Wickman family Second World War correspondence 2017.602.w.r
Andrew Harman
Center for American War Letters Archives
5/30/2019
Leatherby Libraries
Chapman University
Orange, CA 92866
speccoll@chapman.edu
Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Wickman Family Second World War correspondence
source:
Caminati, Peter
Creator:
Courtmanche, Vick, Corporal
Creator:
Sickman, Edward E. , Sergeant
Creator:
Robbins, Phillip
Creator:
McCarthy, Lenny, Private
Identifier/Call Number: 2017.602.w.r
Physical Description:
.08 Linear feet
(1 folder)
Date (bulk): 1943 March 31 - 1944 September 24
Abstract: This collection contains correspondence to members of the Wickman family of Springfield, Massachusetts during the Second World
War, as well as various other correspondence.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: WWII 148
Container: 2
Container: 1
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Peter V. Caminati, purchaser.
This collection is arranged chronologically regardless of author or recipient.
[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Wickman family Second World War correspondence (2017.602.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.
This collection contains six correspondence to Henry M. Wickman of Springfield, Massachusetts from Sergeant Edward E. Sickman,
United States Army Air Force, 54th Service Squadron and Corporal Vick Courtmanche, United States Army, Company A 52nd Medical
Battalion (later 376 Med. Coll. Company) as well as one correspondence to Chaplain lrving G. Wickman from Major A.M. Grayson,
United States Army, 18th Replacement Battalion during the Second World War. Also included are two correspondence that are
neither to or from the Wickman family, but were donated with the rest of the collection. The collection also contains one
postcard from Chaplain Wickman to his dad pertaining to two included election war ballots. This collection is made up of V-Mail,
both micro and full sized and was purchased at a flea market by the donor. The letters are as follows:
March 31, 1943: To Margaret Hart from Phillip Robbins, United States Marine Corps. The letter is directed toward Margaret
and the censor, jokingly, and mentions his six month anniversary in his unit.
January 10, 1944: To Henry from Sgt. Sickman. The two seem to be work friends and discussed are stamp collecting and a note
about married men beginning to be drafted.
April 21, 1944: To Henry from Cpl. Courtmanche is somewhere on the [Anzio Beachhead and says he was a captured by the Germans
along with nine others but they were treated with respect because they were medical soldiers and released five hours later.
July 6, 1944: To Irene and Paul Bousquet of Brooklyn, NY from Private Lenny McCarthy, United States Army, Battery E 16th C.A.
He mentions the Dodgers baseball team losing and hoping they rebound after the war when they can get their players back.
August 28, 1944: To Henry from Cpl. Courtmanche. Left Italy, and the people in France are "neater and cleaner than the Italians
will ever be."
August 29, 1944: Follow-up for the previous letter. In response to a question from Henry, Cpl. Courtmanche mentions walking
up a hill with three "buddies" and seeing a German mortar come in and wound two of them.
September 21, 1944: To Henry from Cpl. Courtmanche. He landed on D-Day with the invasion and is now enjoying France. He hopes
the Japanese surrender because it is hard enough fighting "civilized" people in Europe.
September 24, 1944: To Henry from Cpl. Courtmanche. Pledge to the Democratic party and President Roosevelt in anticipation
of the coming election, intended to be humorous but not ironic.
September 24, 1944: To Chaplain Wickman from Maj. Grayson. From Italy Maj. Grayson gives a short service history after spending
fourteen months in Africa. He also mentions being president of the Mediterranean Base Masonic Club, which enjoyed an expansion
of members including President Roosevelt and General Clark as an honorary member. He was also a reader of C.S. services (Christian
Science).
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
World War (1939-1945)
World War (1939-1945) -- Newspapers
World War (1939-1945) -- France
World War (1939-1945) -- Italy
World War (1939-1945) -- North Africa
War -- Medical aspects
Christianity
Freemasonry -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.
Prisoners of war
Caminati, Peter
Wickman, Henry M.
Wickman, Irving G. , Chaplain
Hart, Margaret
Bousquet, Irene
Bousquet, Paul