Editor’s Note
—A “Log of the President’s Trip to the Berlin Conference (July 6, 1945, to August 7, 1945)” was compiled by Lieutenant William M. Rigdon, U. S. N., who served as Personal Secretary to the President during the trip. This processed document consists of the following parts: (1) a table of contents; (2) a foreword by Lieutenant George M. Elsey, U. S. N. R.; (3) a summary of the President’s itinerary; (4) a list of the President’s party (see volume I, page 138); (5) the body of the Log, running to 53 pages; (6) an appendix entitled “The Story of the Augusta”) (7) citations for certain awards of the Distinguished Service Medal; (8) the text of the proclamation calling for the surrender of Japan (see document No. 1382); (9) the text of the Report on the Conference (or Communiqué) (see document No. 1384); (10) the roster of military policemen who guarded the “Little White House” at Babelsberg; and (11) photographs taken during the trip.
Printed below as document No. 710 are pertinent extracts of the body of the Log, i. e., the fifth section of the entire document, which itself is headed “Log of the President’s Trip to the ‘Berlin Conference’ “. Throughout the rest of the compilation this fifth section is referred to as the Log.
All material in the Log which pertains to the work of the Conference has been included. The material omitted pertains to shipboard activities, navigation information, reports on ceremonial activities and inspections, routine messages of thanks and congratulation, menus, and other material having no bearing whatever on Conference proceedings. In order to avoid cluttering the text with too many rows of points to indicate deletions, brief sections of extraneous material falling between sections pertinent to the Conference have been left in; these will give the reader an indication of the general “flavor” of the Log.
All times in the Log are expressed in Navy style, i. e., from 0001 hours (12:01 a.m.) to 2400 hours (midnight).