record

ings of shortwave broadcasts transmitted from London, Berlin, Tokyo, Rome, Vichy, and other cities, and received by monitoring stations at Portland, Oreg., Kingsville, Tex., Silver Hill, Md., San Francisco, Calif., and Puerto Rico. Most of these broadcasts are in foreign languages and consist of news commentaries, speeches by important individuals from Axis and Allied countries, other propaganda items, and music. The recordings are arranged numerically.

INDEXES TO SOUND RECORDINGS.

1941-45. 29 ft.

6

The indexes are in two groups: (1) 5" x 8" log cards giving the record number, date, time, origin, destination of broadcast, language, and remarks about the program; arranged numerically; and (2) program sheets (2 ft.) giving some or all of the following data in the order mentioned: the monitor file number, frequency, station call letters, transmitting country, language, country beamed to, time, and case number; arranged by FBIS monitoring installation and thereunder chronologically.

Teletyped Records of Incoming Wires

Each incoming cable and wire begins with a 5-digit number to indicate the day of the week and the time of day the message was transmitted to Washington headquarters. The first digit represents the day of the week; the next two digits, the hour of the day counting 24 hours from midnight; and the last two digits, the number of minutes past the hour.

LONDON CABLES. Aug. 17, 1942-Jan. 22, 1943. 10 ft.

Partial or full texts of significant broadcasts emanating chiefly from Europe and Africa, which were intercepted by the FBIS monitoring installation in London and cabled to headquarters in Washington. Arranged chronologically.

"LONDON TRAFFIC." Aug. 1942. 1 ft.

Abstracts and occasional verbatim transcripts of monitored broadcasts emanating from various foreign stations, which were transmitted by teletype to the FBIS unit in New York by Press Wireless, Inc., in London. Arranged chronologically.

LONDON TELETYPE MESSAGES. Sept. 1946. 4 in.

7

8

୨

These messages, which were transmitted to Washington headquarters, are transcribed on teletype sheets in roll form, with each roll representing a single day's messages. Unarranged.

SAN FRANCISCO, PORTLAND, AND KINGSVILLE WIRES. Sept. 12-Dec. 12, 1942. 5 ft. 10

Partial or full texts of significant broadcasts originating chiefly in the Far East and the Soviet Union, which were teletyped to Washington by the San Francisco and Portland monitoring stations, and broad

casts originating chiefly in Latin America, which were transmitted by the Kingsville station. Arranged chronologically.

Teletyped Records of Outgoing Wires

The wires designated by the symbols A, B, C, D, E, S, X, and PM are direct FCC wires sent principally to Government agencies concerned with war propaganda. They consist of the more significant parts of the incoming wires and of the transcripts of broadcasts. Their content was selected according to the particular requirements of the agency to which they were teletyped.

"A" WIRES.

Dec. 7, 1941-Dec. 31, 1946. 83 ft.

11

Teletyped records of wires sent to approximately 25 agencies, including the State, War, and Navy Departments and the Office of War Information, the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, the Office of Censorship, and the Office of Strategic Services. The Governments and agencies of Allied Nations, including the Philippine Commonwealth, also received these wires, which were designated during successive periods by the symbols FCC-1, FCC-2, etc.; FCC A1, FCC A2, etc.; FCC-L-1, FCC-L-2, etc.; FCCK Al, FCCK A2, etc.; and FBIS-L Al, FBIS-L A2, etc. The digits 1, 2, etc., indicate the serial order in which the wires were transmitted; the letter after the FCC or FBIS symbol indicates the monitoring station that is the source of the information transmitted (L for London, P for Portland, K for Kingsville, F for San Francisco, W for Washington). Arranged chronologically.

"B" WIRES.

58 ft.

12

Oct. 25, 1941-Nov. 14, 1945. Teletyped records of wires sent to the Office of War Information in Washington and New York giving propaganda summaries and texts. They are identified during successive periods by the symbols FCC 1, FCC 2, etc.; WFCC 1, WFCC 2, etc.; and FCCW B1, FCCW B2, etc. Arranged chronologically.

"C" WIRES. Apr. 30, 1942-Dec. 31, 1946. 18 ft.

13

Teletyped records of wires sent to the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs giving information on Latin America. They are identified by the symbols FCCIA-1, FCCIA-2; FCCK C1, FCCK C2; and FBIS-W C1, FBIS-W C2, successively. Arranged chronologically.

"D" WIRES. Mar. 16, 1943-July 21, 1945. 2 ft.

1

Teletyped records of wires sent to the British Ministry of Information giving Far East data. They are identified by the symbols FB1, FB2, etc.; and PRE #1, PRE #2, etc. In addition to these symbols, the wires carried the same form of day, hour, and minute designations as those used in the incoming wires. Arranged chronologically, with gaps.

"E" WIRES. June 2-Sept. 10, 1943. 4 in.

15 Teletyped records of wires sent to the Office of the Provost Marshal