World War II Collection, 1939-1945, MS-048, 1939-1945
3 boxes
By Sidney Dreese
Scope and Content
The World War II collection contains letters written by American and British service men and women, scrapbooks and newspapers from Berks County and Albright College, and books containing accounts of both men and women giving their experiences during the war years.
Arrangement
The collection consists of 4 series. Series 1 contains letters, and has been subdivided into a sub-series for service men, and a sub-series on women on the home front, or on duty in the United States or Europe. Series 2 is a scrapbook from Berks County. Series 3 contains books mostly firsthand accounts through published letters and diaries. Series 4 is related materials: Albright College scrapbooks and newspapers.
Box 1
Series 1: Letters
Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Neeler – Letter written to this couple in New Jersey about the hardships of living in occupied Belgium, 1941
Service Men
John and Paul Connelly, U.S. Army – Correspondence between brothers and their father, John Connelly, Portland, ME, 1945.
Cpl. Davenport, British Liberation Army – 3 letters from him to his wife in England, 1944
Lt. Col. Lyle J. Hammond – 105 letters written to his wife, 1942-1943. Much of his time was spent in the building of the trans-Iranian railroad.
Capt. Alan J. Hopkinson, Army Educational Corps – Three letters to him while in Italy, 1944
S/Sgt Robert Hull – One letter from Italy to Pauline Parker, his girlfriend, in Oklahoma, 1945
Sgt. Herschel F. Kearns, AAF - One letter written from China to his wife in Denver, CO, 1945
Pvt. Joe Kotyuka, Artillery – Correspondence (52 letters) between him and his parents, Lamberton, PA, 1941-1945. He was located in North Africa and Italy.
Sgt. Harold E. Miller, U.S. Army – Mostly letters to him in France from his girlfriend in England, 1944-1945.
Stephen C. Miller, U.S. Navy, Seaman Guard, 20 letters written to his friends, Arthur and Gladys Miller, Reading, PA, 1943-1945
Richard Nescot, AAF – Over 50 letters, mostly correspondence between him and his parents, a cousin, and friends, 1943-1945
Brooks Pickens, U. S. Army – 41 letters, mostly written to his parents in Rochester, PA, 1942-1945
AC Raynor, RAF, Spitfire pilot – Three letters from Sicily to his wife in England, 1943
Pfc. Frank Scarchilli – 30 letters from his girlfriend, Joesphine Tozzi, and his parents, 1945
Robert J. Sullivan, Navy – Two letters to his mother in Pottsville, PA, 1945
Dick Wallace – One letter from Belgium to his sister in Sanford, ME, 1945
Walter ___, Tank Transport – 10 letters to his girlfriend, Miss Sheila Mattin, Chelmsford, Essex, England, 1945
Sgt. Fred Winkelman, U.S. Army – 10 letters written to his friends, Arthur and Gladys Miller, Reading, PA, 1943-1945
Lester Young, Royal Artillery – A letter written from the front in Italy to Miss Patricia Bannister, England, 1943
Box 2
Service Women
Isabelle (?), WAVEs – 6 letters to her mother and sister, 1943-1944
Ensign Florence K. Job, WAVEs – 47 letters written to her mostly at the U.S. Naval Hospital, San Diego, CA, 1944-1946
Norah Ursula Leggatt, WAAF – She traveled from Argentina to the UK at the beginning of WWII and was a radar operator for air defense for the RAF. She was located at the RAF station at West Beckham, England. There are 10 letters to her in this grouping.
Lt. Mary A. Schmalzrie, Army Nurse Corps – 14 letters to her mother, Pittsburgh, PA, 1943-1945.
Goldie Steele, WAVEs – 7 letters from her to a friend in Ohio during high school and then as a nurse, 1941-1943
Pauline Stott, Ambulance Driver – 26-page letter to her parents, James Heathron-Stott and Ellen Stott (nee Wright) in England, 1941. Also included are six photographs, one of which is an ambulance station, Manchester, England.
Sarah Todd, WAVEs – 150 letters written to her family, 1944-1946
Dorcas Tomlinson, WAAC – 43 letters to her parents and sister, Portland OR. She was stationed in England.
2nd Lt. Sara Vandeland, WAVEs –A letter written from Italy to her parents in Ohio, 1944
Janet Louise Winslow, WAVEs – One letter to her from Italy, 1944
Box 3
Series 2: Scrapbook
One scrapbook of Berks County, 1942-1943, containing newspaper articles concerning the home front and service men and women.
Series 3: Books
Brown, Frances D. B. An Army in Skirts: The World War II Letters of Frances DeBra. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press, 2008.
Electris, Theodore, and Helen E. Lindsay. Written on the Knee: A Diary from the Greek-Italian Front of WWII. Minneapolis: Scarletta Press, 2008.
Lewis, Norman. Naples '44: A World War II Diary of Occupied Italy. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2005.
Origo, Iris. War in Val D'orcia, an Italian War Diary, 1943-1944. Boston: D.R. Godine, 1984.
Parkhurst, Hardy. Diary of a Soldier. Edinburgh: Pentland, 1993.
Schaffer, Mollie W, Cyndee Schaffer, and Jennifer G. Mathers. Mollie's War: The Letters of a World War II WAC in Europe. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co, 2010.
Trevelyan, Raleigh. The Fortress: A Diary of Anzio & After. London: Collins, 1956.
Yellin, Emily. Our Mothers' War: American Women at Home and at the Front during World War II. New York: Free Press, 2004.
Series 4: Related Materials
Albright College scrapbooks, 1939-1945, concerning campus life and the men and women who went into the service.
Albright College newspaper, The Albrightian, 1939-1945.
