S235: Westbrook Follow Up
The main purpose of the survey was to determine whether or not there was evidence of any net change in certain areas of attitudes and opinions of enlisted men since the cross-section survey ES-52 was administered in the latter part of April (15 April to 5 May).
Briefly stated, it was desired to determine whether there was any evidence of “undesirable” change in attitudes - that is, disillusionment, lowered “morale”, increased personal anxieties about the future, increased “aggressiveness” toward our Allies, the Army, or the home front, etc. - which would be of concern to Command, and also to those staff sections charged with supplying information and orientation to troops.
a. Two questions on attitudes toward the Army “Point System” (Adjusted Service Rating Plan) were duplicates of those asked in ES-63 (administered in late July) and ES-58 (administered in late May).
b. Some additional questions, asked for the first time, were in the areas of:
- Expectations with respect to redeployment, and attitudes toward further Army service.
- Several questions on the extent of knowledge about the San Fran- cisco Conference, and related questions on frequency of orientation sessions.
- A number of new questions on attitudes toward the Germans, resulting from conferences of Research Branch personnel with Information Control personnel in Berlin, and designed to answer certain points on which the latter had requested information.
c. The questionnaire was originally designed as a post-VE-Day and pre-VJ-Day survey. The sudden victory over Japan, coming as it did with unexpected suddenness, necessitated some last-minute changes in the questionnaire just as Branch field teams were ready to go into the field to administer the questionnaire. The changes for the most part were deletions, since it was felt the administration of the schedule should not be delayed for the time necessary to add many additional questions. A few now-irrelevant questions were not re-stenciled, due to practical considerations, but Research Branch field teams were instructed to give an explanation to the interviewees as to why these few were still in the questionnaire.
Questionnaire
Date
Original Size
Location
Theater ID
ES69
Alternate Title
Attitudes toward Post-hostilities Problems
Sample Description
This survey was administered to 2981 soldiers constituting a cross-section of white enlisted men in the European Theater between the dates 14 August and 24 August 1945 inclusive, just after publication of the news of victory over Japan.
Sample Method
a. In order to determine whether any change or lack of change in attitudes and opinions was due to the different composition of the Theater at the time periods under consideration - late April (ES-52) and late August (ES-69) a “matched” sample of 2648 cases out of the total ES-69 sample of 2981 was drawn after the survey-questionnaires were processed.
b. Comparisons could then be made, not only between the two Theater cross-sections, but also between an ES-69 sample matched so as to be comparable with the ES-52 sample, with respect to education, marital status, age, combat experience, ratings, proportion of air and ground troops, length of time overseas, and length of time in the Army. On the last two factors, the “matching” allowed for the four months of elapsed time between surveys. Other factors were taken into consideration in the analysis of certain subject-matters.
Location Details
Reims, France
Hetzlos, Germany
Wiengarten, Germany
Karlsruhe, Germany
Worsche, Germany
SW Munich, Germany
Landsburg, Germany
Wiesbaden, Germany
Gustanberg, Germany
Ohen Raden, Germany
Bakenhausen, Germany
Uberach, Germany
Bad Soden, Germany
Aumensu, Germany
Sprendlingen, Germany
Mannheim, Germany
Hiedelberg, Germany
SW Regmsburg, Germany
SE Munich, Germany
St. Quentin, France
St. Trand, Belgium
Villacouhlay, France
Origin
Hqs, USFET
Reports
ETO-97 Changes in Attitudes of Soldiers in ETO Towards the Germans, from April 1945 to August 1945
ETO-99 Changes in Attitudes of Soldiers in the European Theater Towards the Home Front
E-139 Changes in Attitudes of Soldiers in the European Theater Toward our Allies
ETO-100 Summary of Enlisted Mer’s Answers to Several Questions on the San Francisco Conference
E-142 Expectations of Enlisted Men in the European Theater With Respect to Redeployment
ETO-106 Attitudes Toward the Army: Some Indices of Changes in the Attitudes of Enlisted Men in the European Theater Between Late April and Late August 1945
E [no. ?] Attitudes Toward the War and the Futures A Comparison of Opinions Expressed by Enlisted Men in Late August 1945 With Those of Enlisted Men Surveyed Four Months Earlier