90th Division Report of Operations

After Action Reports

Among his papers, Robert F. Burns had copies of some of the 90th Division Report of Operations that include the After Action Reports. Since Robert F. Burns was Asst. G-3 to Col. Stilwell starting in November, 1944, he wrote some of the After Action Reports but noted that Col. Stilwell usually rewrote them to some degree. He remarked in another letter about getting behind in writing his reports. In his letter of May 5th he wrote "I hope I can write a little more regularly from now on. In my last two reports I've had to write something like 30,000 - 40,000 words, so you can appreciate that I get "written out."

These original copies of the Operations Reports are two hole punched and bound by soft covers. The documents included are After Action Reports, field orders, field messages, logistical data, other summaries, and various maps. While the typed pages are yellowed with age, they still reproduce fairly well. They were scanned to PDF using OCR to enable searching the documents. Unfortunately, searching only works to a small degree because the unevenness of the type does not always allow OCR to recognize the actual words.

The May Report is particularly interesting because Part II is a summary of operations from the landing in June, 1944 through the surrender in May, 1945. This report includes summary data on casualties, prisoners captured, total awards, and supplies used. Interestingly, a total of 42 typewriters were used during the 10 months the 90th was in combat.

The included large maps (usually 23x30 inches) have been tightly folded inside the reports for 60 years. They have proved a challenge to scan, given their extremely large size and near permanent creases. In addition, the color on the maps from the earlier months has faded considerably. Some of the clearer maps are included here with the scanned pages. They were scanned at 300 dpi and may be enlarged on the screen to permit viewing details. The March and May maps are quite clear and readable.