Learning More About Tracking Army Post Office Movements

January 28, 2012 Leave a Comment

From my earlier post, written by Dave Kent of the Military Postal History Society, I learned that Army Post Office numbers, or APOs, are an effective means of tracking the location of a military unit. I expect to learn more going forward about how specific that information will become.

I recently corresponded with Richard V. Horrell, who runs WW 2 Connections and lists his home in Nashville. His website says he uses his passion for World War II history to create profiles of military personnel that he “researches and creates for his clients. His clients share with him the desire to remember what these men and women did for us 60 years ago.” I came across him through AllExperts.com.

Horrell responded to my questions about how to track APO numbers, which appear in the return address of all Babe’s letters. He responded on one of the APO numbers, but I realized Babe’s APO changes a few times, so I went looking for a source. I stumbled on this blog post from someone doing genealogical research, with a link to a PDF called “Numerical Listing of APOs, January 1942 to November 1947. It seemed like what I was looking for. I have it available on my site here.  (While trying to validate its authenticity, I found it apparently listed in a Smithsonian Institution index). Read more of this post

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Great Letter; Details of the African People, Weather, Shows and More

January 27, 2012 Leave a Comment

This letter is actually two separate letters, with different dates, in the same envelope. This letter is dated July 23, 1943, from Africa. It was in an envelope postmarked July 27 by the U.S. Army Postal Service.

Dear Mom and Pop,

To continue where I left off in my last letter…

I didn’t have room to tell you in my last letter, but I met Joe Pasquale, Lugi Conte and Steve, who ran the garage across the street, on the boat coming over. I was never so surprised in my life as when I saw them.

This is the craziest weather I’ve ever seen. In the daytime, it’s boiling hot, but at night, we freeze in our bed.

You should see these Africans here. Just as soon as we got off the boat and were walking to the railroad station, all the little kids asked us for chewing gum and cigarettes. They couldn’t speak English, but they could say a few words. All the young people shouted hello and goodbye to us and a few of the fellows who could speak French and Italian managed to talk a little with them. Read more of this post

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How Does a Mother’s Letter Get from Mount Kisco to North Africa?

January 26, 2012 Leave a Comment

Since I started this project, I have been interested in how a letter from a mother in a small upstate New York village can find its way across the ocean and land on the lap of her son in a camp in North Africa or some other theater of war. It strikes me as miraculous.

I emailed the Military Postal History Society to find out and got a terrific reply from Dave Kent, editor of the Military Postal History Society Bulletin. Below is his reply.

* * *

During World War II the Army and the Post Office Department realized that mail was very important to the morale of servicemen and devoted a great deal of effort to it. The Army developed its own internal postal system in 1940 and when sending troops overseas, created post offices for each major unit. Read more of this post

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A Former Serviceman Describes the Ocean Crossing to North Africa

January 25, 2012 Leave a Comment

While working on research for these blog posts online, I came across a video of a former army serviceman named Robert H. Sterchie. One of the video segments had him describing his voyage across the Atlantic, from New York City to North Africa. I don’t know if Babe’s experience was anything like this, but I thought it was interesting.

Sterchie sailed aboard a converted civilian cruise ship called the SS Monterey that the army had effectively commandeered and refitted as a troop transport. He entered the army April 1, 1941, and left Jan. 16, 1946, as a first lieutenant. He was a prisoner of war camp guard, administrator and interment camp commander. He said 6,000 servicemen were aboard on an ocean that was “smooth as glass.” The troop ships would zig-zag across the ocean while accompanying ships circled the troop ships to protect the convoy from enemy ships.

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Babe’s First Letter from Overseas: Grapes and Swimming N. Africa

January 23, 2012 Leave a Comment

The header of Babe's first letter from overseas, but the date doesn't fit the timeline.

The dating of this letter is confusing, and I try to address it in a separate post. It is postmarked July 25, 1943, so that’s the date I’m using as the most reliable.

Dear Mom and Pop,

As you can see, I’ve changed my address again. I’m still feeling fine and I hope you are too.

I saw more grape vines here in North Africa than I’ve seen in all the rest of my life. The grapes grow on little plants about 2 feet tall. I don’t know whether the plants grown into vines or not, but I don’t think so. There are fields and still more fields of these grapes, all over North Africa. Read more of this post

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