Francis Montague Wells papers

Collection — Container: 09.0040 - Box 1

Identifier: 09.0040

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Francis Montague Wells collection, consisting of seventy-one letters, offers the insight and perspective of an enlisted Private First Class with the 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, in the European campaign during World War II. The collection also contains two photographs of Francis Wells and a letter from his daughter Peggy Wells Hughes.

Dates

Created: 1944-1945
Other: Majority of material found in 1945
Other: Date acquired: 04/28/2009

Creator

Wells, Francis Montague (Family)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical or Historical Information

PFC Francis Montague Wells served in the 119th Infantry Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division in the European Theater from 1944 to 1946. Wells’ tour of duty included Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, and Austria. He participated in the Battle of the Bulge with the 30th Infantry Division and was present in Magdeburg, Germany during the link up of American and Russian forces on the Elbe River. After the war, Wells' unit spent two months in the occupation of Czechoslovakia before returning to the United States in August of 1945.

Wells wrote nearly every day to his wife primarily concerning topics such as weather, mail, future post-war plans, soldierly duties, and encounters with locals and domestic obligations that might require his counsel. While at no point focusing on any combat experience in detail, the vast majority of the collection contains outpourings of affection and concern for his family.