Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1005

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.25 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

William B. Richard World War II letters, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1945 (inclusive)

Creator:

Richard, William B.

Form:

Correspondence

Abstract:

Corporal (later Sergeant) William B. Richard was an American airman who served with the 1346th Army Air Force in eastern India during World War II. From February to November 1945 he wrote letters to his mother Mrs. Sarah Jane Richard on the uneventful day-to-day experiences of his tour of duty.

William B. Richard was an American airman who served in the 1346th Army Air Force, stationed at Tezgaon, Dhaka in then-British India, in the China-Burma-India theatre of World War II. During his duties at Tezgaon, he was a non-commissioned officer and was promoted from corporal to sergeant in 1945.

The collection consists of 15 letters written by Corporal (later Sergeant) William B. Richard to his mother, Mrs. Sarah Richard in Akron, Ohio, between February 12 and November 2, 1945. The letters are arranged in chronological order and housed individually with their original air mail envelopes.

The letters consist almost entirely of brief mentions of day-to-day affairs of Richard's tour of duty, such as the weather, goings-on about camp (such as music and psychology classes or movie showings), and other letters he has received and intends to answer. Each letter contains a postscript, which can feature a request for his mother to say hello to his friends back home, a reminder for her to get her eyes and teeth checked, and occasionally an additional story about Richard's day. Following the postscript is a post-postscript which contains an additional farewell. There are no mentions in any of the letters of any contemporary events relating to the war, such as the defeat of Germany or the atomic bombings of Japan. The subject matter of the letters is routine and repetitive. The collection may be of incidental interest to historians of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II and the lives of American airmen during the war.