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Special Collections Research Center
William & Mary Special Collections Research CenterEarl Gregg Swem Library
400 Landrum Dr
Williamsburg, Virginia
Business Number: 757-221-3090
spcoll@wm.edu
URL: https://libraries.wm.edu/libraries-spaces/special-collections
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Use
Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.
Preferred Citation:
Charles Avery Letters, 1943-1945, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, William and Mary.
Content Description
This collection contains letters from Private First Class Charles Avery to his sister Ruth Dunlap in Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania during and immediately after World War II. Charles writes about the training and attending school at the University of Connecticut while in the Army, health problems in his family, the leisure activities available to him, a little about his combat experience, and the death of his mother. During the war he trains in Virginia (Camp Pickett), North Carolina, and Louisiana, before going overseas and fighting on the front lines in Germany as a member of the 78th "Lightning" Division Infantry.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- United States. Army. Division, 78th
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945--Germany
Container List
Five letters, one each from May, June, and September, and two from August. Correspondence from Charles Avery to Ruth and Willis Dunlap while stationed at Camp Butner, North Carolina following a furlough. Charles is attending several classes for college credit. Includes talk of what to do with his belongings in their house, and time spent in the infirmary.
Five letters, one from September and October and three from November. The letters involve national testing in Charles's classes, meeting his girlfriend Ang in New York, and planning for Christmas.
Five letters, one from February, three from April, and one from May. After passing his tests, Charles is transferred to the 78th Infantry Division, called the Lightning Division. Discussion begins of whether he will be shipped overseas soon.
Five letters, two from June and three from July. Charles talks about whether the 78th will be going overseas soon, Charles being advanced to the rank of Private First Class, and how training is going.
Six letters, four from August, one from September, and one circa September. Letters involving training, a flare-up of tonsillitis, and spending time with Ang in Philadelphia where she has taken a job as a teacher.
Five letters, two from September and one from October before shipping overseas, one from November in England and one from December in Germany. When in Germany, Charles is seeing active combat on the front lines.
One letter from a rest camp in the Netherlands in December and four from the front in Germany, December 1944 to January 1945. Includes letters about paying his dentist bill, meeting people from back home who are in the army now, and setting up a joint bank account with Ang.
One letter from occupied Germany after the war is over in Europe, and three from Biarritz, France, where Charles is attending more classes. Also a newspaper mailed from within Germany in May 1945 with an article about Charles's regiment, the 311th.
Five letters, three from September (one missing a page) and two from October. Charles writes from Biarritz, France, about his classes and leisure activities. The Dunlaps have informed Charles that his mother is dying. Charles tries to get an emergency furlough to see her.
Two letters from October and one from November, from outside Kasell, Germany, where Charles has learned that his and Ruth's mother died before he could get a furlough. In the final letter, he has received the furlough and plans to come home after spending time alone in France.