The Real Story Alcos Mission

During World War II, a group of military, scientific, and intelligence specialists from the United States and the United Kingdom collaborated on a mission known as the Alsos Mission. The mission's objective was to uncover scientific advancements made by the enemy. Investigating the advancements that Nazi Germany was making in the field of nuclear technology and seizing any German nuclear resources that would either be of value to the Manhattan Project or worth denying to the Soviet Union were the primary goals of this organization. In addition to this, it looked into the development of chemical and biological weapons in Germany, as well as the ways by which these weapons might be delivered, as well as any other sophisticated Axis technology that it was able to get knowledge on during the course of the other investigations.

As part of the Manhattan Project's objective to coordinate foreign information linked to enemy nuclear activities, the Alsos objective was established following the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943. This mission existed as part of the Manhattan Project. The crew was tasked with two distinct missions: the first was to look for individuals, documents, material, and places in order to analyze the aforementioned projects and to prevent the Soviet Union from capturing them. Alsos men trailed closely behind the front lines in Italy, France, and Germany, sometimes entering into area occupied by the enemy in order to seize important supplies before they could be destroyed or scientists could flee or fall into the hands of the enemy.

Additionally, Samuel Goudsmit served as the senior scientific adviser for the Alsos Mission, which was directed by Colonel Boris Pash, who had previously served as a security officer for the Manhattan Project. It was jointly manned by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), the Manhattan Project, and Army Intelligence (G-2), with field aid from combat engineers assigned to special task units.

During and soon after World War II, the United States of America headed the Manhattan Project, which was an Allied nuclear weapons research and development program. The United Kingdom and Canada were the primary contributors to the Manhattan Project because of their significant contributions.

Leslie Groves, a Brigadier General in the United States Army Corps of Engineers, was appointed to the position of director in September of 1942. Due to the fact that its discovery may prompt Axis nations, notably Germany, to speed up their own nuclear efforts or to carry out covert actions against the project, the project was conducted under a strict blanket of security.

The work that the Allies were doing on nuclear fission was spurred by scientists, many of whom were refugees from Nazi Germany. These scientists were afraid that the German government was working on an atomic weapon program. The majority of the work that led to the discovery of fission was carried out at Otto Hahn's laboratory in Berlin. Many scientists in the United States regarded the work of German scientists, particularly Werner Heisenberg, in extremely high respect. There were many reasons for the foundation of the Manhattan Project and the acceleration of the Allied effort, but one of the primary motivations was the fear that they were in a "race" for the atomic weapon.

Adolf Hitler, the Chancellor of Germany, made regular assertions that Germany was working on building secret weapons, and it was believed that these development efforts may involve the creation of nuclear weapons. The reports of nuclear activities perpetrated by Germany were regarded very seriously. At the beginning of the Manhattan Project, heavy-water infrastructure in German-occupied Norway was targeted by Allied bombers and Norwegian saboteurs in late 1942 and early 1943. These attacks were planned in response to the Manhattan Project.

After the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, Brigadier General Wilhelm D. Styer, who was the Chief of Staff of the Army Service Forces, became worried that intelligence efforts connected to foreign nuclear energy projects were not being integrated in an appropriate manner. He was concerned that key details may be forgotten if those responsible were not well informed, but at the same time, he wanted to reduce the number of workers who had access to such confidential material. Having the Manhattan Project itself take up responsibility for organizing these activities would be an effective way to handle each of these issues respectively. Consequently, he contacted Groves with that proposal on behalf of General George Marshall, who was the Chief of Staff of the Army at the time.

As a reaction, Groves established the Alsos Mission, which consisted of a small team that was jointly manned by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), the Manhattan Project, and Army Intelligence (G-2). The mission of this organization was to examine the scientific advancements of the adversary, especially research on nuclear weapons. The codename, which was taken from the Greek word for "grove" (ϼλσoς), was not to Groves' liking; yet, he made the decision that altering it would only attract unwelcome attention.

Lieutenant Colonel Boris Pash was given the responsibility of commanding the unit at the request of Major General George V. Strong, who is the Chief of Army Intelligence. While Pash was serving as the chief of the Counter Intelligence Branch of the Western Defense Command, he was responsible for conducting investigations at the Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley into possible acts of Soviet espionage. The members of Pash's command included his executive officer, Captain Wayne B. Stanard, four agents from the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC), four interpreters, and four scientists. These scientists were as follows: Dr. James B. Fisk from the Bell Telephone Company, Dr. John R. Johnson from Cornell University, Commander Bruce Old from the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Major William Allis, who was originally from MIT but was serving on the scientific staff of the War Department at the time.

The intelligence staff of the Manhattan Project believed that the Japanese atomic program was not very far along in its development. This was due to the fact that Japan had limited access to uranium ore, the amount of industrial effort that was required was greater than what Japan could handle, and, according to American physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, who were personally acquainted with the leading Japanese physicists, there were not enough qualified Japanese individuals to work in the field.