Initial ALSOS Mission Team forms in Naples

Courtesy Photo | The first ALSOS operational group in Italy. Specialist Beatson and Lieutenant Fiebig are on the right in the front row, while the first three on the left in the back row are Lieutenant Cerame, Capt. Boyce Standard (ALSOS executive officer), and Colonel Pash. Specialist Bailey is not shown (courtesy photo).  

FORT HUACHUCA, AZ, UNITED STATES

12.20.2022

Courtesy Story

U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence

by Lori S. Stewart, USAICoE Command Historian

On December 25, 1943, the first four counterintelligence agents were assigned to the ALSOS Mission in Naples, Italy. Headed by Col. Boris Pash, this special task force of military and scientific personnel scoured the European Theater for information, personnel, and materiel related to Germany’s atomic research program. It would continue its operations until late September 1945.

The task force was initially comprised of six scientists, five counterintelligence agents, and six interpreters, but it quickly grew to more than eighty American and Allied scientists, technical personnel, and U.S. Army and Navy military officers and enlisted personnel. Twenty-two Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) personnel would serve varying length tours with ALSOS throughout the war.

Joining Pash on December 15, 1943 was 2d Lt. Ralph T. Cerame from Rochester, New York. Because of his fluency in the Italian language, Lieutenant Cerame was the ideal candidate to help Pash establish ALSOS’s first operating headquarters in Naples. Special Agent Perry O. Bailey joined the group ten days later. Pash described the young agent as “a tall, blonde, pleasant-looking chap whose easy manner and soft disposition belied his efficiency and capabilities.” When Pash and the rest of the team moved to France in early 1944, Cerame and Bailey would form the Mediterranean detachment of ALSOS, with headquarters in Rome. Cerame remained with the mission until early September 1945, but Bailey was reassigned in June 1944.

On December 25, 1943, Pash rounded out his team by recruiting 2d Lt. Carl F. Fiebig and Special Agent Gerald L. Beatson during a Christmas party thrown by the Naples Base Section CIC. Pash later described the Michigan-native Fiebig as “a pleasant, steady boy, cool and efficient under fire, and an excellent German linguist.” Fiebig remained by Pash’s side until ALSOS operations began phasing out in early September 1945.

The final initial CI member of ALSOS was Specialist Beatson, a 22-year-old Illinois native. Pash remembered Gerry “looked like a kid” when they first met, “but he showed more assurance and poise than most agents. He was decisive, quick, and wore an expressive grin.” Although Beatson had no language background or technical training, Pash took an immediate liking to him and invited him to join the team. Beatson was involved in every subsequent ALSOS operation and remained with Pash until September 30, 1945, longer than any of the other CI agents assigned to ALSOS. Pash thought so highly of Beatson that he personally nominated him to the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame. Specialist Beatson was inducted in 1989. Pash himself had been inducted two years earlier.

• Date Taken: 12.20.2022
• Date Posted: 12.19.2022 11:14
• Story ID: 435461
• Location: FORT HUACHUCA, AZ, US