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OSS - The Psychology of War
SPECIAL OPERATIONS BRANCH
The Special Operations Branch, modelled after the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) worked with resistance organizations, organized sabotage operations and implemented many of the Morale Operations designed by the MO Branch. The SO Branch was led at different times by Carl Hoffman and William Davis, Jr.
Sabotage Sabotage Instructions, May 7, 1943
The first thing to consider in simple sabotage is to have the minimum injury, detection and reprisal. Materials: should be simple and appear to be innocent, such as salt, pebbles, thread, nails, candles. Techniques: select acts for which large numbers of people could be responsible. Simple Sabotage (2), circa 1945
Area A is primarily an S.O. training school for organizers of long-term sabotage activities in enemy occupied territory. The object of the training is long term direct action. Emphasis is placed on organization, recruiting and handling of agents, and selection of sabotage activites. Letter from J.R. Brown, July 7, 1942
Pursuant to your request, a list of subjects for the above-named school is included herewith: sabotage of power plants, including dynamos, transformers, turbines, steam generators, etc; communications including telephones and telegraph radio stations; transportation including railriads, steam and electric locomotives, cars, railbeds; miscellaneous engines including trucks, passenger automobiles and buses; hydroelectric plants including dams sluice ways, canals etc.; industrial sabotage including airplane factories, tank factories, automotive plants, ammunition factories etc.; oil wells and oil refineries; docks, loading piers, ships, tankers and cargo vessels; agricultural resources including rubber plantations, wheat stores etc. Proposed Sabotage Specialist Course, Aug. 19, 1942
X Plan The plan thus involves no functions that could be subject to serious exposure or penetration, since it would exclude: all knowledge of prospective action; all forms of secret intelligence or informant paraphenalia (list of names, places, targets, etc.); any knowledge of leaders, organizations, fellow cells, etc. In other words, the military objective and the means of carrying out this objective, as well as dates, etc., would remain hidden from the participating groups. Penetration of a cell or a number of cells would not expose or seriously impair operations. Cells: from 5 to 8 men - small enought to insure that the organizer of the proposed cell would be intimately acquainted with each prospective member of the cell. The organizer should be a local person, belonging to the group or nationality from which the cell is to be made up. Such organizers could be drawn from among priests, educators, merchants, salesmen, etc. The cell would have no immediate function to perform. The organizer would keep in contact with the other members through normal intercourse of community life. The organizer would know only that as some future date the cell might be called upon to receive a visitor and follow his orders. He would be told that this event would be in connection with Allied operations, and for the cause of liberation, etc. His main task, prior to specific instructions putting the cell on the alert, would be to keep his cell unit conscious of its unity in connection with the cause of liberation. There would be no connection with other cells. The members of the cell would not be told of other cells, except perhaps in a vague way that such existed. No list of names of the members of the cell would be kept, and no other records of any sort. To start with, in areas where no friendly organized movement exists, recourse should be taken to outside business or professional persons whose work or business normally brings them into the given area. ... The function of the contact men would be to persuade reliable persons from within a group to organize small units (cells) among their personal acquaintances for the purpose of holding themselves prepared to give aid to the Allies at some future date. X Plan (Cell Variety), December 30, 1943
Economic [I]t was decided to prepare a plan under the code name of "Barrel" for the exploitation of any and all strains that the Japanese economy may be going through at the present moment. ... It is hereby requested that you send Cpl. Caughlin to Comdr. Huntsberger at room 500 Annex to obtain information on the following topics: Japanese controls over the financial structure; Japanese controls regulating industry; Japanese controls over distribution and rationing of commodities; general standard of living; information on how Japanese propaganda is treating such problems as inflation, food shortages, transportation and etc. The Barrel Plan, July 27, 1945
By reducing the effectiveness of the Japanese transport system, the Japanese military effort can be materially weakened. There is evidence that transport workers in China have preserved some independence of action, and are receptive to approaches to handicap the Japanese military effort. The work of these transport workers against the Japanese military effectiveness can be encouraged. The following themes are to be employed to induce the Chinese railroad workers to sabotage trains: sabotage of transport facilities brings nearer the end of the war and the freeing of the transport workers from Japanese oppression; transport facilities sent to shops for repair will escape destruction and thus be available to provide jobs after the defeat of Japan; transport workers are safest whose trains do not reach forward marshalling yards; let us always remember that a demolished train does la patria no good. We must make the trains unfit for Japanese use by merely crippling them, NOT WRECKING them. Save our trains for the days of peace! Campaign Against Railroad Workers in North China, circa 1945
Copyright Paul Wolf, 2004. For educational use only. No copyright to original government works.
