Finding Aid for Bernard F. Roberts Second World War correspondence 2017.241.w.r

Benjamin Stevens

Center for American War Letters Archives

6/21/2019

Leatherby Libraries

Chapman University

Orange, CA 92866

speccoll@chapman.edu

URL: http://www1.chapman.edu/library/archives/

Contributing Institution: Center for American War Letters Archives

Title: Bernard Francis Roberts Second World War correspondence

Creator: Roberts, Bernard Francis, Sergeant, 1912-1992

source: Polit, Denise F.

Identifier/Call Number: 2017.241.w.r

Physical Description: .33 Linear Feet (4 folders)

Date (inclusive): 1944 December - 1947 November 12

Abstract: This collection contains the correspondence of Sgt. Bernard F. Roberts, USA written to his wife, Cecile. The collection includes photos and military documents.

Language of Material: English .

Container: WWII 30

Container: 1-4

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Denise F. Polit, daughter of SGT Bernard F. Roberts, USA.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in chronoligcal order.

Series 1, Correspondence from Bernard to Cecile
Series 2, Photographs and various documents

Biographical / Historical

Sergeant Bernard Francis Roberts, United States Army (1/15/1912 - 1/19/1992) was born Bernard F. Romanowicz in Chelsea, MA. He lived in Everett, MA until his early 20s. He attended MIT for one year. He enlisted on October 13, 1942, and was discharged on December 8, 1945. He served as a radio repairman in Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, and Central Europe. He met his wife, Cecile Cruke, during his service in Brussels, Belgium in October 1944. They were married in the village of Munte, Belgium on April 21, 1945. Bernard Roberts returned to the United States in December of 1945 and Cecile, while six months pregnant, followed shortly behind arriving around January 1946.

From the donor, their daughter Denise, regarding life after the war:

"It is my distinct impression that my mother fell in love with America and with Americans. After moving here (I believe it was in December 1945--I was born in April 1946), my mother and father lived at my grandmother's house in Everett Massachusetts for about a year until my father was able to buy a house in Saugus, MA. My father's very large family, which included 7 sisters, were always very kind to my mother. I think they may have liked her better than they liked their brother! We lived on a farm in northeast Massachusetts during most of my childhood, and virtually every weekend we had company--that is, my aunts, uncles and cousins--because they lived in poor inner-city neighborhoods and they romanticized farm life. I never heard a cross word between my mother and these relatives.

My mother spoke English very well by the time I was old enough to be aware of it. I've always regretted that she didn't speak French to me--although her native language was Flemish, not French. She and my father spoke German to each other when they wanted to say things they didn't want me to hear. She had a very charming accent in English that she wanted to shed. When people asked her where she was from, she usually said "Boston."

If she was homesick for Belgium, I was not aware of it. I think she missed her family (or, more specifically, her father and sister), but she never seemed to yearn to move back. I heard her say, several times, that she preferred life in America. She only returned to Belgium twice to visit her family--in 1956 and 1959. This was largely an economic issue, though, as we were what would now be called "working poor."

My mother and father eventually divorced when I was in my 20s (circa 1969), but they both continued to live mostly in Massachusetts. I moved to Saratoga Springs, NY in 1987, right around the time my mother was diagnosed with colon cancer. She came to live with us, until her death in 1992. Interestingly, my father became ill in about 1989, and I moved him into our house as well. Thank goodness it was a large house! At first, they had a grand time reminiscing about old times, but it didn't last long, so he moved back to Massachusetts to live with another couple. He died in January, 1992, and was buried in Everett. My mother died later the same year, and she is buried by his side. My aunts were always very happy that they were reunited."

Preferred Citation

[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Bernard F. Roberts Second World War correspondence (2017.241.w.r), Center for American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.

For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains the correspondence of Sgt. Bernard F. Roberts, USA written to his wife, Cecile. Most of the letters are personal rather than descriptive, but several of them, particularly shortly after VE day, do describe his experiences in occupied Germany. A few foreshadow anticipated difficulties in returning to civilian life.

There are a total of 101 letters, one telegram, eight photographs, three military documents, and one Belgian marriage certificate.

Conditions Governing Use

There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Christianity

Concerts

Baby boom generation

V-E Day (1945)

War recovery

World War (1939-1945) -- Battlefields -- France

World War (1939-1945) -- Campaigns -- France -- Normandy.

World War (1939-1945) -- Europe

World War (1939-1945) -- Germany

World War (1939-1945) -- Belgium

World War (1939-1945) -- Photography

World War (1939-1945) -- Victory in Europe Day (VE Day)

World War (1939-1945) -- France

Polit, Denise F.

box WWII 30, folder 1-3, folder 1-3

Series 1, Correspondence from Bernard to Cecile 1944 December - 1945 December 24

Physical Description: .30 Linear Feet(3 folders)

Language of Material: English, German.

Scope and Contents

This series contains 102 correspondence from Sgt. Bernard F. Roberts, USA to his wife Cecile, who was living in Belgium.

Folder 1:

The first letter is written in German and has no author or date. The letter loosely translated describes a soldier who was waiting for German paratroopers. He was not sleeping well, and it was cold. At some point, he was able to sleep and slept the whole day. They continue waiting, but the paratroopers do not show up. He wrote a little about the war and what he wanted to do when it was over. The last paragraph says they have been waiting for the paratroopers for three days and three nights, and they still have not shown up. He wrote that he must wait there to fight the Wehrmacht. He ends by saying that the news/tidings are good though. It is possible that Bernard Roberts wrote this letter because the writer of the letter refers to wanting to see his Cecile, but he cannot get to Brussels, and there is a slight mixture of English in the German as well as the misuse of some of the German words.

He mainly wrote about his visits with his wife, who was his fiancé at the time. Closer to the end of the war he started writing more descriptively about experiences he had during the Allied march to victory. He wrote about German civilians and he even met some Belgian soldiers on their way home after being held prisoner by the Germans. He wrote about his experiences talking to forced laborers and their interactions with the German civilians. He started writing more about his experiences after the war was over, describing multiple interactions with German civilians. He wrote about the possibility of him having to go serve in the struggle against Japan. He wrote about the process for him to receive leave to be with his wife in Belgium.

Folder 2:

He wrote about moving around with his unit through Germany as an occupational force. He wrote about the process his wife was going to have to go through in order to enter the United States. He wrote about the German civilians believing the United States and Russia would engage in war soon and he could not understand why. He felt that the Hitler propaganda was still in the hearts of the German citizenry and it was going to take a long time to "reeducate" the German nation. He wrote about his travels around Europe and describe different cities and landscapes. He wrote about a delay in letters from the United States because they were moving around so much in Europe and his mail had to go to every place he had been so it could be forwarded to the next location.

Folder 3:

The third folder is largely correspondence pertaining to his journey back to the United States. He stayed in Creil, France for a short duration. He then made his way to Le Havre, France. After leaving Le Havre, he arrived in New York and sent his wife a telegram to notify her. The rest of the letters are from Massachusetts. One of the letters from the US is in German, which further supports the theory that Bernard wrote the first letter in the collection because this letter shows he had the basic ability to write in German. The letter dated 11 December, 1945 is typed as are the remaining letters.

box WWII 30, folder 4, folder 4

Series 2, Photographs and various documents 1945 April 21 - 1947 November 12

Physical Description: .03 Linear Feet(1 folder)

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series contains the marriage certificate received by Sgt. Bernard F. Roberts, USA and Cecile after being married in Belgium, photographs from the wedding as well as some from Bernard during his service in Europe, and military documents. The military documents are his discharge papers, a certificate of appreciation, and a letter from Harry Truman to those who answered the call of their country.