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John Lansdale Jr.

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John Lansdale Jr.
Lansdale is awarded theLegion of Meritby Major GeneralLeslie Groves,the director of theManhattan Project
Nickname(s)Jack
Born(1912-01-09)9 January 1912
Oakland, California,U.S.
Died22 August 2003(2003-08-22)(aged 91)
Annapolis, Maryland,U.S.
Buried
All Hallows Cemetery
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1941–1945
RankColonel
Battles/warsWorld War II:
AwardsLegion of Merit
Commander of theOrder of the British Empire
Alma materVirginia Military Institute(BS)
Harvard University(LLB)

John Lansdale Jr.(9 January 1912 – 22 August 2003) was aUnited States Armycolonelwho was in charge of intelligence and security for theManhattan Project.

A graduate of theVirginia Military InstituteandHarvard Law School,Lansdale was commissioned as asecond lieutenantin theUnited States Army Reservein 1933. He was called up for active duty in June 1941, and was assigned to the Investigations Branch in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 (military intelligence) of theWar Department General Staff.He became involved with the Manhattan Project in 1942, eventually becomingBrigadier GeneralLeslie Groves's special assistant for security. Lansdale coordinated the activities of the Manhattan Project's field security teams with those of other agencies such as theFBI.

In April 1945, Groves sent Lansdale to Europe, where he worked with theAlsos Missionto secure 1,000 tons ofuranium orefrom the GermanWirtschaftliche Forschungsgesellschaft(WiFO) plant inStassfurt.He also participated in the planning and execution ofOperation Harborage,in which a special Allied force went deep behind enemy lines, seized 1.5 tons of uranium ingots, and captured a number ofGerman nuclear energy projectscientists, includingCarl Friedrich von Weizsäcker,Max von Laue,Karl Wirtz,Horst KorschingandErich BaggeandOtto Hahn.

Early life

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John Mannen (Jack) Lansdale was born inOakland, Californiaon 11 June 1912, the son of John Lansdale Sr. and his wife May Hamilton née Mannen. After his sister Sally Mannen Lansdale was born in 1921 he dropped his middle name and was henceforth known as John Lansdale Jr. He was educated atSan Jacinto High School,from which he graduated in 1929. He entered theVirginia Military Institute,graduating in 1933, and thenHarvard Law School,from which he graduated in June 1936. He took a job with a law firm,Squire, Sanders and Dempsey(now Squire Patton Boggs), initially inCleveland,Ohio[1][2]and later in Washington, D.C.[3]He married Metta Virginia Tomlinson inTrinity Episcopal ChurchinHouston,Texas on 17 June 1936.[1]They had five daughters.[4]

World War II

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Counterintelligence

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After graduating from the Virginia Military Institute, Lansdale joined theUnited States Army Reserve.[1]He was commissioned as asecond lieutenantin thefield artillery branchin 1933, and was promoted tofirst lieutenantin 1937. He was called up for active duty in June 1941, a few months before the United States entered World War II, and was assigned to the Investigations Branch in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 (military intelligence) of theWar Department General Staff.[5]

In February 1942, Lansdale, now acaptain,met withJames B. Conant.the Chairman of theNational Defense Research Committee,who briefed him on efforts to create anatomic bomb,and charged him with responsibility forcounterintelligenceat theRadiation Laboratoryat theUniversity of California, Berkeley.[5]

When Colonel James C. Marshal established theManhattan Districtin June 1942, he created a Protective Security Section as part of its staff, responsible for the security of its people, installations and information. He also arranged with the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2,Major GeneralGeorge V. Strong,for support from theMilitary Intelligence Service.Strong gave Lansdale special responsibility for the Manhattan District, and Lansdale, in turn, arranged with the G-2s of each of theservice commandsfor officers to be assigned to report directly to him, thus bypassing both the service command G-2s and their commanders. He also organised a special counterintelligence group in Washington, D.C., headed by himself, that reported directly to both Strong andBrigadier GeneralLeslie Groves,[6][7]who became director of the Manhattan Project in September 1942.[8]

Lansdale had security concerns about the head of the weapons laboratory,J. Robert Oppenheimer,because of his communist connections, but Lansdale and Groves agreed that Oppenheimer was loyal and cooperative on security matters. Nonetheless, Lansdale had Oppenheimer's movements followed, his telephones tapped, and his mail opened.[9]Lansdale interrogated Oppenheimer over the latter's relationship withHaakon Chevalier.[10]

Four men in uniforms. One is leaning on a spade, and wearing an American helmet. Two others are wearing British helmets. A dark haired man has no helmet.
Michael Perrin,Lansdale,Samuel Goudsmit,andEric Welshsearch for uranium in a field atHaigerloch,Germany, in April 1945.[11]

On 1 January 1944, the Army decentralized counterintelligence to the service commands. Lansdale attempted to have his group exempted from this, but when he failed, Groves had Lansdale's unit reassigned to the Manhattan Project, creating a newCounter Intelligence Corps(CIC) unit within the Project. Groves had Lansdale transferred to the Manhattan District, but instead of placing him in charge of the new CIC unit, Groves made Lansdale his special assistant for security at Manhattan Project headquarters in Washington, D.C.[12]Lansdale coordinated the activities of the Manhattan Project's field security teams with those of other agencies such as theFBI.[13]

Overseas operations

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In April 1945, Groves sent Lansdale, now alieutenant colonel,to Europe, where he met withLieutenant GeneralWalter B. Smithand Major GeneralHarold BullofSHAEFto develop a plan forOperation Harborage,the capture ofGerman nuclear energy projectscientists, materials and facilities in the vicinity ofHechingen,BisingenandHaigerloch.[14]

While waiting for an opportunity to launch this operation, theAlsos Missionlearned thaturanium orethat had been taken from Belgium in 1944 had been shipped to theWirtschaftliche Forschungsgesellschaft(WiFO) plant inStassfurt,which was captured by the83rd Infantry Divisionon 15 April. As it was in theoccupation zoneallocated to theSoviet Unionat theYalta Conference,the Alsos Mission, led byBoris Pashand accompanied by Lansdale, arrived on 17 April to remove anything of interest. Over the following ten days, 260 truckloads of uranium ore,sodium uranateandferro-uraniumweighing about 1,000 tons were taken away.[15][16]

Lansdale accompanied the Alsos Mission on Operation Harborage, which began on 22 April 1945. A special Allied force calledT-Forcewent deep behind enemy lines, seized 1.5 tons of uranium ingots, and captured a number of scientists, includingCarl Friedrich von Weizsäcker,Max von Laue,Karl Wirtz,Horst KorschingandErich BaggeandOtto Hahn.[17][18]

The uranium ore was handed over to the Combined Development Trust, a legal entity set up to handle the acquisition of nuclear ores and materials. Lansdale had written a legal opinion for the Manhattan Project that it was within the powers of the president of the United States to conclude such agreements with the British without consultingCongress.[19]In July 1945, Lansdale concluded an agreement with Brazil for the purchase of 3,000 tons ofthorium-bearingmonaziteore.[20]For his wartime services, Lansdale was awarded theLegion of Meritand was made an honorary Commander of theOrder of the British Empire.[5]

Later life

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After the war, Lansdale and his family moved back to Cleveland, and he returned to working for Squire, Sanders and Dempsey.[3]He also served as acouncilmanfor the city ofShaker Heights, Ohio,from 1949 to 1963.[1]Lansdale testified at a 1954Atomic Energy Commission hearingon behalf of Oppenheimer, who was threatened with loss of his security clearance because of Communist associates. A seasoned trial lawyer, Lansdale was not intimidated by AEC lawyerRoger Robb's prosecutorial tactics, and his combative replies contrasted sharply with Oppenheimer's own sheepish answers to Robb's questions.[21]Lansdale felt that Oppenheimer was a loyal American citizen and was outraged by his treatment.[4]

In 1972, Lansdale moved to Essex Farm inAnne Arundel County, Maryland.For a time he commuted to Cleveland, but eventually shifted to Squire, Sanders and Dempsey's Washington, D. C. office, remaining with the firm until he retired in 1987.[1]He died at his home nearAnnapolis, Maryland,on 22 August 2003 and was survived by his five daughters: Helen, Chloe, Mary, Metta Jr. and Sally. His wife Metta had died in 2001.[4]Lansdale was buried atAll Hallows CemeteryinDavidsonville, Maryland.

He was inducted into theMilitary Intelligence Hall of Famein 2010.[5]

Notes

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  1. ^abcde"John" Jack "Lansdale Jr".Pitard.net Genealogy. Archived fromthe originalon 15 July 2014.Retrieved6 September2012.
  2. ^"John Lansdale, Sr".Pitard.net Genealogy. Archived fromthe originalon 15 July 2014.Retrieved6 September2012.
  3. ^ab"John Lansdale 1912–2003".Law Museum. Archived fromthe originalon 14 July 2014.Retrieved6 September2012.
  4. ^abcO'Connor, Anahad (31 August 2003)."John Lansdale Jr., 91, Is Dead; Found German A-Bomb Project".The New York Times.Retrieved6 September2012.
  5. ^abcdDellaGiustin, John, ed. (August 2010)."2010 Military Intelligence Hall of Fame Inductee Ceremony"(PDF).The Vanguard.15(3). Military Intelligence Corps Association: 12–16. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 11 May 2013.Retrieved5 September2013.
  6. ^Jones 1985,p. 255.
  7. ^Groves 1962,pp. 138–139.
  8. ^Groves 1962,p. 17.
  9. ^Stern 1969,pp. 46–47.
  10. ^Stern 1969,pp. 59–65.
  11. ^Pash 1969,p. 217.
  12. ^Jones 1985,p. 257.
  13. ^Jones 1985,p. 263.
  14. ^Groves 1962,pp. 233–236.
  15. ^Pash 1969,p. 198.
  16. ^Groves 1962,p. 237.
  17. ^Jones 1985,pp. 298–299.
  18. ^Pash 1969,pp. 207–210, 217.
  19. ^Jones 1985,pp. 289–290.
  20. ^Jones 1985,p. 306.
  21. ^Stern 1969,pp. 297–298.

References

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