World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Italy

Scope and Contents The collection of the 460th Heavy Bombardment Group Society contains a unit history of this B-24 U.S. Army Air Corps Group, 55th Wing, 760th, 761st, 762nd, 763rd Squadrons and Group Headquarters, which served in the Italian Campaign. This collection primarily focuses on the memory of the war and those who served in the 460th. Included is a listing of the airmen who were held as prisoners of war, including their squadrons, positions on the plane (e.g. pilot, gunner), the date, mission, and what country or stalag in which they were held. Also included is a booklet, "Remembering the 460th Bomb Group (H)," which contains photographs, personnel lists, and maps, and was prepared as a...

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This collection relates to the 484th Bombardment Group (Heavy) that was assigned to the 15th Air Force and based in Torretta, Italy as a component of the Foggia Airfield Complex during World War II and assigned B-24 Liberator heavy bombers.  The materials contained in this collection were subsequently assembled during the post-war period by the 484th Bombardment Group Association.  The collection contains official reports, data sheets, statistics, newspapers, Missing Air Crew Reports, personal histories, photographs, and unit histories.

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This collection relates to Private First Class Clarence H. Anderson who served with the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment, 2nd Armored Division, in the European theater during World War II. The collection contains letters from Anderson to his fiance Eleanor Schumaker. The letters encompass ten months from March 1944-January 1945 in which he writes from England, France, Belgium, and Germany. Clarence was wounded in Germany and sent to a hospital in England to recover. Julius Sleszak was stationed in California in the Transportation Section at Camp Beale. He sent seven letters to his wife during November 1945.

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This collection contains a manuscript memoir of Anthony Catalino's WWII service in the U.S. Army Field Artillery and staff work at Army hospitals and supply depots in North Africa and Italy.

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Chester W. Bailes served as a 4th Grade technician in the US Army 1st Armored Division during World War II. He was first sent to Ireland, before participating in the North Africa invasion, Sicily, and Anzio during the invasion of Italy, where he spent the rest of the war. His collection includes a few letters, publications relating to his unit written after the war, Time, Stars and Stripes, and Yank Magazines, as well as a number of pamphlets and military-published books relating to World War II.

Content Description

This collection relates to Robert B. Barnick who served in the European Theater of Operations as part of the Italian campaign with the 10th Mountain Division, 604th Field Artillery. This collection includes a manuscript titled "In My Right Mind," newspaper clippings relating to his service, and photographs.

Content Description

This collection relates to Daniel Dean Becker who served in the 110th Signal Company, 10th Mountain Division in Italy during World War II. This collection contains a veterans questionnaire and memoir entitled "Memoirs of a Signalman: 110 Signal Company, 10th Mountain Division, Italy World War II."

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This collection relates to Harold E. Bergman's (Army Counter Intelligence Corps). The collection contains a memoir of his service. He volunteered in December 1939, spent two years in ROTC, and was later assigned as a clerk for Medical Replacement Training Center (MRTC), within the 54th Training Battalion.

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This collection contains two oral histories; one with Dr. Philip Gilman, Jr. and one with James Izumizaki. It also includes the reprint of a letter by Pvt. Lavern Borg, Jr. written on April 2, 1945. The letter tells about his experiences with the 5th Marine Division of the U.S. Marine Corp in the battle of Iwo Jima. The next document includes a service record and medallist dated June 1967, January 1969, and August 1973. A pamphlet collected by the Pajaro Valley Arts Council, California entitled Nihen Bunka Japanese Culture: One hundred years in Pajaro Valley is also in the collection.

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Ralph Chapman (MSM with the Royal Army Service Corps) served with the British 8th Army in the Middle East and Italy from 1941-1944. The collection contains v-mail letters sent to Chapman's wife and son at home in Glasgow, Scotland.

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This collection is related to J. Charles "Charlie" Christensen (Staff Sergeant) who served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater with Company B, 1st Battalion, 337th Infantry, 85th Infantry Division. The collection consists of scrapbooks, photographs, documents, and letters.

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Crispen Nissen served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps with the 12th and 18th Weather Squadrons during World War II in the United States, England, North Africa, and Italy. This collection includes an original diary Nissen kept from 1941-1942, describing his daily thoughts, experiences, and observations about the general war effort. The collection also includes Vmail and handwritten letters, written by Nissen to his fiancee and future wife, Etrulia Ellis, as well as the letters she sent to him.

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This collection relates to David Westheimer who served as a 1st Lieutenant Navigator on a B-24 Bomber with the 457th Bomb Group during World War II and was shot down over Italy where he became a POW. This collection consists of an oral history transcript of David Westheimer.

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This collection includes letters, photocopies of 2 personal scrapbooks, and photographs related to Dell Dinneen who served as a U.S. Army nurse during World War II in the European and Mediterranean Theaters with the 61st Field Hospital.

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Donald Nelson served in the 59th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 6th Armored Division and the 36th Field Artillery in the European (ETO), North African, and Mediterranean Theaters. Nelson was a technician, 5th grade (medic). The collection includes a memoir of his experience covering the period January 27,1942 to October 30, 1945.

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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.

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This collection relates to Technical Sergeant Charles Jackson Gantt who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a Weather Forecaster with the 12th Weather Squadron during the North African Campaign and Italian Campaign during World War II. The collection contains original letters written by Gantt to family, transcripts of his letters, a manuscript memoir, photographs, and military personnel records.

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This collection relates to Staff Sergeant Charles R. Gentges who served with the 34th Infantry Division in the North African and Italian campaigns during World War II. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal with two oak leaf clusters and the Bronze Star Medal. The collection also relates Charles R. Gentges' wife Florence, and daughter, Mary Elizabeth Gentges.

Scope and Contents This collection consists on a series of papers focused on Albert "Al" Haggerty and the "Three Feathers"  B-24 Liberator Bomber he was assigned as crew chief during World War II. The "Three Feathers" bomber belonging to the 726th Bomber Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group. Documents in the collection include Haggerty's memories of his time with the plane, photocopies of pictures of the plane and the crew as well as an excerpt from a book were Sidney Winski, the first pilot of this aircraft,  recounts the "Three Feathers" incident, and finally the transcript of an interview where Haggerty provides a detailed account of his life, his time in training, the "Three Feathers incident," his...

Scope and Contents This collection relates to Harold Williamson who served as a medical officer in World War II and his wife, Kathryn Williamson, who was a homemaker on the homefront in Ohio. The collection relates to their marriage and family during the war, as well as Harold's service in the 161st Medical Battalion. The collection consists primarily of letters and V-Mails between Harold and Kathryn and photographs of notable places including the homefront in Ohio and Camp Chaffee at Fort Smith, Arkansas and from a wide variety of locations in Italy and of other locations in Europe, particularly Switzerland. The collection also contains Harold's personal journal, ephemera from the war, Harold's military...

Content Description

This collection relates to Harold and Lee Hart who served in the Pacific Theater of Operations and European Theater of Operations respectively. This collection contains two manuscripts, "Bataan ... My Story", by Harold Hart, and "Never to Forget", by Les Hart, and an accompanying current newspaper photograph of Lester hart. Harold's manuscript recounts events from June 1941 - June 1946, and covers his training, station in Manila, capture, experiences as a Prisoner of War, liberation, and return home. Les' manuscript recounts his experiences in World War II from 1944 to 1945 with the 10th Mountain Infantry Division, 220th anti-tank Unit.

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Henry Loewenthal served in the U.S. Army with the 645th Battalion, 45th Division, II Army Corps, 7th Army, in the North African, Mediterranean, and European (ETO) Theaters. This collection consists of a 77-page manuscript written in 1995 entitled "World War II - A Soldier Remembers" by Loewenthal on his experiences during the war. The memoir begins with his memories as a Jewish American Serviceman at the beginning of the war in Europe and continues through V-J Day.

Scope and Contents This collection relates to James W. Harrington who served with the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. This collection includes a manuscript entitled Return to Ville de Bastogne: A Time Remembered, which concerns the Battle for Bastogne, Belgium. This manuscript consists of a 10-page memoir of the Battle of the Bulge following Harrington's return visit to Bastogne 53 years later. He describes his division's encampment prior to the Battle of the Bulge. This manuscript is an exclusive Battle of the Bulge memoir. An additional page entitled "A Trek Remembered" is an account of a specific experience on December 17, 1944. It also includes...

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This collection relates to Captain Leslie Hiscox served who served as a British officer in the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC). He was stationed in Damascus and Palestine. He participated in the invasion force of Sicily, with the British 8th Army commanded by General Sir Bernard Montogomery. He was also part of the invasion of Italy. This collection consists of Leslie Hiscox's two diaries from his time posted in Damascus and Palestine from 1942-1943.

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This collection relates to Walter A. Holle, Second Lieutenant who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a spotter pilot and served in the European Theater with 5th Army Headquarters. Holle participated in the Battles of Salerno and Anzio. This collection contains a manuscript memoir, document, and Compact Disk containing scans of the materials.

Scope and Contents This collection relates to Sergeant William "Bill" W. Huston who served in the 448th Bomber Group, 713th Bomb Squadron US Army Air Force in the European Theater of Operation. This collection also relates to John Robert Huston who served in the U.S. Army in field artillery and gun battery regiments. In addition to the letters, the collection contains a description of Bill Huston, escape from Switzerland, his Air medal citation, a history of the 8th Air Force titled "Target Germany," and a 1942 picture book of Scott Air Field in Illinois, the Huston mother's ration booklet, several photographs of Bill Huston at Scott Field, and a safe-conduct pass issued to Bill Huston by the French...

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The Edwin Ivy papers illustrate 2nd Lieutenant Ivy's service in the Army Air Corps in the 485th Heavy Bombardment Group, 831st Squadron, from 1942-1945 in Italy, France, and Austria where he was shot down and became a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III. Ivy's oral history encompasses the majority of his collection and provides detail of his military training, time spent in the Army Air Corps, as a prisoner of war, and being discharged. His papers also include the first chapter of Old Man in a Baseball Cap by Fred Rochlin. The chapter describes the significance of remembering the past and passing down experiences to others.

Scope and Contents James William Lockett served in the U.S. Army 28th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, 1st Army, in the European (ETO), North African, and Mediterranean Theaters. Colonel Lockett was a 1928 West Point graduate. The collection includes a ten-page manuscript entitled "The March," which is about Lockett's serving with the Army in the European Theater and being a POW. Lockett was made to march by German guards with approaching Russians in January 1945. He discusses his encounters with the guards and the people along "the March." In March 1945, US artillery takes the Serbian compound where they were and freed them. Also, he describes the subsequent days to get out of danger, and he is...

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This collection relates to James W. George who served as a Chief Master Sergeant in the 9th U.S Army Air Force. Wilmot R. George was James George's brother and also served in the European Theater. He served as a Tech Sergeant and received a Silver Star. This collection contains a one-page handwritten summary of James George's military service and ten-page memoir of his brother Wilmont's service during the Second World War.

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Coleridge Augustus Jemmott was an African American soldier in the United States Army, "I" company, 22nd Quartermaster Regiment. He served in Italy and North Africa as a sergeant, transporting the "Anizio Annie" cannon, from 1942 to 1945. The collection contains photographs and ephemera from Jemmott's war years. There are sixty black-and-white photographs of Jemmott with his unit in North Africa and Italy. There is also a menu from a Casablanca restaurant, Port of Leghorn entry card, newspaper clippings, and a North African Theater uniform patch.