Catalogue description British Committee on the Preservation and Restitution of Works of Art, Archives and Other Material in Enemy Hands (Macmillan Committee): Minutes, Correspondence and Papers

The British Committee on the Preservation and Restitution of Works of Art, Archives and Other Material in Enemy Hands (the Macmillan Committee) was appointed by the Prime Minister in May 1944 .

Chairman: The Rt Hon Lord Macmillan, PC, GCVO, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary

The Terms of Reference:

• To be at the service of His Majesty's Government in connexion with the post-war restitution of monuments, works of art, and archives misappropriated by enemy governments or individuals in the course of war.
• To co-operate with the commission already appointed by the President of the United States for similar purposes and with any like bodies which may be set up in other allied countries.
• To avail themselves of the special information possessed by other bodies, such as the conference of Allied Ministers of Education.
• To investigate and consider the technical problems (other than legal) of restitution, and to advise His Majesty's Government regarding the policy to be adopted in the matters of restitution and, if requested to do so, of reparation in kind.
• To make such enquiries, adopt such methods, and promote such collaboration as seems best calculated to secure the general purposes to be served by the committee.

In September 1944 the Prime Minister accepted the committee's proposal to "enlarge its advisory functions to cover questions of preservation during the period of hostilities on the understanding that the Committee's work does not interfere with military affairs and duplicate the work of salvage and preservation already being performed by the appropriate departments of SHAEF and the War Office."

The Committee was terminated on 31 August 1946.