April 30, 1946

 Dear Readers,

 In my last post, I shared a letter from Norma Condit from February 1946, now I sit at my desk transcribing this letter from April 30, 1946. At present, I do not know where he wrote this letter from, but if that changes, I will update this post.

In this letter Halsey Condit writes of his discontentment about Army life, giving an example of having P.Ws shovel coal, and a flippant remark he makes about the authorities that could have him receive a court-martial. It just doesn't seem like a letter to write to your father, however it is interesting to point out that he doesn't write to his mother and father, but to just his father. 

An example of how thin the paper was

April 30, 1946

Dear Papa:

Let me tell you a little just this army works. I'm not working in this supply room anymore, but the Battery Commander* told me to clean out a 2 room in basement. He said he didn't care how I did it, but he wanted it done. So I had to spend half a day getting 6 P.W.s^ to help me then I had to beg another half day for a truck, and by the time I got a truck, it was time I got a truck it was time for the PWs to go back to camp. The next day I got two P.Ws early in the morning also a private who was to be P.W. guard after so much begging I got a truck with a driver

{2}

 then I the P.W.s to work shoveling the coal out of the basement room up on ground then into truck. I got one load hauled by the end of the second day. Now, there was approximately 8 men which stood around 8 hours to get one load of coal hauled. Now I hope you can understand but that one example of manpower shortage or over power of men but this thing is no good. 

I almost blew my top the other day to the coloner [Colonel] + told him that the only reason that these big officers were in the army was they couldn't make a living in civilian life. Guess I got him told off. 

{3}

I might have been court-martialed for making such a statement, but I don't like to be anyone elses fool. I happen to know a fellow who made a similar statement and got his stripes taken away from him which knocked $20 a month off his pay.

Today was payday I drew another 500 marks* these marks sure seem funny but after 6 months seems quite custom to spend them.

Well, folks the eighth of next month Germany fell^, and that was the day I left Norma at Cortey to go to the army. These were the days I'll long remember. Just one year in the army. 

Will write more later

Halsey C 

German POWs (Independent)

  *- Battery Commander- has varied in history but is usually a Lieutenant, Captian, or Major. (Artillery Battery- Wikipedia)

^-  P.Ws is the same as POWs - I can find information of Germans being held in POW camps during the war in the United States, and lots of information about US soldiers being held in POW camps, I, however, cannot find information about German PWs after WWII held in Germany. One article I did find talked about how in Germany Allied Prisoners were released right after the war; however, it was not the same for Germans being held in England:

"Resentment and distrust between the Germans and their captors spilled over into the post-war period, especially when Britain ruled out any immediate prospect of the prisoners being repatriated. While the Allies blamed all Germans for starting the war and for the horrors of the concentration camps, individual German servicemen resented being made scapegoats for atrocities which, in the main, had been ordered and carried out by others. In May 1945 reconciliation seemed an exceedingly remote prospect." -  "The day that Deutschland died: Retracing the fate of captured Axis soldiers at the end of WW2" Independent (April 30, 2015)

*- I talked about marks in my "Letter no.1" post

^- At 10:00 on 8 May, the Channel Islanders were informed by the German authorities that the war was over. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a radio broadcast at 15:00 during which he announced: "Hostilities will end officially at one minute after midnight tonight, but in the interests of saving lives the 'Ceasefire' began yesterday to be sounded all along the front, and our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed today."
News of the imminent surrender broke in the West on 8 May, and celebrations erupted throughout Europe and parts of the British Empire. In the US, Americans awoke to the news and declared 8 May V-E Day. As the Soviet Union was to the east of Germany, it was 9 May Moscow Time when the German military surrender became effective, which is why Russia and many other European countries east of Germany commemorate Victory Day on 9 May. (End of World War II in Europe- Wikipedia)

Axis-held territory at the end of WWII shown in Blue (Wikipedia)