Seeking a Shaving Brush, a Mirror and Some Candy

February 6, 2012 Leave a Comment

A page from this V-mail letter.

Dated Aug. 19, 1943; postmarked Aug. 28. Presumably, he is still in Oran, Algeria, or was there recently.

Dear Mom and Pop,

Well, I’m fine and fit and having the time of my life. I hope you all are the same.

I was in Oran and went swimming in the Mediterranean Sea quite a few times. I never did get around to seeing Casablanca when I was there. They have nice cold beer in the towns around here and the only reason we drink it is because it tastes like the nice cool water we get back there.

There is one thing I want now and I wish you would send it. I want a five-pound package with a good little mirror that is sure not to break on the way over and a shaving brush and a couple of cakes of soap and the rest full of candy, but not hard candy like charms or anything that is likely to melt like chocolate. Caramels and hard candy bars are what I want. If the mirror has any chances of breaking on the way over, don’t send it.

I forgot all about Bib and Vince’s birthdays because I didn’t even know what month it was until someone told me. I want to wish them both a happy birthday even though I don’t know what birthday is when how old they are. Vince must have left by now, huh? Be sure and let me know if he did.

That’s about all I have to say for now except give my regards to everyone over there and kiss Rosemarie for me.

L&K

Babe

PDF: Seeking a Shaving Brush, a Mirror and Some Candy

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A Few Words about V-mail, a Precursor to Today’s Email

February 3, 2012 Leave a Comment

As I mentioned in the last post, Babe’s letter postmarked July 29, 1943, was his first to his parents on V-mail. I mentioned Dave Kent, editor of the Military Postal History Society Bulletin, in an earlier post. In my correspondence with him, he also mentioned V-mail.

“You might also run into an interesting World War II type of mail called ‘V-mail’ (as in ‘V for Victory’). V-mail letters were written on a special form and then photographed on microfilm. Only the film was sent back to the states, where it was developed and used to make a photographic copy of the original letter. These photograph letters were then mailed in a small envelope with a window in the front to show the address.”

The National Postal Museum website says a roll of the film contained about 1,700 messages weighed 5.5 ounces, compared to the 50 pounds a sack of the same mail would weigh.

About half the remaining letters from Babe will be on V-mail. The rest will be air mail.

The postal museum says that in its day, V-mail “played the same role 60 years ago that email is playing today in keeping lines of communication open between loved ones.” The museum’s web page on the subject of V-mail describes its origins:

Later to become “V-Mail” when adopted by the United States, the Airgraph Service was first developed by the British Post Office in response to the Italians closing of the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea to Allied forces. Seaborne traffic was rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope. This 12,000 mile detour could mean delays of anywhere between three and six months for mail destined for British soldiers stationed in the Middle East and the Far East. Alternatives to the route around the Cape were considered, eventually settling on transport by aircraft-however, space in any aircraft was extremely limited. Microphotography was deemed the best solution to the problem of space.

The article says V-mail was in use by the U.S. military from June 15, 1942, until April 1, 1945, a little more than a month before Babe was killed. The postal museum said the first large-scale overseas V-mail processing center was opened right where Babe was located, in Casablanca, on April 15, 1943, about three months before he got there.

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‘It’s a Pretty Barren Place, This North Africa’

February 2, 2012 Leave a Comment

A B-24 Liberator; 'First sign of civilization since leaving the U.S.' Source: U.S. Air Force photos.

Postmarked July 29, 1943, still in Morocco based on the location of APO 776 at this time. This is the first letter he sent on V-mail.

Dear Mom and Pop,

Well, I’m feeling fine and I hope you all are the same.

It’s a pretty barren place, this North Africa, but it has a lot of background that I can’t tell you about.

We had a nice trip over here. There were Red Cross workers and Army nurses on the boat with us. The biggest thrill everyone got out of that trip was when we were a few hundred miles from Africa and a Liberator bomber came over. It was the first sign of civilization we saw since leaving the U.S.

We just got a speech from the colonels and majors welcoming us to North Africa. This page isn’t nearly big enough, but it’s all I have. I’ll have to close.

Love & Kisses,

Babe

PDF: ‘It’s a Pretty Barren Place, This North Africa’

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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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UPDATE: New Information on Babe’s Departure Point from the U.S.

January 16, 2012 2 Comments

A. Camp Wheeler (Macon, Ga.); B. Transfer, Pa. (Shenango Personnel Replacement Depot); C. Newport News, Va.

A few days ago, I tried to piece together the places Babe went between basic training in Camp Wheeler, Ga., and departing for North Africa. I speculated that his last stop was Camp Shanks in New York, based on reports I’d seen indicating that camp was a popular port of departure for soldiers headed to Europe and North Africa.

I said it was a guess when I wrote it. But now I know I was wrong. Since posting that item, I’ve gotten new information. Babe went from Pennsylvania to the naval station at Newport News, Va., then on a seven-day voyage to Casablanca. Here’s how I learned that new tidbit.

In a few more letters, after he arrives in North Africa, Babe will tell his parents, “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.”

The Conte name was familiar to me. As a kid, we’d always visit Conte’s Fish Market in Mount Kisco for clams on the half shell. I didn’t know anyone in the family personally, but my uncles Bob and Vince (Babe’s brothers), my grandmother Florence and my mother knew them. Read more of this post

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