10 November 1944

Sgt. Stanley W Safford 39539976

5^th Auxiliary Surgical Group

APO 339

c/o Post Master

New York  New York

10 November 1944

Dearest Mother:

Have before me her on the table you three letters of the 11, 14 and 17 of October which I received upon my arrival at headquarters where I am at present, and am quite pleased to be here for a short time since the weather was none too good where we were in the field.

I saw the first snowfall of the season the other day and indeed it made a beautiful change in the country.  Everything was all white and the falling flakes were quite large, about the size of a quarter.

Was quite surprised to hear in your V-mail of the 11^th that my mail has not been going thru. I am going to send this regular mail and see if there is any change in the delivery of this.

The reason for us being in Headquarters is that our hospital has finished in our last location and until assigned another we will be here in the warm building for a change.  We had quite a time of it the other evening with our tents.  About four in the morning a strong gale came up and I mean a strong one, of several miles an hour.  It blew our tent down and did we have a mess.  It was raining so the water came in and soaked several of the others beds etc.  The tent blew down on me so therefore saved me and things from the water. Anyway we got up and fixed it and returned to bed for the balance of our sleep.

Enjoyed very much your enclosures of jokes and stories in your letter of the 14 Oct.  I really enjoyed them and always look forward to them.

Very sorry to hear of Dad not being able to go hunting.  Hope he had better luck on second trip.

Regarding the films.  I can get them developed here but for better service I will send the negatives home to you for prints.  I have some here now which I will soon send to you.  Rolls of undeveloped films would not go thru at all.  I am allowed to take pictures almost any time when I have my camera, which I quite often leave at home, and then is of course when I want it the most.  Pictures of war damage will not pass the censor at all and they are not fond of you taking them and will prevent it if possible.  I have therefore taken none, and besides they do not interest me to any great extent.

Received a letter from Dorothy Kinsfather telling me of her college etc. She is taking Spanish and Chinese, can you imagine such a combination?  Also a letter from Mrs. Matson. I understand Dorothy is very interested in marriage, so I can not quite connect her pursuing languages and wanting to get married at the same time.  Quite a person.  Mrs. Matsons’ letter was quite interesting as always and she tells me they have sent a couple packages.  I wish you would discourage so much attention my way from so many people.  I feel obligated to them.

I am quite pleased to hear of the popcorn etc being on the way.  I surely appreciate it.  You can charge my request things to me.  You can forget the powdered milk since the chocolate can be made with water.  The tea I am quite sure will be satisfactory.  I am able to get all the necessary sugar.

Jay Elmont[1] in his letter received yesterday tells of being out to dinner so I guess he now owes you a dinner again.  That is getting to be a vicious circle, isn’t it?

In regards to your questions about our teams. We have had quite a set back recently. Col MacIntyre is having to return to Headquarters and we are going to get another surgeon.  We are all quite disappointed at the Colonel having to go.  Otherwise our team was a big success.  We done a lot of surgery and the Colonel has done some beautiful work.

We were not at Calais since that was practically British.  Some of our teams are at all the prominent places along the front.

Thanks a lot for the second copy of the poem.  I have the other copy here and will take your advice and carry this one in my wallet.

Anita Ringley mentioned Yvonne’s noninterest in “North Eastham House”.  Do not blame her.  Have you ever heard of Grandfather Matthews will as yet?

Well all for now, and I will start writing more often and different ways.  The envelope is German.

All my Love,

Stanley

NOTE from the transcriber:

ARMY NINEH = probably Army Ninth…  That is where he was in actuality so that fits.

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[1] Found a passport picture f Jay Elmont on Ancestry.com and the 1930 US census lists his occupation as “Artist - Music and Radio Field”; and the directories have him listed as an act director, living at 421 W 8^th Street, Los Angeles in 1917- as a decorator,  h2139 Branden in 1918 – Manager Gillette Safety Razor Co, r815 O’Farrell in 1920 and 1921 h2139 Branden

The California Death Index shows he died on 12 Dec 1946, in Los Angeles.(he was b 1 Jan 1883 in Ohio).Passport lists a David Elmont as his father (b NY)

5 October 1944

Sgt. Stanley W Safford 39539976

5^th Auxiliary Surgical Group

APO 339

c/o Post Master

New York

New York

5 October 1944

Dearest Mother:

Again I sit down and will write you a few lines.  Received your letter of 16 Aug., just four days ago, and have also a few others to catch up on answering for you.

As you may have already guessed our team was working in Brittany at the time of the Fall of Brest.  Sometimes the headings on my letters may give you a hint.  We were, I guess, about 12 or 14 miles behind the lines and as you know our duty is caring for casualties.  We could hear and see the sound and the smoke from the bombardment.

After our duty there our or part of our team came back to headquarters for a few days to again, after a couple of days, leave to rejoin our hospital again, and believe it or not I really enjoy being away from headquarters and all that goes on there.  We all here feel the same.  But I guess we were there for such a long time and we all needed a change.

Again I also had the chance to see Paris and again I purchased a few more things which you will I hope soon receive. Also enclosed you will find a small lace collar which I picked up in my travels which I hope you can use in some way, if for nothing other than a wash cloth.  You might find use for it on a nice black dress of some kind.  I hope it reaches you in good shape.  I sent a large photographic book on Versailles and a rare Botanical book which I picked up on the famous bookshop row on the Seine River.  I also sent Miss Mosher some stationary from Paris.  I will get some more things when I have the chance.  Lace is of course my favourite and I hope to get a centerpiece for Marshall and wife as a wedding present.  He should like that.  I am quite anxious to hear of Nina’s receiving the perfume.  She is quite hard to please.  She also wants a lace tablecloth, but I have seen none as yet.  You will get one when she does.

Paris is indeed a changed place since I saw it first.  The city is full of people and practically everything is open again.  The ladies and gentlemen of wealth are again out in their carriages up and down the “Champs Elysees” and the Boulevard Housmann.  The Place de l’Opera is the place for you to see some day.  The styles and the clothing of both men and women is the latest thing.  The coiffeurs are simply out of this world for smartness.  How they all can afford the clothes they wear certainly surprises me.  One of the officers bought it beautiful handbag of brown suede for about fifty American dollars. So you can see what conditions are, and of course the soldiers here have helped matters along some.

The Louvre and the Palace of the Tuileries are as yet not open but will soon be open again. Most of the fountains are running in the gardens of the Palace’s Tuileries and Luxembourg.

Again I had the chance to see something of great beauty.  That was the famous cathedral of Reims and as I expected the famous Rose window is not there.  The altar is not as grand as some but ornate and rich with gold candlesticks etc.  The ceiling is of great height and still quite a bit of other stained glass remains.

This may be hard for you to believe but our group of teams here with us have traveled over seven thousand miles since we left Fort Sam Houston. What would we have paid for such a trip otherwise?

In answer to your question regarding the evacuation of patients.  All are sent back to the states that will not recover in a very few months.  All the ones not going to the states are all but a few going to England for recovery.

Received letters also from Marshall and Frances Whelchel.

You can send me in one of your packages some tea and also some dehydrated milk and also some chocolate for making cocoa on cold days.

While I was in Paris I was able to get some film.  They have film and camera supplies in abundance there.  So I have enough for awhile.

Thanks a lot for the “Air Mail” stamps which you recently sent.

Mailed my ballot in today and sincerely hope it does some good.

I do not seem to have the piece of poetry right here but have it in another place.  If not I will ask for another copy.

Yes the War damage is as bad in places as the pictures you see.  Some of the roads are littered with tanks and wreckage of other kinds.  Some cities or villages are suffering from very little damage.  The Engineers have repaired quite a bit of the damage in the places they are using.  We saw one air field which is certainly a big mess and you should see some of the railroads, yards etc.

Well this is about far enough for today and I had better bring this to a close and get it on its way to you.

Is it not quite strange to you about Barbara Ellen leaving Greenacres?

Send me also a can or so of popcorn and some salt also when you get a chance.

Love as always,

Your son,

Stanley

Note from the transcriber:

BELG = probably for Belgium, don’t you think?