 The group of approximately 400 service members and civilians, known commonly as the "Monuments Men", worked with military forces to safeguard historic and cultural monuments from war damage, and as the conflict came to a close, to find and return works of art and other items of cultural importance that had been stolen by the Nazis or hidden for safekeeping.After the war, he joined the National Gallery staff in 1946 and worked there until his retirement in 1987.He was Keeper and Deputy Director for the last five years of his tenure.