The Alsos Mission

Nuclear fission research had not been a German monopoly at the start of World War II, and vigorous efforts were made to control and apply nuclear fission in Great Britain and the United States of America throughout the war. The American Armed Forces, understandably concerned about the threat of a German nuclear weapons project, established an extraordinary intelligence gathering unit in the fall of 1943, named the “Alsos Mission.” Although the main target of this espionage was nuclear fission research in Germany, the Alsos Mission was empowered to investigate a broad range of other scientific topics as well. General Leslie Groves, the director of the “Manhattan District” in the Army Corps of Engineers (the American nuclear power project), appointed Colonel Boris Pash as the military and administrative commander of the Alsos Mission, while Vannevar Bush, the head of the Office for Scientific Research and Development (an agency empowered to organize and coordinate the American scientific war effort), nominated Samuel Goudsmit as the highest ranking scientific member of the mission. Goudsmit was well suited for this position. Although he was an accomplished nuclear physicist and well versed in European languages, he was not connected with the American nuclear power project in any way.