Sepia Saturday 739 and Wordless Wednesday. Twenty-fourth in a series about 1942 letters from my dad’s brother Frederic Mason Charboneau while he was in the US Army during WWII.
During the 1942 holiday season, my paternal uncle Frederic Mason Charboneau finally received a bunch of letters from home at his new duty station in North Africa.
So he set to work replying to what his family and friends had written, using a number system with his mother Mary (Owen) Charboneau to keep track of their correspondence.
“North Africa, December 23, 1942, Dear Mom: This will be the 2nd letter this week and #5 in the series. I was very glad to hear from you. I received two of your V-letters dated November 8th and November 21st along with six other letters from various members of the family and friends.”
Expecting holiday packages
As usual with Uncle Fred, there was business to take care of, particularly with packages from home expected for the holidays and money to keep track of that his mother was saving for him.
“Was very glad to hear that you received the second money order and also the allotment check,” Uncle Fred wrote. “I received your cable about November 8th telling me that you had received the first money order. In your next letter tell me what you are sending me.”
“I haven’t received any packages as yet,” he continued. “But if I get all that people are sending, I will have quite a Christmas when I get them. Even if they are a little late in arriving. There is yours, Doris [sister-in-law] is sending me one, Marian [sister-in-law] one, Jean Bastow [who he later married] one and Marian Oley [school classmate] one. That is all I know about right now. Maybe I have more. But if I only get half of them, I will be satisfied.”
Eleanor Roosevelt’s tour
Meanwhile, while Uncle Fred was still stationed in England, his mother asked him in a November letter whether he had seen Eleanor Roosevelt during her well-publicized UK tour — which took place in the fall of 1942.
“No, I didn’t get a chance to see Mrs. Roosevelt,” Uncle Fred wrote on Dec. 23. “I say I didn’t get a chance. I didn’t make much attempt because I knew there would be such a crowd you wouldn’t be able to see much and anyway there isn’t a heck of a lot to see.”
Yet although Uncle Fred didn’t see the First Lady, the itinerary of her UK tour — which included stops at US military bases as well as factories — provides some clues about where he may have been stationed in England.
In an earlier letter, Uncle Fred described going to London on a three-day leave from his UK base — which must have been near enough for him to easily travel there, but which he could not mention by name in his letters.
During her tour, Eleanor Roosevelt visited Bristol, Surrey, Canterbury and Cambridge — all closer to London than her other stops in Scotland, Ireland, and the northern cities of Liverpool and Manchester. So I am guessing that Uncle Fred was stationed in southern England before his unit’s move to North Africa.
“Send airmail stamps”
Uncle Fred closed his Dec. 23 letter with a reference to his father’s (W. Ray Charboneau) winter hunting trip and a special request.
“The next time you write, send a few airmail stamps or stamps of any kind. They are kind of hard to get, and then you can only get a few at a time. Well so long for now. Tell Dad not to shoot too many rabbits, and hoping to hear from you real soon again. Your loving son, Fred.“
Up next: Closing out Uncle Fred’s 1942 letters. Please stop back! Meanwhile, please visit the other intrepid bloggers over at Sepia Saturday and at Wordless Wednesday using the link below.
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I didn’t know all of this. You made me smile. A lifeline those letters were.
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Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. ♥
If you think about it, it’s just so amazing how they were able to even receive so much correspondence during war time. Great job using events to try to pin point where he was stationed! 🙂
Interesting that letters going TO US troops abroad were V-mail, not just letters coming FROM US troops writing to those at home. Enjoyed your post!
The exchange of letters highlights how important the correspondence was for both Fred and his family back home.
So true! I am amazed how much mail went back and forth between Uncle Fred and family/friends, keeping him up to date on life back home while he updated them from the war front.
I agree with NG that Fred seems a very patient and practical person. His request for airmail stamps suggests that there were limitations in the U.S. military postal service. It makes the free “Feldpost”, used by German soldiers in WW1 in my postcard collection, seem a real luxury, though of course their mail did not have to cross an ocean.
I’ve read Doris Kearns Goodwin’s biography, “No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt” which describes their remarkable partnership in both FDR’s early administration and then during the war years. Her relentless tours, public speaking, and private communication with foreign governments did as much to help the Allied powers as any army division. However I imagine that for ordinary soldiers like Fred her tour in the UK seemed at the time like a distraction and too much extravagant theater.
I was surprised by the limit on stamps for the troops…and that they used US postal stamps even while abroad. And I assume that, unlike a USO show, Eleanor Roosevelt’s tour was probably limited to bases she visited for one-on-one conversations with the troops rather than huge gatherings.
It continues to sound like Fred had fairly often (for war time mail exchange) mail communication with his family which I’m sure kept his spirits up. He sounds like a very positive-minded person who knew how the ‘wheels’ turned and to be patient. 🙂
It seems Uncle Fred had enough correspondence from one or another family members/friends to keep him busy — although the one he most wanted to hear from was his mother.