US 3rd ARMY daily reports and photos May 1945 Linz / Gusen Austria (U.S. Army - Fort Stewart - Third Infantry Division)

CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

Mr. Struckmann,

Good afternoon, we received your request on December 19, 2021 and it is
processing. Your request is assigned FOIA tracking number FP-22-007637/
FA-22-0013. We would like to apologize for the delay in responding to your
request. Because we are required to address a large number of FOIA demands,
many involving sensitive records and coordination with other agencies, we
cannot always respond to requests as quickly as we would like. Accordingly,
we handle backlogged cases on a 'first in, first out basis. Furthermore, due
to the events/ and or dates of occurrences pertaining to the requested
records. The records would not be located at Fort Stewart. If records exist
the requested information would be maintained at another Army activity.
Once the process is complete we will notify you of our findings by sending
an official letter to the address provided in your request. Have a blessed
day.

Very Respectfully,

Mrs. A Everett

Mrs. Andrea F. Everett

Government Information Specialist

DHR/Administrative Services Division

Bldg 253, Suite 2030

55 Pony Soldier Avenue

USAG Fort Stewart, GA 31314

Desk: (912) 767-8103

DSN: 870-8103

Fax: (912) 767-3476

We are the Army's Home

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immediately notify the sender at (912) 767-8103 and delete the copy
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CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

Mr. Struckmann,

Good morning, this email is our final respond to your FOIA request received
via-email December 19, 2022 reference records from May 1945. Please see the
attached for specifics. Have a blessed day.

V/r
Mrs. Andrea F. Everett
Government Information Specialist
DHR/Administrative Services Division
Bldg 253, Suite 2030
55 Pony Soldier Avenue
USAG Fort Stewart, GA 31314
Desk: (912) 767-8103
DSN: 870-8103
Fax: (912) 767-3476

We are the Army's Home

ICE Feedback please
https://ice.disa.mil/index.cfm?fa=card&service_provider_id=5459&site_id=85

NOTICE: The information contained in this communication is intended for the
sole use of the named addresses/recipients to which it is addressed, in
their conduct of official business of the United States Government. This
communication may contain information that is exempt from disclosure under
the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552 and the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C.
552a. Address/recipients are not to disseminate this communication to
individuals other than those who have an official need to know the
information in the course of their official Government duties. If you
received this communication in error, please do not examine, review, print,
copy, forward, disseminate, or otherwise use the information. Please
immediately notify the sender at (912) 767-8103 and delete the copy
received.

February 7, 2022

Reply to RR2RR 22-17799LT

Tino Struckmann

MuckRock News

411A Highland Ave

Somerville, MA 02144

Dear Mr. Struckmann,

This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act request of December
19, 2021 for journals of the Third Army from May 1945 and related reports
to the findings in Linz, Gusen, and lists of German prisoners taken in May
1945. Also, documents and photographs of the recovery of machinery and
materials from the tunnels codenamed Georgenmuhle (or St. Georgen-Mühle),
Esche II, and B8 St. Georgen. Your request was received in this office on
January 27, 2022 and assigned FOIA case number 22-17799.

Your request has been forwarded to the Still Pictures Branch for a
response. That office will provide more information on any additional
photographic material on the machinery recovered from the tunnels.

Please note that we make reasonable efforts to assist researchers with
their work. As a matter of policy, the National Archives is staffed to
assist researchers with their work, including but not limited to pointing
researchers to helpful finding aids to begin their research. However, given
the limitations on staff resources, we do not generally conduct substantive
research in response to requests filed under the Freedom of Information
Act, except in circumstances where documents are easily locatable.

Within Record Group 407 – Records of the Office of the Adjutant General,
Entry NM-3 427, we located G-2 (Intelligence) Periodic Reports (103-2.1)
and G-3 (Operational) Situation Reports (103-3.8) of the Third Army from
May 1945 (Box 1592). We reviewed these reports and did not find references
to the tunnel codenames, lists of German prisoners, or recovery of
equipment. These records are unrestricted and do not require a Freedom of
Information Act request to view or order copies.

We did not locate Daily Journals specifically for the Third Army from May
1945. We did find a G-3 Summary of Operations (103-3.0) for 1 – 9 May 1945.
A quote for those records is attached below. We did not locate additional
summaries from past 9 May 1945 under this decimal.

We did not locate information on General Hans Kammler and his interaction
with the Third Army in Record Group 407. We did find a file on him in
record Group 424 – Collection of Foreign Records Seized, “Copies of Service
Records of Selected mainly Schutzstaffel (SS) Officers” (Entry P 33, Box
9). These records are unrestricted and do not require a Freedom of
Information Act request to view or order copies.

Your request specified that General Kammler was questioned by the
Counterintelligence Corps (CIC) during the liberation. Assuming that the
CIC detachment of the 11th Armored Division was the unit to question him,
we searched the Record Group 407 series under the 11th Armored Division, 511
th CIC Detachment, but found there are no records for that detachment in
the collection.

We also reviewed the files from the 11th Armored Division, Combat Command B
(Record Group 407, Entry NM-3 427). The boxes for the Combat Command B do
not include Daily Journals or After Action Reports for the liberation of
Linz (Box 13044). We located Operations Memos from 9, 12, & 23 May 1945,
but the reports do not include information on the tunnels listed nor
equipment found.

Attached below are the record indexes of Record Group 407, Entry NM-3 427
(as described above) for the Third Army (Binder 3, starting Page 74) and
the 11th Armored Division (Binder 13, starting Page 99). Although we did
not locate records on the specific tunnels you requested, other materials
may be of interest to you research.

If you would like copies of any of the records described, please specify
which records in a separate request to archives2reference@nara.gov and we
can provide a cost quote for you; our current fee for copies is $.80 per
page. Please limit your request to *three files* at a time.

You also requested reports from “investigators of military intelligence and
engineers of the Third Army [which] documented their findings in
Linz/Gusen” that are classified. We searched in Record Group 407, Record
Group 242, Record Group 319 – Records of the Army Staff (including the
Military Intelligence Division (MID)), and Record Group 165 – Records of
the War Department and Special Staffs but were unable to locate classified
reports as described. Please provide a citation for these reports to
archives2reference@nara.gov and we can continue searching.

We searched within Record Group 498 – Records of Headquarters, European
Theater of Operations, US Army (World War II) for lists of German prisoners
of war taken by the Third Army. We searched several series, including
“Records Relating to Operations Reports, 1944-46” (Entry UD 541),
“Administrative History Files, 1942-46” (Entry UD 578), and “Correspondence
and Reports, 1945-46” (Entry UD 590). We were unable to locate lists of
prisoners of war from Linz taken by the Third Army in this search.

We also searched in Record Group 165, “Regional File” (Entry NM-84 77),
which consists of intelligence reports from US Army divisions. We searched
the file number for prisoners of war (6950) for Austria (Box 147). However,
we found the records only go through 1944 and are not responsive to your
request.

We do not consider this a denial of your FOIA request. However, if you are
not satisfied with our action on this request, your options for appeal and
dispute resolution are outlined in the attached enclosure.

This concludes the processing of your request.

Sincerely,

LAUREN THEODORE

Archives Specialist

Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)

National Archives at College Park, MD

FOIA Appeal and Dispute Resolution Options

You have the right to file an administrative appeal in writing via regular
U.S. mail or email. Your appeal should be received within ninety (90)
calendar days from the date of this letter and it should explain why you
believe this response does not meet the requirements of the Freedom of
Information Act. Please address it to the Deputy Archivist of the United
States (ND), National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi
Road, College Park, Maryland 20740. Both the letter and the envelope
should be clearly marked “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.” You may also
submit your appeal to FOIA@nara.gov also addressed to the Deputy Archivist.
All correspondence should reference your internal case tracking
number 22-17799.

In addition to your right to file an administrative appeal with the Deputy
Archivist, you may seek assistance from our FOIA Public Liaison, Rebecca
Calcagno. Contact information for the FOIA Public Liaison at the National
Archives, Washington DC area is as follows:

Accessioned Executive Branch Agency Records - Washington, DC Area
FOIA Public Liaison: Rebecca Calcagno
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 5500
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Email: DC.foia.liaison@nara.gov
Telephone: 301-837-3190

You may also contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS),
the Federal FOIA Ombudsman’s office, for assistance. OGIS offers mediation
services to help resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal
agencies. The contact information for OGIS is:

Office of Government Information Services
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road–OGIS
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Email: ogis@nara.gov
https://www.archives.gov/ogis
Phone: 202-741-5770 or 1-877-684-6448
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LAUREN THEODORE
Archives Specialist
Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)
National Archives at College Park, MD

Good afternoon,

My apologies for the late response.

Because we did not locate information relating specifically to your stated
inquiry, please specify which files you would like copies of from the ones
I cited in my original FOIA response and I can send you the copy quote for
those files.

Sincerely,

LAUREN THEODORE
Archives Specialist
Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)
National Archives at College Park, MD
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