W.O. Jackson notes in Europe during WWII

I'm going through my maternal grandfather's papers and in a tiny, deteriorating 1943-1944 calendar/address book, he wrote where he was and when after shipping out to Europe. Gives the name of the ship that transported him to England and the name of the boat that transported his unit to France. It's only a few lines but because the letters he wrote to my grandmother were censored, he could never say exactly where he was (only "France", "Luxembourg", "Germany", etc.) or what he was doing. He couldn't even say where he was wounded (St. Malo, France on 12 August 1944 a bit after the great breakout from the Normandy area). This info fills in some of the gaps in what I've been able to piece together from their letters. It wasn't until a month or two after VE day that censorship was discontinued the first time. It appears he was writing this stuff down some time after that in order to remember as many details as he could.

More info to come as I transcribe the info and organize it. Even more will follow after I transcribe the letters, which will take quite a while. Right now, all I have done is to scan this material and save as image files.

S.S. Chapel Hill Victory

Earlier I posted a letter written by my maternal grandfather, William Obeyn "Jack" Jackson (1909-1988), to my grandmother, Rose Marie BRAQUET Jackson (1909-1989), while on board the transport ship S.S. Chapel Hill Victory, which was returning him to the USA from Europe from 25 October to about 6 November 1945. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army shorter thereafter.

This post summarizes the information I have been able to find on the Internet about the Chapel Hill Victory.

The ship was known as a "victory ship", which were manufactured in large quantities during the second world war to replace cargo ships destroyed by German U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic.  Here is a picture taken at the time of launch of the ship, 4 December 1944, published in the 1996 book Images of America:  Chapel Hill by James Vickers.

An excerpt of the book, including the page from which this picture was found, can be seen by anyone on Google books.

According to a web site (viewed 24 September 2011) called "American Merchant Marine at War", in a list of Victory Ships built by the U.S. Maritime Commission during World War II, the "victory ship (officially VC2) was 455 feet long and 62 feet wide." The second web link indicates that the Victory Chapel Hill was built by Bethlehem Steel in Baltimore, Maryland. It was hull number 2429, yard 615. [What does the "yard" number mean?]

Another web site, Victory Ships - C, The Web Site of the Mariners Mailing List, indicates that the Victory Chapel Hill was sold to N.V.Van Nievelt, Goudriaan & Co, Rotterdam in 1947 and rechristened as the Alwaki. It was sold in 1964 to China Union Lines, Kaohsiung [Taiwan] and rechristened Kaohsiung Victory. It was subsequently scrapped in 1974 in Kaohsiung.

The following is a picture of the S.S. Alwaki found on Flickr.

The following two pictures were taken by my grandfather aboard the SS Chapel Hill Victory on the way back to New York and then home.

1 Nov 1945 letter from W.O. Jackson: Crossing the Atlantic

My maternal grandfather, William Obeyn "Jack" Jackson (1909-1988) enlisted in the U.S. Army in November 1943, served in combat and in the Military Police in Europe, and then returned home in November 1945 after being honorably discharged. His civilian job that he had held since the early 1930s was as a guard at the Gulf Oil company refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. It was a "protected" job, meaning that it kept him from being drafted. Nevertheless, in spite of that and in spite of having a wife and young daughter (my mother, Edith Faye, born in 1938), he enlisted. His younger brother, Robert Francis Jackson (1920-2006), had already enlisted by that time and, while I don't know for sure, probably influenced my grandfather to do the same. Both would sustain fairly serious wounds while in Europe but both would recover, be reclassified as limited duty, and retrained to be military police ("M.P.s").

Our family has a fairly large number of the letters he and my grandmother, Rose Marie BRAQUET Jackson (1909-1989), wrote to each other over the course of his enlistment. They wrote nearly every day to each other; she kept all or nearly all of the ones he wrote, and he kept as many of hers as he could. But his constant movement from training, to combat in northern France (where he has wounded), convalescence in an Army hospital in England, and service after recovery as an M.P., necessarily kept him from being able to keep many of them. Nevertheless the body of the letters we do have provide a priceless snapshot of life as my grandparents knew it during a particularly turbulent time in history. And through their discussion of memories and friends, they also provide a glimpse of ordinary life as they knew it.

I intend to post a number of these letters in this blog because they provide a large amount of genealogical information of great interest to me and any others who might be researching lines that include my grandparents.

This first letter to be posted (transcription below the following images) was written on two different days while he was being shipped back to the USA from France. The ocean voyage lasted from 25 October to about 6 November 1945; he was transported on a "victory ship" christened the S.S. Chapel Hill Victory. I have some information about the Chapel Hill found on the Internet and will post some of that in a subsequent blog post.

Click on each image to enlarge.

Here is my transcription (so that it can be more easily read and searchable):

From:
Pvt. Wm. O. Jackson 38545484
M.P. Pln. 66 Div [Military Police Platoon, 66th Division]
℅ P.M. N.Y. N.Y. [care of Postmaster, New York, New York]

To:
Mrs. W.O. Jackson
2338-14th St.
Port Arthur
Texas

Postmark:
New Brunswick, New Jersey
November 7
6 P.M.
1945

VIA AIR MAIL

POSTAGE DUE, 20.

S.S. Chapel Hill Victory
Nov. 1 - 45

Darling Rose & Edith Faye,

By the time you receive this you will have already heard from me that I have landed but maybe you will be glad to have a line or two from me written while at sea and telling a little of the trip so far. I hope the last letters I wrote got home O.K. And am pretty sure they did. At least they said how I was and how I was missing you two. Sure hope you both are fine and aren't working too hard. How about that Edith? I am writing in the mess hall and the ship is vibrating pretty bad as you can tell from my shaky writing.

We boarded this ship Oct. 25 at ten in the morning and sailed at 3 P.M. So far have been through one good storm and one small one. A good many were sea sick. I wasn't but did have the G.I.s for seven days, three before coming on board. Five of them I couldn't eat any thing so would have been hard had I gotten sick. Am O.K. now and can eat every thing I can find. The food has been wonderful. Fresh eggs each morning and Fresh Milk, the first I have had since leaving home. Have a half pint in front of me now thawing out. We have two good meals a day and soup about noon. There are over 1900 of us on board so you see that's plenty for one kitchen to feed.

We passed through the straits of Gibraltar the 27th. I felt so bad I didn't take any pictures. Just stuck my head out, took a quick look and went back to bed. Looks just as the pictures show though and can understand why the Limeys hold it. It's really the bottle neck of this sea.

This A.M. about sun rise this ship over took another and took a sick man off it as they were going so slow. He has yellow jaundice and must be in bad shape. We lost about two hours by this but sure hope the man makes it O.K. Later in the day we met an aircraft carrier going to France to pick up a load of G.I.s. I didn't see it as I was below decks playing poker but it was a large one from what the boys said. Am even on the poker since being on board as have been running about the same. Was hoping I might pick up some more vacation dough and may yet you can't tell.

I have a few things for you two I picked up before I left but not much as things were scarce. There was lots in the papers about what could be bought at the P.O.E. [Point of Embarkation?] but was a lot of hooey and every one is growling about it too as most waited until there to get something for home. Did my last package get in in time for your birthday? Hope you like the scarf as it was about all I could find.

It still doesn't seem as if I were going home. Maybe because I have moved around so much or perhaps I feel as if the Army will change their mind at the last minute. They will have to be fast though if they hold me long after I get ashore for if they try I'll be long gone. Most of the men feel the same they say and you can watch their faces as they sit around, and tell its true. Most look sad and am sure are remembering many things also wondering what they will find when they get home.

Girls, I am going to stop now as there is going to be a show here in a few minutes. Will write more in a day or two. Good night with all my love.

Jack.

Sat. Nov. 3

I haven't much more to write of but guess you two won't mind a few lines more. We have had two very pretty days since I started this letter and have really enjoyed lying around on deck in the sun. The ship has made better time since have no high wind to buck. We hear we will land Monday P.M. at New York but may go to Boston or New Port Virginia [probably Newport News, Virginia] if New York harbor is filled with ships. With in 24 hours after landing will be headed toward Texas for discharge.

I found a man to-day who was in the next bed while I was in the hospital. His name is Baliff and is from Tennessee. We had a long talk and lots of fun talking of the boys [we] both know and where they went. There are some I am going to try to get in touch with after I get home.

Am going to stop so good night and look for me home soon and when I do am going to hug you both half to death.

All of my love to you both.

Jack