The Museum receives many wonderful donations every week. This past month has offered some particularly exciting material.
How did Mrs. Josie Leggett, the wife of a retired minister, mother of 8, in her sixties from Hattiesburg, Mississippi end up profiled in newspapers across the country, Colliers Magazine and featured on radio shows in the US and Canada.
In 1944, Mrs. Leggett dreamed up a project she would work on for years to come. Her youngest son, Wesley S. Leggett, was serving in the Seventh Air Force in the Marshall Islands when he wrote a letter to his mother in which he expressed how badly he wanted to feel Mississippi soil under his feet again. Mrs. Leggett packaged a scoop of dirt from the family Victory Garden and sent it overseas to her son. Other servicemen in her son’s unit also began requesting soil. Mrs. Leggett then sent some soil to Admiral Nimitz requesting that some be placed on the foundation of the new government building on Kwajalein. Because of the wide reach of the soil project and a desire to have input from states other than her home state of Mississippi , Mrs. Leggett reached out to the governors of all of the states requesting soil from the state capitol grounds. Her tenacity and the correspondence regarding this project is remarkable. The project quickly expanded to other commanders including Lt. General Mark Clark and General Douglas MacArthur and then to US chaplains around the globe who then sprinkled the soil on graves of Americans who were killed overseas. She called her soil bundles “For This We Fight” bags. Josie Leggett’s collection includes the material with which she made her bundles, all of the correspondence related to the project and many news clippings about her and her work. Her story is one of many fascinating stories of people on the Home Front lending their time and support to those fighting abroad.
Click images to enlarge.
30 March 1944 article from the Memphis newspaper, The Commercial Appeal.
Letter from singer Kate Smith.
V-Mail from Lt. General Mark Clark.
Letter from Col. Lloyd Lehrbas.
Letter from Admiral Chester Nimitz.
Letter from E.P. Carville, Governor of Nevada.
Letter from Jimmie Davis, Governor of Louisiana.
Memorial services for the dead of the 83rd Infantry Division at the American Military Cemetery Henri Chappelle, Belgium conducted by the division chaplain.
A display of the soil and letters collected by Mrs. Leggett displayed in a department store in Hattiesburg.
Wesley and his mother after the war’s end assembling soil bags for shipment.
Collier’s article from 7 April 1945.
Ceremony at the Marine Corps Monument in Washington, DC on Memorial Day in 1955.
Gift in Memory of Josephine Featherstun Legett and Wesley Featherstun Leggett, 2012.
On Memorial Day in 1955, visitors to the Marine Corps Monument in Washington, DC witnessed a symbolic scattering of earth from the capitol grounds of the 48 states, the final presentation of Mrs. Leggett’s soil.
Post by Curator/Content Specialist Kimberly Guise.
“I do hereby establish a Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps for non-combatant service with the Army of the United States for the purpose of further making available to the national defense the knowledge, skill, and special training of the women of this Nation; and do hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War, as a first step in the organization of such Corps, to establish units thereof, of such character as he may determine to be necessary to meet the requirements of the Army, with the number of such units not to exceed 100 and the total enrollment not to exceed 25,000.” — President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9163
Enrollment would far exceed that 25,000 limit first laid out by President Roosevelt in his Executive Order establishing the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps on this day 70 years ago. By war’s end, more than 140,000 women would have served their country as a member of what would become the Women’s Army Corps, or more commonly known as the WAC.
In May 1941 Massachusetts Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers proposed a bill for the establishment of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, a non-combat organization meant to take over jobs that would allow for more men to serve in overseas combat roles. Initially unpopular, the bill was finally passed a year later when President Roosevelt signed it into law on 15 May 1942. The following day, Oveta Culp Hobby was sworn in as director. For her service in this capacity, Hobby would become the first female to be awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Army’s third highest honor for exceptional service.
Once established, tens of thousands of women applied for more positions than existed. The first WAAC training center was established at Fort Des Moines, Iowa and training began in July 1942. Women between the ages of 21 and 45 were eligible to enlist. Following training, companies of 150 women each were created.
African American, Japanese American, Native American, and Hispanic women were encouraged to join the Corps, but were generally separated into segregated units just as the regular Army was. Such units included the all Puerto Rican contingent assigned to the Port of Embarkation in New York City, and the all black 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.
Service in the WAC may not have brought women into combat, but it could be a dangerous job nonetheless. More than 150 WACs died in service, largely from disease but also from plane crashes, ships being sunk, and other misfortunes. Despite the risks, these women were not given all the same benefits as their male counterparts. Although receiving the same pay as men serving stateside, members of the WAAC were not eligible for overseas pay; and although they were entitled to veteran’s hospitalization if wounded or sick while in service, they did not receive government life insurance.
On 1 July 1943, Roosevelt approved Congresswoman Rogers’ new bill that proposed the full incorporation of WAAC into the army. Thus the WAAC became the Women’s Army Corps, and their benefits were made to match that of their male counterparts. The women of the WAC served with the Army Ground Forces, the Army Service Forces, and the Army Air Forces, both stateside and in nearly every theater of war. Their job titles included cook, typist, electrician, driver, mechanic, radio operator, and just about every other support role you can think of. Many were assigned to the Manhattan Project.
Tens of thousands of women served their nation in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II, living the motto “It’s our war too!” The success of the WAC—and later the female auxiliaries of the other branches such as the WAVES, SPARS, and US Marine Corps Women’s Reserve—changed the prevailing prewar attitude that women didn’t belong in the military. The WAC served in both Korea and Vietnam, and was disbanded in 1978.
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Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare,was the symbol of the WAC. This is an officer’s lapel pin. Gift of David Mears, 2011.181
The WAC Service Medal, created in July 1943, also features the profile of Athena. Gift of Laurie M. Hope, 2011.410
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Collections Highlight: T/4 Mary Pritchard
Portrait of WAC Technical Sgt. Pritchard, Gift of Mary Pritchard Gershuny, 2002.339
Mary Pritchard enlisted in the WAAC on 16 April 1943. She had been working as a civilian with the Merchant Marine in Washington, D. C. After training, she was sent to the Charleston Port of Embarkation for a year. After a year of stateside service, Pritchard shipped out to serve under the US Army Forces in the Far East in Hollandia, Netherlands East Indies, arriving just days before the invasion of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. There, Pritchard worked in radar and communications with “Section 22,” a group with top secret clearance.
Just a month later, her unit moved to the Philippines where their office was in a bowling alley. In a memoir, Pritchard recalled the uniform shortage that was typical of the WAC experience, wearing basically any uniform they could find including men’s fatigues. In Manila, Pritchard and her unit worked towards the organization of Operation Olympic–the planned invasion of mainland Japan. The dropping of the atomic bombs precluded that operation, and Pritchard was sent home, discharged in October 1945. Having so enjoyed her service with the WAC, Pritchard took a job with the Department of the Army and worked in Tokyo from 1946 until 1949.
Pritchard and her Radar and Radio Countermeasures Unit in front of their office building in Hollandia, Dutch East Indies
A PPSh-41 from the Museum’s collection. On loan courtesy of the Louisiana State Museum
Today marks the beginning of the Second Battle (of many) for Kharkov. The Germans had first taken the Soviet city in October 1941. The May 1942 battle was the Soviet attempt to retake the city, which failed by the end of the month though they would succeed less than a year later only to lose the city to the Germans again before finally being liberated in summer 1943. For this 70th anniversary, we will highlight one of the soviet weapons on the Museum’s collection: the PPSh-41
The submachine gun was largely an innovation of the Second World War, and a very significant one at that. It allowed for more mobility than a machine gun, and more firepower than a rifle. Though smaller and lighter than their big brothers, the firepower of submachine guns is not sacrificed. Perhaps most importantly in a wartime economy, they were generally very inexpensive to make. Think of the British Sten and American M3 “grease guns.”
The PPSh-41 was first designed in 1941 and would become one of the most prevalent small arms of the war with approximately 6,000,000 manufactured by V-E Day. The weapon was ideal for street fighting with a range of 150 yards, and was so popular with the Germans that they began training on the weapon and carrying them in significant numbers. The PPSh-41 could fire 900 rounds per minute at its best, much faster than the average sub’s cyclic rate of 600 rpm. The weapon’s best advantage was its suitability for battle on the icy Eastern Front. Where most weapons would prove useless in the slush and mud of that theater, the PPSh-41 was rugged and sturdy, able to withstand dirt, water, and most importantly, snow. The drum magazine held 71 rounds, though a smaller stick magazine was also available. The weapon was used in subsequent conflicts by Soviet satellite states for decades.
American troops surrender to the Japanese. 6 May 1942
Corregidor, given names like “the impregnable rock”, “Gibraltar of the East”, and the “island fortress,” fell nevertheless on this day 70 years ago when Gen. Jonathan Wainwright surrendered the last remaining American forces defending the Philippines to Japanese General Homma. Though Bataan had been surrendered nearly a month before, the Japanese would not be satisfied until Corregidor was theirs; without it, they could not take control of Manila Bay.
Nearly 15,000 American and Filipino troops and nurses were living on the island, fighting as much with hunger and disease as with the hordes of Japanese bombers threatening them from overhead. The underground Malinta Tunnel provided much protection from the bombing runs, but the island was too overpopulated for the tunnels to be a comfortable home for everyone. The island was relatively well defended with coastal artillery batteries, mortars, and anti-aircraft guns. This firepower was most effective when the bombers were directly overhead, and as a means to save dwindling ammunition fire was held until the bombers were within close range. The AA and artillery batteries gained much practice from the more than 600 enemy sorties, becoming quite adept at hitting their marks and causing noteworthy damage to the attackers. Once Bataan had fallen, the Japanese had yet another base from which to pound Corregidor with artillery.
Finally, on 5 May, Japanese forces invaded Corregidor itself. Though the waves of hundreds of attackers faced a fierce defense and unexpected rough seas, those defenders were nevertheless underequipped and vastly outnumbered. On 6 May at 1330 hours, General Wainwright surrendered the last remaining forces defending the Philippines. All were taken prisoner, including the Army nurses serving there who would come to known as the Angels of Bataan and Corregidor. Despite this victory, Japanese leadership was displeased with the amount of time it took General Homma to capture the Philippines, and he was relieved of his command, forced to retire a year later. Corregidor would eventually be recaptured in February 1945.
[ You can listen to Wainwright’s surrender radio broadcast here ]
Artifact Highlight: Col. Jesse T. Traywick
Col. Jesse Traywick served as Gen. Jonathan Wainwright’s G-3, or Assistant Chief of Staff. Wainwright entrusted Traywick to deliver a handwritten letter of surrender to Maj. Gen. William Sharp. Although Wainwright had agreed to surrender, General Homma wanted assurance that the forces under Maj. Gen. William Sharp would also put down their arms. In a 300-page document created by Traywick after the war, he describes the final days at Corregidor from his point of view as G-3:
6 May: An hour before the moon rose, enemy landings on Corregidor beaches began; remaining batteries on Corregidor and at Fort Drum opening up, destroying several of the landing barges, but the attacked waves came on and the defending forces, largely Marines, were forced to withdraw to Malinta Hill. At dawn, a counterattack by the defending troops failed. With remaining American and Filipino troops pinned down, General Wainwright decided to surrender, first releasing the Visayas-Mindanao Force and placing it directly under General MacArthur, the Commander in Chief, GHQ, SWPA. Demolition of all weapons was ordered completely by noon, and General Wainwright ordered a surrender offer to be broadcast at 10:30 a.m.
The surrender message was broadcast, and at noon the American flag was lowered and replaced with a white flag. Enemy fire continued and the surrender message had to be repeated at 12:30 p.m. A truce party proceeded at about 1:00 p.m. to Japanese lines and returned with the information that the Commanding General, USFIP [United States Forces in the Philippines] must come to the Japanese Commander if he desired to discuss terms. At about 2:00 p.m. General Wainwright and four other officers proceeded to Japanese lines…
The Japanese commander insisted upon surrender of all U.S. and Filipino troops in the Philippines, refusing to accept a surrender under any other terms, and threatening to continue hostilities against the fortified islands until the terms were accepted. General Wainwright refused and returned to Corregidor where shortly before midnight, after reconsidering, he signed the Japanese document of surrender in the presence of the senior Japanese officer on Corregidor, surrendering all U.S. and Filipino troops in the Philippine Islands. The Commanding General of the Visayas- Mindanao Force and the commander of resisting units still operating behind the lines in Northern Luzon were informed of the terms imposed upon General Wainwright and were directed to surrender.
7 May – 9 June: The Japanese did not consider surrender as completed until all resisting units had complied. Isolated units continued to resist until authenticated information of the surrender reached them. Troops on Corregidor were evacuated to Manila on 28 May and placed in Bilibid Prison.
Because of the confusion caused by Wainwright’s releaseing General Sharp to MacArthur’s direct control, Traywick had to travel to Mindanao with “authenticated” papers. MacArthur had ordered Sharp to prepare for continued guerrilla operations, but Wainwright was ordering Sharp to surrender to avoid continued Japanese hostilities. After meeting with Traywick, General Sharp ultimately complied with Wainwright’s decision to surrender, and the process was complete by 11 May 1942.
Traywick was taken prisoner, but managed to hold onto his West Point (class of 1924) ring throughout his years of imprisonment by standing on top of it during every inspection to avoid its discovery by his captors.
Traywick also etched his own GI canteen to pass the time. The carvings read, “Colonel J. T. Traywick, G-3, USFIP. Dec 8. 1942 – May 6, 1942. Rising Sons of Bataan. SNAFU.” Gift of Jesse Traywick, 2005.169
Seventy years ago today on 6 May 1941, the SS Alcoa Puritan fell prey to U-507 in the Gulf of Mexico only about 50 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River . In May 1942, nearly a ship a day was lost in the Gulf of Mexico, victim to German U-boat wolfpacks. In 1942 and 1943, U-boats would sink fifty-six ships and damage another fourteen in the Gulf alone. It would not be until late July 1942 that merchant ships began a convoy system in the Gulf to help bring an end to this threat to sailors lives and critical supplies.
The Alcoa (Aluminum Company of America) operated SS Alcoa Puritan was on its way from Trinidad to Mobile, Alabama with a load of bauxite, the main source of aluminum and chief product of Alcoa, when it was targeted by U-507. After the Puritan was disabled by over 70 shells from the U-507’s deck guns, Captain Yngvar A. Krantz gave orders to abandon ship. The German submarine’s captain waved and even apologized to the crew before submerging. The Puritan’s entire crew and her passengers (which included 6 survivors from a previous torpedo sinking) were rescued by a Coast Guard cutter less than an hour later.
The wreck of the Alcoa Puritan was discovered in 2002 by contractors conducting surveys for Shell International Exploration and Production. That discovery has sparked research studies by marine archaeologists about the archaeological and biological analysis of World War II shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2004, the Minerals Management Survey donated a German 10.5cm shell casing recovered from the Gulf of Mexico to the Museum. The shell casing was found just north of the wreck of the Puritan and is presumably from the deck gun of U-507.
Shell casing from the U-507
Gift of the Minerals Management Service, 2004.392
Read more about these studies and about the SS Alcoa Puritan and U-boats in the Gulf here.
Map of the Indian Ocean area, showing Madagascar and the sea lanes it might threaten. Gift of Nancy McBeth, 2010.431
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the British invasion of the Vichy French controlled island of Madagascar. The African island, the fourth largest in the world, wasn’t of strategic importance in and of itself. But her proximity to Allied shipping lanes traveling around the tip of Africa made taking the island a necessity for the continued functioning of merchant shipments supporting troops in the CBI and elsewhere.
British and American leadership feared the possibility that Vichy would either cede the island completely to the Japanese, as had been done with French Indo-China–thereby allowing the Japanese to easily take Singapore, Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies–or that they would allow the Japanese use of the submarine pens on the island. The incredibly long range Japanese submarines, if given a home in the Indian Ocean, would pose a massive threat to Allied sea lanes and therefore necessitated the taking of the entire island.
On 5 May 1942, British land and naval forces invaded Madagascar with the support of the South African Air Force, quickly taking the key port of Diego Suarez by 7 May. The British believed that in taking this port, the entire island would be secured. Under the leadership of Vichy supporter Governor Armand Leon Annet, however, the 8,000 defending troops moved southward. Just as the Japanese had underestimated the will of American forces in the Philippines, resulting in months of drawn out warfare, the Malagasy and Senegalese troops under Annet forced the British to fight until 6 November. Although combat was very low-level, costing less than 200 men killed on each side, the ongoing battle in Madagascar denied Allied operations elsewhere the use of some 10,000 British troops.
President Roosevelt was fully supportive of British actions aganist Madagascar, and promised to return the island to the French after the war. A State Department bulletin of 9 May 1942 stated:
The President of the United States has been informed that Madagascar has been occupied by British forces. This occupation has the full approval and support of the Government of the United States. The island of Madagascar presents the definite danger to the United Nations* of occupation or use by the Axis powers, especially Japan. Such occupation by the Axis powers would constitute a definite and serious danger to the United Nations in their fight to maintain the kind of civilization to which France and to which the United Nations have been so long accustomed.
The Government of the United States is at war with the Axis powers, and if it becomes necessary or desirable for American troops or ships to use Madagascar in the common cause, the United States will not hesitate to do so at any time.
The United States and Great Britain are in accord that Madagascar, will, of course, be restored to France after the war or at any time that the occupation of Madagascar is no longer essential to the common cause of the United Nations.
Roosevelt made good on his promise, and the French regained control of the island after the war. It wasn’t until 1960 that the Madagascar gained its independence.
*United Nations as used in this context does not refer to the organization we know today, but was another name for the Allied countries.
The major goals for the PT-305 restoration crew over the last few weeks have been the fitting and installation of the stem, building the ammunition locker, and the replacement of hull and deck ribs. With the “Wood Butchers” hard at work towards these goals the front section of PT-305, she is on the verge of having all of her hull structure back into place.
The stem is the upward curving extension of the keel at the bow, which forms the very front of the 305. This installation brings the keel, sheers and chines all together, which makes it an important structural element in the hull. With the sheers complete, the last few weeks have been spent building and installing the chines.
This photo shows the chines and sheers in place. Permanently attached further back, they were only clamped to the stem, until it was permanently put into place. After the stem attachment, the crew permanently attached the chine and sheers to the stem with large bolts.
The chine of a boat is the meeting of the side and lower hull. In the case of PT-305 it is a hard chine, meaning there is a sharp angle that defines this intersection. The chine runs the length of PT-305 on the port and starboard sides. Due to the deterioration of the existing chine it was decided replace the foreword 20 feet of the port and starboard chines, splicing it into the original chine.
After a few lessons learned in gluing up the sheer, which included splitting apart a 20 foot glued section as the crew tried to attach it to the boat, the process was streamlined, and project coordinator Bruce Harris and volunteer Frank came up with the plan of attack. Three boards would be glued together on the boat to get the curve, then they would be removed, shaped and reinstalled as finished pieces. This process took three weeks to complete. After two weekends of glue-ups the chine was removed in order for Bob and Frank to use electric planers to shape it. Once both port and starboard chines were shaped they were installed, clearing the way for the installation of the stem.
Weekday volunteer Louis works on clamping a freshly glued piece in place on the starboard chine.
The stem consists of three main components, the forefoot, the backing block and the stem. The forefoot is attached to the keel and curves upward, the stem is attached to the forefoot and continues the curve up to the deck, and the backing block secures the forefoot and stem together. When removed from PT-305, all of these structures were too compromised to put back into place, each one would need to be rebuilt. The forefoot and backing block were built by laminating wood from other parts of PT-305. When a part cannot be used in its original location we recycle it by using it to make different piece for the boat. .
The crew created the components which make up the stem by gluing multiple layers together to from blocks of wood . These blocks were then shaped into the forefoot and the backing block. The final piece, the stem, was rescued from PT-659 when she was scrapped. The forefoot and backing block were the first pieces permanently installed. The stem installation could not be done until the chines and sheers were completed.
This photo shows the restoration work that can be done by the crew. This is the stem of PT-659, a Higgins WWII original, that has been restored by removing soft, rotten spots of the wood and replacing them with strong, new mahogany pieces.
Although backing block and forefoot had been installed permanently for several weeks, the stem had been held in place only temporarily. In late March, the crew gathered at the bow of the 305 as Frank’s crew completed the process of permanently attaching the final stem piece. With a few words from Bruce, and wisecracks and laughter from the crew, the large stem was lifted into place. Surfaces were coated in a special flexible epoxy, and as several of the crew strained to get the large piece in place, bolt it to the backing block, and attach the chines and sheers properly, the whole crew looked on, took photos and made even more jokes at the expense of those actually doing the work.
Volunteers wrestle the heavy stem into place. The piece had to be perfectly aligned so that it joined with six other pieces of the boat.
Inside PT-305, Ed’s crew has begun building the ammunition locker. This is where the 20mm and .50 caliber machine gun ammunition is stored. The locker is directly below the chart house and sits in the middle of the officers’ quarters. From the deck it looks like a plywood elevator shaft, and without any shelves installed it is a void from the deck to the keel. The sides of the box are joined by corner pieces with rabbets cut into them to receive the plywood. (A rabbet is a ledge cut into the edge of a piece of wood.) One side of the box is installed already, it’s an original bulkhead that is in place, and the other three sides have been rebuilt, having been removed by PT-305’s previous owners. These sides are 10 feet tall and take some muscle to wrestle into place. After a series of awkward lifts, the three sides have been clamped into place and are awaiting final fastening.
Ed and crew are on the deck while working on the ammunition locker. The plywood and handrails on the deck are only temporary, so that volunteers have a surface to walk on while working. When completed, the deck will be double layered, with a water tight layer in between the layers of wood. The handrails are for the safety of the volunteers. PT boats were not equipped with railings to prevent men from going overboard.
Though the ammunition locker has not been completed, Norman and Jimmy can begin working on the foreword half of the steering system. The steering system runs from the wheelhouse to the lazarette, the last compartment in PT-305. When the wheel which is above deck, is turned, it moves a chain, which turns a pipe. . This pipe runs roughly 60 feet from below the wheel to the steering gear box, just above the rudders. This simple connection of a chain and a pipe to the ship’s wheel turns the two rudders of the 305, thus moving the boat as it maneuvers through the water. At this stage Norman is measuring and plotting the route through the various compartments and bulkheads while Jimmy works on securing and restoring the hardware that supports the system.
The engine room crew has been hard at work, installing all of the aluminum brackets and gussets which strengthen the engine room on the 305. This helps prevent wear and tear on the wooden frame from the boat’s three 3500-pound, 1500 horsepower engines.
Anyone who has ever visited the Museum has probably marveled over the beautifully restored LCP(L) on display in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion as well as the fully-functional replica of a LCVP (both boats manufactured by Higgins Industries of New Orleans during WWII). Visitors have also toured the John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion (or perhaps just pressed their faces up against the exterior glass!) to see ongoing work to restore a Higgins-built PT boat, PT-305. But what visitors may not realize is the long-standing relationship between the Museum and the dedicated group of volunteers who made these projects a reality. This special group of volunteers has been giving their time to the Museum back before the original National D-Day Museum even opened. Stay tuned for more volunteer updates on the Museum Blog.
General Giraud in the Algerian newspaper Tam. Gift of Rogers Paredes, 2009.347.011
French General Henri Honoré Giraud was no stranger to North Africa when sent there in November 1942 for discussions relating to Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. He had served many years on the continent before and after his participation in the First World War. Giraud was also no stranger to imprisonment and escape as during World War I, he was captured at the Battle of Guise in 1914, and shortly thereafter escaped his captors despite suffering injuries, and during the second world war would have a similar experience.
In May 1940, Giraud led the French Seventh Army into the Netherlands. Although he succeeded in stalling the German advance, it was only temporarily. He was taken prisoner on 19 May, and the Germans successfully took the Netherlands.
Giraud was held at Königstein Fortress, a massive walled complex atop an even more massive hillside. He was allowed his uniform and a daily walk, and used the abundance of time on his hands to learn and perfect the German language, and to memorize the landscape surrounding his prison. On this day 70 years ago, at the age of 63 and after two years of imprisonment, Giraud managed to scale down a stone cliff, find his way through foreign soil, hop onto a speeding train, and ultimately succeeded in reaching Vichy France. While in France Giraud’s escape became legendary and boosted the morale of a defeated people, Hitler and Himmler were furious, ordering the execution of Giraud on sight (Giraud would survive an assassination attempt made in August 1944).
Giraud on his daily walk outside Königstein.
In November, Giraud reached Gibraltar via the submarine Seraph in order to meet with Eisenhower and discuss Giraud’s place in the Allied invasion plans. Giraud insisted that only American troops—not British, with whom he refused to work—would be used for landings in North Africa and France. He also demanded that he lead the invasion. Eisenhower’s counteroffer was for Giraud to command French troops under Eisenhower’s ultimate command. Giraud refused, believing it was beneath his station.
He eventually agreed to serve under Vichy Admiral François Darlan, who had already been guaranteed the highest authority over French forces in Africa by Roosevelt and Churchill in exchange for his support of the Allied cause. It wasn’t until Darlan’s assassination on 24 December 1942 that Giraud took his place. He would go on to participate in the Casablanca Conference of January 1943 and served as co-president of the French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN) with Charles de Gaulle. Eventually, the ever popular de Gaulle forced Giraud out, and he retired in 1944 rather than accept a demotion. He passed away in 1949.
Giraud(left), Roosevelt, de Gaulle, and Churchill at the Casablanca Conference, January 1943
Seventy-seven women of the United States Army & Navy Nurse Corps were among the tens of thousands of prisoners taken when the Philippines were surrendered in spring 1942. Not only were they were the first large group of American women to face combat conditions, but they were also the first to be taken prisoners of war. The interned nurses continued to tend to the sick and wounded within the Santo Tomas and Los Baños prison camps.
When the Japanese attacked the Philippines in December 1941, the nurses were stationed in hospitals in and around the capital city of Manila. Eleven Navy nurses were captured there in early January 1942, when Manila fell. The Army nurses, however, had relocated southward to Bataan to tend to wounded soldiers just behind the fields of battle. Conditions were deplorable; supplies were dwindling and the makeshift hospitals were outdoors, increasing the already rampant spread of diseases like dengue fever and malaria.
Gen. “Skinny” Wainwright had instructed the nurses to pack up and move to Corregidor before General King surrendered Bataan on 9 April 1942. There, the open-air hospitals of Bataan were replaced by the dark, dank, and cramped Malinta Tunnel of Corregidor. A thousand hospital beds were set up in the underground bomb shelter and supply storehouse built by the US Army Corps of Engineers the decade before. For the most part, the nurses were ordered to remain inside the tunnel for their own safety, as the Japanese were bombing the area.
This New Testament was given to US Army nurse 2nd Lt. Edith Corns by Army Chaplain Perry O. Wilcox on 16 April 1942, while both were stationed on Corregidor. Shortly thereafter, the island was surrendered. Corns spent the remainder of the war in the Santo Tomas prison camp until it was liberated by an intrepid raid in February 1945 during the Battle of Manila. She was able to hold onto the New Testament for comfort throughout her imprisonment. Gift of Mike Noonan, 2001.346.001
When Corregidor finally fell nearly a month after Bataan, the Army nurses were taken prisoner along with the soldiers. They were sent to Santo Tomas prison camp in July, joining the Navy nurses who had already been interned there for six months. A year later the Navy nurses, led by Lt. Laura Cobb, volunteered for transfer to Los Baños, where they continued to work as a nursing unit treating civilian internees under impossible circumstances. They were liberated by the famous Los Baños Raid on 23 February 1945, after more than three years of harsh imprisonment.
The Army nurses, however, remained at Santo Tomas for the remainder of the war, mirroring the actions of the Navy nurses. Under the guidance of veteran nurse Capt. Maude Davison, the women at Santo Tomas were expected to complete shifts, and when doing so, wear the khaki uniforms they had made for themselves rather than the men’s coveralls they had gotten accustomed to in Bataan. The importance to survival of maintaining one’s appearance and “normal” activities inside internment camps is a known phenomenon. Knowingly or not, Davison gave the nurses under her command a purpose for which to fight to survive. The Army nurses were liberated on 3 February 1945.
Army nurses are all smiles upon their release from Santo Tomas, February 1945
In March 1941, Congress approved the Lend-Lease Act, allowing the United States to ship badly needed supplies to her Allies across the Atlantic, without payment until the end of the war. In August 1941 the United States Merchant Marine, a civilian auxiliary to the Navy, began transporting supplies to the Soviet Union. These Arctic Convoys took an incredibly dangerous route through the Barents Sea to reach the warm-water port of Murmansk. The route taken was just miles from the Nazi-occupied territory of Finland and Norway. Despite this threat, the Merchant Marine delivered millions of tons of goods before the war ended, including but not limited to aircraft, jeeps, trucks, food, clothing, and petroleum products.
On 1 April 1942 convoy PQ 13, made up of British, American, Panamanian, Honduran, and Polish ships, arrived at Murmansk. The convoy was given the support of a powerful escort, intended mainly to protect the ships and their supplies from the battleship Tirpitz, then in Norwegian waters for the main purpose of wreaking havoc on Allied shipping.
In what proved to be a typically dangerous convoy experience, the ships were dispersed by a storm, then spotted by German aircraft. They were attacked by the Luftwaffe from above, by U-boats from beneath the sea, and by destroyers on the water’s surface, costing the convoy six ships. By 1 April, the surviving merchant ships reached Murmansk with supplies vital to the Soviet fight on the Eastern Front. See highlights from the Museum’s Merchant Marine collection below.
Handmade Winter Vest
Gift of the Family of Everett Lee, 2001.087.02
Seaman 1st Class Everett Lee made this vest by hand while en route to Murmansk. Lee and the rest of his crew were unprepared for the below freezing temperatures of the Barents Sea. The crew cut up blankets and sewed them into vests to retain warmth.
Lee served aboard the Liberty ships SS Malang, SS MargaretLykes, SS JamesBowie, and SS AndrewStevenson. He earned the Merchant Marine Combat Bar, issued for “active service with the United States Merchant Marine in a ship which was engaged in direct enemy action.”
Stadimeter & Soviet Commemorative Medal
Gift of Capt. J.W. Clark, 2003.306
Merchant Marine Captain J.W. Clark used this stadimeter while on a run to Murmansk. Although similar to a sextant, a stadimeter is a navigational tool used to determine a ship’s position when in sight of land. They were also used to maintain order and position within a convoy.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II, or what Russians call The Great Patriotic War, Captain Clark was awarded this commemorative medal. It is a token of thanks from the Russian government for Clark’s service with the US Merchant Marine in delivering vital supplies to the Soviet Union via the Arctic convoys.
Gift of Mary Clair Stanton, 2001.105
The above log describes several instances of enemy attacks on a merchant marine convoy headed to Murmansk. Over the course of only five days in May 1942, the anonymous author of witnessed several attacks on merchant ships by German submarines and aircraft.
The alarm sounded and as I went out on deck I witnessed a strange and awful sight. The SS Syros, a ship which was just off our port stern, had dropped back a little. I noticed what appeared to be machine gun bullets streaming off her bow. Before anyone could make out what they were, something hit the Syros amidships and where the ship stood a second ago, there was nothing but steam. Suddenly there was a fierce explosion. The ship was reduced to nothing right before our eyes. In less than a minute and a half she was no more.
The author also indicates that the convoy’s escorts abandoned their duty at the first sign of attack. Merchant seamen faced grave danger on the Murmansk run, as well as that to Arkhangelsk.
Pritchard and her Radar and Radio Countermeasures Unit in front of their office building in Hollandia, Dutch East Indies
A PPSh-41 from the Museum’s collection. On loan courtesy of the Louisiana State Museum
