Geodesy    
War and GPS    
Part 2 of 3   

   Maj. Hough's team searched Cologne, Bonn, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, and some even slipped into the pope's private library at the Vatican, posing as civilians.  

   In one city basement they found 18 bundles of survey data hidden behind a pile of rubbish. A captured officer of the German national survey agency revealed the names of two small towns that were not on their target list. There they found an entire archive that had been moved from Berlin. 

   In April 1945, Maj. Hough visited a sub camp of Buchenwald on the same day Eisenhower and Patton were there. Eight days later, several members of the team also visited the concentration camp. "There are no words capable of expressing the horrible scenes," Hough wrote. "It was revolting and we were left almost speechless." 
   

Behind THE LINES, Smithsonian

   They captured the head of the survey agency. After much reluctance, the man blurted out a name: Saalfeld. There, the team found a warehouse with shelves from floor almost to the ceiling filled with stacks of paper. 

   Inside was the central map and geodetic data repository for the German Army - the mother lode. Records - also moved from Berlin to protect them from bombs - included areas in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, where Nazi troops had been. 

  As Saalfeld was in a zone soon to be occupied by the Soviets, maps and data had to be removed quickly. Borrowed trucks, small planes, Army enlisted men and conscripted German civilians all helped. 
  

Tomorrow: Among the bones