Ww2 Navy Transport Ship, 4 Letters Diaries 121 Pages, Invasion Of Italy, Photos For Sale

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This is a lot of four letters, with 121 hand written pages, sent by a sailor aboard the USS Elizabeth C Stanton to his wife. He managed to have the letters carried back to the US and mailed from there so they were not subject to censorship and became a diary of events (Hill also sent censored letters to his wife through regular channels). The letters begin December 12, 1942 and end November 18, 1943. They are a daily journal of events, emotions and losses written during the Atlantic crossing, the invasion of Italy and the ship's revisiting Casablanca exactly one year after the Torch Invasion of North Africa. Included is a telegram dated July 18, 1943 notifying his wife that he was alright following the Italy Invasion.

Letter 1, 32 pages: Dec 12, 1942 to Jan 11, 1943. The transport ship made a round trip to Oran delivering supplies and troops.

Letter 2, 58 pages: May 8, 1943 to Jul 27, 1943. Another trip to Oran and Mostaganem, Algeria (much nicer than Oran, Jun 1: "Today we took on some troops about 1/4 of them were up on the front. Boy I sure feel sorry for them, some are shell shocked, their faces twitch all over. In fact the best part of their life is done for. You would think they are a bunch of cattle going to be slaughtered and knew it. Some of them were so weak they could not walk up the gang He describes the invasion of Italy in July ("Patton tried to steal the show but finally had to call on Navy guns to save them after they were pushed back to the beach"). He relates stories told to him by other soldiers (photo ofpage 37).

Letter 3, 20 pages: Jul 29, 1943 to Sep 21, 1943. "A C.B.M. by the name of Holbert got a Citation of Mertit, Legion of Merit or something like that for what he did at the invasion of Sicily. He was just the senior man at the hatch. Westy was second and I was third, I think all the men in our gang should have got something. He only did the talking and we did the work. Oh well that's the way the Navy Describes participating in the assault on Southern Italy where they landed troops at Solerno (photo page of14 and15).

Letter 4, 11 pages: Sep 22 1943 to Nov 18, 1943. Visited Naples (photo ofpage 3). Nov 10, 1943 "Well honey we are on our way home at last".

Also included

Navy Photo of Hill who had just returned from duty in the Torch Invasion of N. Africa, a 22 page letter written during that trip is now on sale. Small photo of Hill and wife Catherine.

Six letters to Hill from his wife, date Sep 1943 to Dec 1943.

18 postcards, 5 small cards and a 42 page Pocket Guide to North Africa.

A Life Magazine article dated Aug 23, 1943, titled "Navy's Job, Sicily Invasion". Hill's ship, the USS Elizabeth C Stanton, is pictured.

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This item has been shown 61 times. Ww2 Navy Transport Ship, 4 Letters Diaries 121 Pages, Invasion Of Italy, Photos: $93