Clazie Family (Second World War correspondence)

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Clazie Family (Second World War correspondence)

2017.424.w.r

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Table of contents

box WWII 98, folder 1-5, folder 1-5, box WWII 99, folder 1-6, folder 6-11, box WWII 100, folder 1-5, folder 12-16, box WWII 101, folder 1-6, folder 17-22, box WWII 102, folder 1, folder 23

Series 1, Correspondence from George Clazie to Dorothy Clazie 1942 July 10 - 1945 August 21

Physical Description: 1.8 Linear Feet(23 folders)

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series contains 753 letters that George A. Clazie wrote to his wife while he served in the United States Naval Construction Battalions (Seabees) during the Second World War. According to the donor, Clazie's wife's name was Dorothy. Clazie began serving as a Carpenter's Mate Second Class with the 16th Construction Battalion. At the end of the war, he served with the 50th Naval Construction Batallion.

Clazie was stationed in Pearl Harbor less than a year after the December 7, 1941 attack. He also served in the Pacific Islands, including Funafuti, Nukufetau, and Makin, and on the island of Tinian at the end of the war. Clazie trained at the US Naval Construction Training Center and Camp Bradford in Norfolk, Virginia.

Over a period of three years, Clazie's letters track the progress of the war and describe events in the various places he is stationed. The letters also discuss news events including the Port Chicago disaster and the incident involving the Liberty ship Henry Bergh, which ran aground on the Farralon Islands. Clazie also writes about the activities of the Seabees and the censorship process for correspondence. Clazie's letters sometimes run afoul of censorship policies and have portions cut out of them.

Clazie also frequently discusses war bonds with his wife.

Letters of interest include a November 10, 1942 letter in which he writes about men taking bets that the war would be over by the next Christmas. In a December 7, 1942 letter, Clazie writes about the first anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. An October 23, 1943 letter mentions Clazie having to go into a foxhole during air raids. In an April 18, 1944 letter, Clazie writes about witnessing the bombing of a hospital on Makin. A July 14, 1944 letter mentions attending the Bob Hope show. In an October 12, 1944 letter, Clazie offers his thoughts about a fourth term for Roosevelt.

The letters of August 14 and August 15, 1945 mention the end of the war and V-J Day.

There are also some items included with some of the letters. A July 7, 1945 letter includes an article from Coronet about Tinian and a letter from August 8, 1945 has a comic in it.

Included in this series is a heavily censored letter from February 16, 1943 that is addressed to "Master Teddy Tidville." The name appears to be an inside reference between Clazie and his wife.

Clazie appears to have put the wrong date on some letters, including a letter dated December 1, 1942 that, based on the numbering of the envelopes, is mostly likely from 1943. Clazie also appears to have mistakenly written June 5, 1942 on a letter when it was likely written in 1945.

box WWII 102, folder 2, folder 24

Series 2, Correspondence to George Clazie 1943 October 26

Physical Description: .025 Linear Feet(1 folder)

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series includes one letter written to George Clazie from "Lola" and "Dave." The letter was initally enclosed with the December 6, 1943 letter from George Clazie to Dorothy Clazie.

box WWII 102, folder 3, folder 25

Series 3, Other correspondence to Dorothy Clazie 1996 September 22 - December 15

Physical Description: .025 Linear Feet(1 folder)

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series contains correspondence and cards that were sent to Dorothy Clazie in the 1990s. There are cards announcing a memorial service and a poem called "In His Arms."

box WWII 102, folder 4-7, folder 26-29

Series 4, Correspondence to Florence Clazie 1937 February 7 - 1955 August 26 1940 - 1945

Physical Description: .21 Linear Feet(4 folders)

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series contains 36 correspondence to Florence Clazie in Oakland, California. Much of the correspondence is from Clazie's mother, Christine Robertson, who was a civil servant in London during the war.

Robertson's letters describe life in London during the war and describes the Blitz. In one letter of interest from November 6, 1944, Robertson writes about the effect the war and bombings are having on her: "I sometimes wonder if I will ever be the same again." In a May 14, 1941 letter, Robertson also writes about the effect the war is having on her. She describes the death of an infant in a bombing in London. Robertson also writes in that letter about the slow action from the United States.

In a letter from September 5, 1944 Robertson writes about a bombing at her office building and about people who have been sleeping in tube stations "since the blitz started in 1940." In another letter from December 4, 1942, Robertson discusses an old friend whose sons were sent to concentration camps in Germany.

A letter from March 29, 1940 mentions listening to a radio broadcast of "Lord Haw-Haw." A February 9, 1941 letter mentions Winston Churchill.

In other letters, Robertson writes about the difficulty of shopping during wartime.

Other letters are also from a woman in Leicester, England named Florence Pochin to Florence Clazie. A February 13, 1941 letter from Pochin has a section cut out by the censor. In a letter from December 31, 1938, Pochin writes about Neville Chamberlain and how she feels he will "keep the peace."

According to the donor, the Christmas card to FLorence Clazie is from Florence's older sister, Dorothy Graham. Other letters also appear to be from Dorothy Graham. Dorothy Graham lived in London and is different from the Dorothy who lived in Oakland and was the recipient in Series 1. The donor mentions that Christine Robertson had two daughters, Dorothy Robertson and Florence Cruickshank.

box WWII 102, folder 8, folder 30

Series 5, Correspondence from Florence Clazie 1944 July

Physical Description: .025 Linear Feet

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series includes one postcard that Florence Clazie sent to her husband, Raymond Clazie. The donor of the collection is the son of Florence and Ray Clazie and he notes that Ray Clazie was a "recruiter for Mare Island Naval Shipyard of skilled civilian workers during the war." According to the donor, Roy Clazie eventually was hospitalized with an illness and Florence traveled back east for three months to stay with him.

Census records suggest that Ray Clazie may have been George Clazie's brother.

box WWII 102, folder 9, folder 31

Series 6, Correspondence from Blair Hamilton to the Clazie Family 1943 October 4 - 1945 May 30

Physical Description: .025 Linear Feet(1 folder)

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series includes two letters and one V-mail from Pvt. Blair Hamilton, USA to the Clazie family. His relationship to the Clazie family is unclear.

box WWII 102, folder 10-11, folder 32-33

Series 7, Navy Seabee Newsletters 1942 October 22 - 1945 August 5

Physical Description: .11 Linear Feet(2 folders)

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series contains 11 editions of "V-Bee" news, a newsletter for the 16th Construction Batallion on Pearl Harbor, and one edition of Gooney Tales, a newsletter published for the 50th Naval Construction Batallion on Tinian.

The newsletters discuss activities on the base. One newsletter includes a drawing of Admiral Nimitz. Another newsletter, published December 7, 1942, includes mention of activities on the base for the first anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The newsletters also discuss war bonds.

box WWII 102, folder 12, folder 34

Series 8, Ephemera 1977

Physical Description: .025 Linear Feet(1 folder)

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series contains a note announcing a 1977 memorial service, a printed poem about Friendship, and writing that appears to be a eulogy. The author of the eulogy is unclear.

The series also includes an undated card from the Commissary Department that likely belonged to George Clazie. It was included by itself in the donated collection.

Collection Contents

Series 1, Correspondence from George Clazie to Dorothy Clazie

Series 2, Correspondence to George Clazie

Series 3, Other correspondence to Dorothy Clazie

Series 4, Correspondence to Florence Clazie

Series 5, Correspondence from Florence Clazie

Series 6, Correspondence from Blair Hamilton to the Clazie Family

Series 7, Navy Seabee Newsletters

Series 8, Ephemera