Letter Home from Lt. Bob Welty

October 5, 1944


Oct. 5, 1944
Dear Folks:

I see by the papers that the You-nited States Army, following its ancient custom, is winning the wah. I wouldn’t know. I’ve been too busy “rebuilding” my tent.

Today we put in 2 walls made out of wood from old bomb boxes. It was quite a job & we have 2 more walls to put in. Then the tent should be draft proof. I’m going to “borrow” some paint from the paint shop and paint the walls white, which should be quite nice & bright.

We have a little coal stove in here which we get red hot ~ right now you can’t get within 10 feet of it! Very uncomfortable, but it will more uncomfortable tomorrow morning when it is out & cold!

Say, I should have a “class E” allotment of $100.00 taken out of my pay. The check for it should arrive home about the 15th of this month or so. That check will be for September. Let me know for sure if it doesn’t come in by the end of the month at least!

I haven’t gotten any letters except the two I got – one from Dave & one from you – at the last place I stayed. I suppose it is mostly en route.

It is now 9:30 P.M. & the guys are listening to the World’s series, it being 4:30 in St. Louis & 5:30 in Cleveland.

Have you sent off that 9”x11” stationary I asked for in my cable? I don’t know if 9”x11” is the exact size, but what I want is the same size as this I’m writing on now ~ or thereabouts.

Say, I went to London the other day. That’s the first I’ve been there. I spent about ¾ of my time in a tailor shop getting fitted up for some new clothes, so I really didn’t see the town. The other ¼ of my time I spent eating. What little I did see reminded me of Chicago with some big holes blown in it.

We were looking for a Taxi in London to get to the station to catch our train. So we stood on the curb & yelled “TAXI” at every car that came by. There were 6 of us & I guess we could make a lot of noise. Pretty soon a gigantic Packard drives up & stops. It was some General’s car and we were about to crawl in some hole to escape his wrath when we see that the general isn’t in it, just his driver, some corporal. So he asks where we’re going and we tell him which station. He sez “Hop in” and we did. He was working for general Yumpdy-Yump of the Humpty Dumps Department & had just taken the general home & was taking the car to the garage when he heard the ruckus we put up. We slipped the corporal a £ note, which is a lot of money, but it isn’t everyday one practically rides with the hoi polloi! Which makes me a big shot – remind me to tell our enlisted men to start calling me “sir” from now on!

I’ve got to get to bed, so –

Love, Bob

Writ by hand in bed -

 

Interpretive Comments by Scott Welty

Notes on Bob Welty’s letter dated October 5, 1944. The envelope is dated October 9, 1944 by US Army Postal Service.

In this letter he describes his tent living conditions while stationed at his base in Nuthampstead, UK. Not only did Dad re-do his tent with the wood from bomb crates but the door to the tent literally was a bomb crate they somehow attached to the tent flap. It was a good thing they insulated their tent. If memory serves me the coming European winter of 1944-1945 was the coldest in half a century.

Dad also describes his first trip to London about fifty miles to the south. I don’t think I ever heard the story of Dad riding in the general’s staff car but once again Dad’s humor shines through.

I don’t know what the phrase “’class E’ allotment” means in regards to his paycheck.

As a footnote – The October 5, 1944 World Series Game mentioned in the letter is Game Two (This is assuming they were listening to a live game. Would technology of the time allow them to hear it live? It seems so since he mentions time zone differences.) This game stayed in a single city since it was played between the National League’s St. Louis Cardinals and the American League’s St. Louis Browns. The Cardinals won 3 to 2 and went on to take the series six games to two games. According to baseball websites I read the 1944 series and the entire season was mediocre. The best players were drafted and in the war. By 1945 the St. Louis Browns were using a one armed pitcher. See the links below for details on the game.

See also:

  1. 1944 World Series by Baseball Almanac
  2. 1944 World Series - STL vs. SLB - Baseball-Reference
  3. 1944 World Series

My transcription corrects some misspellings but keeps others in tact: “You-nited” for united; “wah” for war; “sez” for says. Those were intentional on Dad’s part so they are kept as is.

- Scott Welty

 

Original Letter and Content
  1. October 5, 1944 Letter (in pdf)
  2. Return to Lt. Bob Welty's Letters, Interviews and Photos Page
Notes
  1. Lt. Bob Welty was the Co-Pilot for the Joe Tarr Crew 603rd crew.
  2. The above transcription was provided by his son, Scott Welty in 2009.
  3. This transcription is a reproduction of the original. Spelling and punctuation changes have been made to improve readability, though in some cases original spelling was preservered. In some circumstances, material may not have been transcribed or was rewritten.
  4. Clarification of acronyms or special words or guesses of certain words are shown in brackets [ ].