I reconstruct, resurrect, and reveal.

Archival research and wartime reconstruction for families, filmmakers, authors, and institutions who need to go deeper than the document.

The projects I undertake range from in-depth document retrieval and analysis from holdings such as the National Archives, to full narrative restorations.

My work supports publication, documentary development, historical verification and large-scale research initiatives.

Erin Faith Allen specializes in morning report, Official Military Personnel File, and other primary source retrieval and narrative reconstruction from the National Archives and Records Administration
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Erin Faith Allen, war historian, narrative nonfiction author, and archival researcher specializing in narrative reconstruction of World War II and the 42nd Rainbow Division, women's history in war, and the Holocaust.

My approach combines forensic precision, human depth, emotional intelligence, psychological truth, and archival rigor.

People come to me when the story is complex, buried, fragmented, or feels impossible. I specialize in untangling conflicting accounts, locating missing documentation, and reconstructing events that have been obscured by
time, memory, and loss.

My work serves those who seek
verified truth, narrative coherence,
and a factual account aligned with the historical record. 

Representative Projects

Book cover titled 'Code Name: Baker Catcher' featuring a young soldier in WWII uniform, with the subtitle 'The Human Side of WWII'; author Jack Ellis Westbrook, edited by Celia Westbrook Thrasher with Erin Faith Allen.

Code Name: Baker Catcher, The Human Side of WWII

A historical manuscript by Jack E. Westbrook refined through structural revision, fact-checking and narrative clarification to ensure accuracy and coherence in the lived wartime experience of this 222nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd “Rainbow” Infantry Division soldier.

This project included solidifying military movements and extensive contextual grounding thorough historical verification and editorial reconstruction to bring the material into alignment with the archival record.

A 42nd "Rainbow" Infantry Division patch, WWII. Rainbow Division patch for 222nd Infantry, 232nd Infantry, 242nd Infantry, 122nd Medical Battalion.

42nd “Rainbow” Infantry Division Reconstruction

A multi-year investigation into hundreds of soldiers of the 42nd Infantry Division, reconstructing their operational movements, lived experiences, and historical context through archival records, personnel files, battlefield analysis, family documents, oral testimony, and cross-referenced military reporting. This ongoing work restores dimension to the division's wartime journey and brings forward the individual and deeply personal stories that are often lost within official histories.

This reconstruction includes a dedicated recovery thread tracing the women, on and off the record, whose lives intersected with the Division at home and in Europe.

Black and white photo of a Sherman tank with a house and trees in the background, Operation Plunder, Dinslaken, WWII.

One Day Over the Rhine

A forthcoming book involving full-scale wartime reconstruction tracing the final weeks of the war through converging lives in Dinslaken, Germany. Built from unit diaries, military records, German archival sources, first hand soldier and civilian accounts, battlefield mapping and on-the-ground research, this work restores the human, psychological and operational dimensions of a single moment that rippled across families and generations.