Ww II War Office; My Dad Wrote 180 Letters Home!

My Dad was a 1940 graduate of Bryant College,Prov. RI.
He and a friend enlisted in the service, rather than be drafted.
They went to boot camp together and were lucky to have both been
sent over seas, on the same ship.

My father told me how he and his friend slept outside of the Bursa's office on the high deck on the way across the Atlantic.
He spoke of the fear of sleeping below deck, for fear of torpedoes.
That transport ship was surrounded by destroyers.

Sent to London to be a chief clerk in the Quarter Master Division.
He would say that there was more brass in that office than ????.
Brigadier General, Major Generals, full colonels, ect.

My father did love to tell stories.
He would tell me that he fought the war with a pen and paper!
He spoke of following Patton across Europe. They would order blankets
by the million. He retired as a Master Sargent.

As a skilled typist he wrote 180 letters, 110 V-mails, and 70
letters in covers home to his mother and father!

One letter that came across his desk, he kept the carbon copy in his
file. While visiting The U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum, in Fort Lee Virginia, he saw the original.
When my mother and father went to visit this museum they were told by the guard that it was closed that day. When my Dad told him that he worked for Major General Robert M. Littlejohn, the guard offered them a private tour.

The original letter of this carbon copy below is on display at that museum.

That letter is so cool.

Funny. Thanks for posting.

When the King of England's brother was killed, during the war,

Prince George, Duke of Kent, KG, KT, GCMG, GCVO (George Edward Alexander Edmund; 20 December 1902 – 25 August 1942) was a member of the British Royal Family, the fourth son and fifth child of King George V and Queen Mary, and younger brother of Kings Edward VIII and George VI. He held the title of Duke of Kent from 1934 until his death in a military air-crash on 25 August 1942.

"The Royal Family" gifted to the War Office a group of tickets
to the Royal Albert Hall. Those seats were for "The Kings Box."

My Dad spoke of this show my entire life. He spoke of the "Heads of State and others who sat in the seats that he was blessed to sit in.

Those are fascinating artifacts which no doubt are very meaningful and sentimental to you and your family, as well as incredibly interesting to the rest of us on this forum. Thanks for sharing.

Letter is published in the book, "A History of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps" (Chapter 6, page 234). PDF version available at https://books.google.com/books?id=m...hing&f=false
Don
APS #094826

Thanks to all.
Don, I was surprised to see the link you shared. Thanks!

The cover below was sent home from Edinburgh Scotland while my dad
was on furlough. While there he went into a photo shop, to have a photo taken of himself.
My Dad was a jolly joker. In later years had more fun with that photo. He would tell a story how back in the forties he was a cross dresser. Then would say he thought he even had a photo. When he pulled out the below photo, folks would laugh and laugh. One of his many trips to the hospital was by ambulance. As they were closing the door he said to me, don't forget my picture. His nurses would always get a laugh.

way cool!!

History at its best.....thank you for sharing !

Great stories and photos. Thanks for sharing.

The first letter written on May 8, 1945 and postmarked on May 11th. with cover is informing his parents of our "Victory in Europe".It speaks of "now the Armed Forces will shift in Strength to The Pacific". He also speaks of having his parents keep this letter, as he would like to have it in his stamp album.

The second is the "Victory over Japan" letter home, with cover and drawing, dated August 16, 1945 "VJ plus 1".

I always very much enjoy your posts, rlm!
Great history, keep em coming

@rlmstamps2012: Your dad was a great person, and you are very fortunate to have these letters that show his personality as well as the history.

Thank you for sharing!

Thanks to all for your interest and the kind words.
Sharing these stories of my Dad does give me joy.
He passed away two years ago, three days shy of his 94th
birthday. I do miss him terribly. He was my best friend!

My Dad's July 7th, 1945, letter telling of his furlough to Paris. With some help from a friend who handled air shipments, getting him a flight on a cargo plane, and his Lt. allowing him to take the flight a day early, he was able to be in Paris before his furlough even began. The letter is four pages. He could be quite detailed in his writing.

Happy Victory Over Japan Day!

Being from Rhode Island, we are the last state that still cerebrates it.

It is 9/11 2016,

A letter in cover written by H. Stevenson of Cheltenham, England. 04/26/1943 to my fathers mother.

Mrs. Stevenson was like an adopted mother to my father during the war.

My father was blessed to be welcomed in to this families home during the war. If you read the letter it speaks of my fathers promotion, his friendship with her two sons, and of a token gift that she and her husband wanted to gift to him.

Their son Bill was killed during the war. My father, also a William was at the home when the sad news was delivered.









This is the gift the letter spoke of sent home with my Dad. It is a circa 1790 Wedgewood dark blue "Apollo and the Five Muses".
They were his family abroad!



Edit; It is hard for me to believe, when I posted this the count of the read, without me having a clue was at 911. That is the truth. Who is to figure!

Edit; I spelled Muses with two three "s"'s.