'No Mail, Low Morale': The importance of letters in WWII
By Hattie Hearn, American Air Museum Curator
Mail from home was a vital connection to loved ones and an important morale booster to U.S. soldiers stationed overseas during the Second World War. Writing in 1942, the United States Postmaster General argued that “frequent and rapid communication with parents, associates, and other loved ones strengthens fortitude, enlivens patriotism, makes loneliness endurable, and inspires to even greater devotion the men and women who are carrying on our fight far from home and from friends.”
In reports compiled by the Morale Office, mail emerged as a pivotal factor in maintaining a unit's fighting spirit. In the words of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion's motto, "No mail, low Morale". Whether they contained small-town news or coveted homemade goods, letters and packages provided an important link to a soldier's home, momentarily contracting the distance between the homefront and the frontlines. Of course, letters could also communicate bad news. Telegrams informed family members that their loved ones had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, while the infamous "Dear John" letters breaking off relationships became notorious sources of heartbreak. Referring to the men who received these letters, Journalist Howard Whitman surmised, “It is doubtful if the Nazis will ever hurt them as much."
Letters also provided a means to kindle new relationships. For members of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) stationed in Britain, letter writing was a way of keeping in touch with new British friends and sweethearts. An analysis of the first batch of letters sent by American troops from France after D-Day found that twenty-five percent were written to British people. In many cases, this Anglo-American correspondence continued long after the war had ended. Studying the contents of wartime letters helps us to appreciate the importance of interpersonal relationships in maintaining morale, while revealing the complex global network of communications that facilitated the movement of millions of letters worldwide.
V-Mail
The U.S. Postal Service aoon struggled to cope with the huge quantities of mail being sent across the world. Not only did the increased movement of letters and parcels require a larger force of postal workers, it also meant that vital resources, such as petrol and paper, were being diverted from the war industry. An innovative solution emerged in the form of a new postal system: "Victory Mail", better known as "V-Mail".
Senders could write their letters on a specially designed form, which was then photographed on microfilm. The film was transported to Washington D.C. via airmail, censored, filmed by a Recordak machine, reproduced on photographic paper, and delivered. A single sack could hold 150,000 one-page V-mails that would otherwise require 37 mailbags. Microphotography had been used since the mid-nineteenth century, and had been adopted for postal use by the British in 1941, but V-mail would be the first time it was employed on such a huge scale. Between mid-1942 and the war's end, more than 556 million pieces of V-mail were delivered to U.S. servicemen overseas - who sent more than half a billion back home. V-Mail was a free service that sold itself on its speed, efficiency, and security (it was claimed that no letter was ever lost).
Object Number - FRE 2456 - A letter sent home by Robert Sand of the 55th Fighter Group , 19 September 1943.
Delivering Mail in Wartime
As American military power extended across the globe, the need for improved postal services became increasingly pressing.
However, the delivery of mail to their intended recipients in wartime presented numerous challenges. The movement of troops could make locating the intended recipient difficult, especially if the letter was sent with only the minimum of identifying information. An expansion of the Army Post Office (APO) system went some way to resolving this problem. Post offices were set up in overseas theatres to handle the vast quantities of incoming and outgoing mail. Each APO was operated by a postal unit, typically comprising one officer and eleven enlisted men, who oversaw mail for anywhere between 7,500 and 10,000 troops. Each APO was numbered according to the unit it served, or the office's geographic location. The first APO in Britain was opened in January 1942 to serve the first American troops arriving in the country. Once mail arrived at an APO, it was transported to the intended unit for distribution among the troops. Morning mail call was hotly anticipated by station personnel. A commander in the Solomons wrote that he wished all battles could be fought after “mail day.”
Censorship placed another layer of restriction on communications. Most nations imposed strict rules on the sharing of sensitive information, including the United States, which established the Office of Censorship a few days after Pearl Harbor. By early 1943, the Office was employing more than 14,000 censors. Letters sent by enlisted men were usually censored by their commanding officer, who would cut out any offending sentences. U.S. Navy Commander Frederick J Nelson described the censoring of mail as "an indispensable, unpleasant feature of modem warfare", emphasising that the task must be completed quickly so as not to delay the delivery of mail.
The Six Triple Eight
Despite attempts to streamline the delivery of mail to overseas troops, the movement of millions of Americans to the continent in the wake of the Normandy invasion led to an unmanageable backlog of letters and packages. In January 1945, a new Womens Army Corps (WAC) unit was formed to help unite the letters with their intended recipients. The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion (nicknamed the Six Triple Eight) arrived in Birmingham, England, in February 1945, becoming the only Black female unit to serve overseas during the conflict. The battalion also had members of Caribbean and Hispanic descent. The Six Triple Eight worked in uninsulated, underlit warehouses in three 8-hour shifts to clear the backlog. Devising a card system to identify the whereabouts of seven million Americans serving in Europe, the Six Triple Eight were able to sort thousands of pieces of mail a day. Military authorities had predicted the backlog would take six months to clear - the Six Triple Eight completed it in three.
< Major Charity Adams inspects the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in Birmingham, February 1945
A Taste of Home
As well as letters bearing news from home, American overseas personnel cherished the arrival of parcels. Care packages contained home comforts, from socks and scarfs, to homemade preserves and cake. In turn, personnel were encouraged to send gifts to loved ones back home. At the base Post Exchange, Eighth Air Force personnel could order presents to be dispatched in time for Christmas, Mother's Day, or Valentine's. These services were intended to help military personnel maintain personal relationships; connections to home that were deemed vital to maintaining morale. Care packages were also provided by relief organisations, most notably the American Red Cross. During the war, 27,000,000 Red Cross parcels were distributed to Prisoner of War Camps in Europe and the Pacific, containing tinned food, cigarettes, and chocolate bars.
Object Number - UPL 32383 - "H L Graham, enlisted man of the 863rd Bomb Sqn, 493rd Bomb Group distributing mail at an airbase in England 14-Dec-44."
Bearers of Bad News
Mail could also carry unwelcome news. During the war, the military contracted Western Union to communicate official notifications to the families of service members. This included telegrams informing families of the fate of their loved ones, whether killed in action, missing, wounded, or taken prisoner. The telegrams, beginning with the ominous words "We regret to inform you" became objects of fear, but also important artefacts for those with the misfortune of receiving them. Hap Halloran was a navigator with the 499th Bomb Group when he was shot down over Japan. His mother received three telegrams: the first informing her that her son was missing in action, the second to say he'd been taken prisoner, and the third telling her of his release. These telegrams are now part of the Imperial War Museum's collection.
< Letters were also used to console grieving families. In this 1943 photograph, Captain Chaplain Biggs of the 91st Bomb Group writes a letter to the family of an airman who did not return from a mission.
Letters offer historians valuable insights into the private lives of those who lived through the Second World War. Their contents, despite being both censored by the authorities and often self-censored by the author, can tell us a great deal about the experiences of men and women in service and on the home front. Through their words, we gain a glimpse into the lives of the writers, from the mundane drudgery of military life to the extraordinary experiences of combat, their hopes and fears, and their reasons for fighting.
