Letter From Stanley
Work Never Ceases
January 1, 6 and 8, 1943. Stanley writes several V-Mails from Deenethorpe to Dad. Although the work is piling up, Stanley does manage to get to Mass on Sundays and most Holy Days of Obligation. With New Year’s Day upon him, he is nostalgic for home and simpler times. Nonetheless, he manages to get his … Continue reading
No White Christmas
December 22 and 25, 1943. Two V-Mails to Dad from Stanley detailing his first Christmas in England. This will be the last letter that Dad gets from his brother until the New Year. There are very little details about Stanley’s duties or what the 401st is tasked with doing, for very obvious reasons. Apparently, it … Continue reading
Life in the Blacked Out City
December 10, 16 and 18, 1943. A couple of letters to Dad from his brother Stanley who is stationed with the 401st Bomb Group in England taking the form of a couple of V-Mails and one regular letter. In terms of lag time, Stanley mentions on the 10th that he received Dad’s November 26 letter, so … Continue reading
Time in the Army Sure Goes by Fast
November 19 and 25, 1943. Two V-Mails to Dad from his brother Stanley who is stationed “Somewhere in England”, actually at RAF Deenethorpe with the 401st Bomb Group (H). Stanley’s letters to Dad alternate between longer handwritten letters and shorter V-Mails. On the 19th Stanley is CQ and is passing the time “typing all night trying to … Continue reading
Pitch Black
November 12 and 15, 1943. Two handwritten letters to Dad from Stanley. Even though Stanley says that he still has a lot of work, it looks like he has settled into things at Deenethorpe enough to have time to write letters to Dad that are long enough that they exceed the limits of V-Mail forms. … Continue reading
I Sure Lost a Lot of Sleep
October 25, 1943. This is a short letter from Stanley to Dad. It’s been crunch time for the past few days for Stanley as he has been working long into the night. It looks like he finally got a night with no work and he gets a quick letter off to his brother. Stanley acknowledges … Continue reading
Quite the Thing, Eh?
October 6th and 9th 1943. Two letters from Stanley to Dad. Stanley is still in Great Falls, MT “with a few more days to go” before deployment overseas, while Dad is at Topeka Army Air Base in Kansas. At this point Stanley writes, “Since we started to pack why I have a little more time … Continue reading
About 250 Gallons of Beer
September 21 and 26, 1943. Two letters to Dad from his brother Stanley. Writing from Cut Bank, Montana, it looks like Stanley and the rest of the 401st are getting ready for overseas deployment. Both letters are relatively short one page affairs. On the 21st he writes that they “had a camouflage school…in a theater … Continue reading
The Blackfoot Indians
August 31 and September 3, 1943. Two letters from Stanley to Dad. The 31st was payday, so Stanley has been busy the last few days of the month getting everything in order. On the last day of the month Stanley managed to knock off work early and spend some time in the orderly room catching … Continue reading