Approximately 130 documents bound together in a 1" thick "201" military personnel file containing personal correspondence to/from Major General William C. Lee, father of the Airborne Infantry. Spans January 1942 to August 1942 while Lee was establishing and supplying the newly organized Airborne Command. Includes documents related to the following: establishment of the Airborne Command as a component of the Army Ground Forces; airborne training; assignments; acquiring needed personnel; lack of planes and equipment; transports; training accidents; glider training; and a report "The Parachuting of Expedition Supplies: An Experiment by the Wood Yukon Expedition for 1941."

[With:] Approximately two dozen loose documents identified to Lt. Col. John T. Ellis (1898-1992), most of a military nature, including miscellaneous personal correspondence, special orders, leave of absence notifications, a Chemical Warfare School pass, and a "Top Secret" certification that Ellis "is classified Nebulus for operation Peewee" 24 June 1944. 

[Also with:] Ceremony program, "Dedication of Camp Mackall North Carolina," 1 May 1943. -- "Camp Mackall North Carolina" booklet compiled for military personnel at Camp Mackall (a sub-installation of Fort Bragg) as an introduction to the post. -- Invitation for officers, wives, and houseguests to a party at "Hedquarters Airborne Command / Army Ground Forces / Fort Bragg, North Carolina." -- A booklet published by the 17th Airborne Division of "The Talon Crosses the Rhine," n.d. -- An issue of "The Infantry Journal," July 1945. 

Major General William C. Lee was a decorated soldier who served in both WWI and WWII. Having observed the revolutionary new German airborne forces during the Interwar period, Lee became a strong proponent of airborne warfare and believed that the US Army needed to proceed with development of the specialized force. Lee received authorization to form the first paratroop platoon in 1940 and was the first commander of the US Army's "jump school" at Fort Benning, Georgia. The Airborne Command of the Army Ground Forces was activated in March 1942. In August 1942, Lee was promoted to the rank of major general and became the first Commanding General of the newly formed 101st "Screaming Eagles" Airborne Division.

Lt. Col. John T. Ellis was likewise involved with the development of airborne warfare, and was an instructor at the Airborne Chemical Warfare School operating at Fort Bragg during the war. Ellis was tasked in the fall of 1945 with compiling an updated history of the development of the Airborne Command and Center which would reflect more adequately the development of the organization and tactics during the war. His completed report "The Airborne Command and Center Study No. 25" was completed in 1946. The documents offered here may have been utilized by Ellis as part of this endeavor.

Provenance: Consignor relates that the archive came from the estate of Lt. Col. John T. Ellis, Jr. 

A FASCINATING GLIMPSE INTO EARLY EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH THE AIRBORNE INFANTRY, A MAJOR ADVANCEMENT IN MILITARY WARFARE