William Lee Davis papers, [193u]-1945.

ArchivalResource

Davis, William Lee, 1918-1983. William Lee Davis papers, [193u]-1945.

William Lee Davis papers, [193u]-1945.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/741616911

Chiefly World War II letters and V-Mail messages, 1940-1945, from Sgt. William L. Davis to his future wife, Grace Ellis (Lowndesville, S.C.); communiqués penned from South Carolina (Fort. Jackson in Columbia); Mississippi (Camp Shelby, Hattiesburg, and Meridian); and abroad (North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France). Includes specimen pieces of additional correspondence addressed to Grace Ellis by Jasper B. Davis, brother of William L. Davis, as well as Samuel A. Campbell and W. Howell Cockfield, Jr. Correspondence reveals few details of Davis' involvement in the war effort apart from mention of other GI's from the Abbeville, S.C., area and references to entertainment, leisure time activities, and perception of internationals. Includes letters (1942) penned on USO letterhead stationery featuring the "Idle Gossip Sinks Ships" logo; message, 3 Aug. 1944, "Somewhere in Italy," noting that he had seen a British newsreel announcing the Normandy invasion; picture postcard, [pmk. 19 Sept. 1942], "Aeroplane View of Masonite Plant, Laurel, Miss."; and 2 undated World War I era picture postcards featuring photos by the U.S. Army Signal Corps: "The Cavalry Goes Over The Top. Souvenir of the Army Maneuvers" and "Infantry Attack. Souvenir of the Army Maneuvers." Undated Civilian Conservation Corps photo album [1930s], "CCC Memory Book," contains snapshot images of the camp at Abbeville (S.C.), as well as of sites of interest, persons, and railway scenes photographed in the Midwest and western United States, presumably where Davis traveled while in the CCC.

13 photographs.

University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries