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Edwin Holland papers, 1943-1945

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Summary

Creator:
Holland, Jane C. Anderson, d. 1998
Abstract:
This collection contains roughly 400 letters that Corporal Edwin Stetson Holland wrote to Jane C. Anderson, his fiancée, during his service with the United States Army Air Forces 43rd Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion during World War II. Holland reported on his experiences while training from June 1943 to November 1944 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts; Camp Davis, North Carolina; and Camp Stewart, Georgia. He also wrote from the Hawaiian Islands, the Ryukyu Islands, and Okinawa between November 1944 and November 1945. In addition to responding to news from his home in Worcester, Massachusetts, and to sharing his love for Jane, Holland discussed his health, fellow soldiers, training exercises, and the scenery.
Extent:
1 linear foot
Language:
English
Sponsor:
Duane Norman Diedrich Collection
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Meg Hixon, May 2012

Background

Scope and Content:

This collection contains roughly 400 letters that Corporal Edwin Stetson Holland wrote to Jane C. Anderson, his fiancée, during his service with the United States Army Air Forces 43rd Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion during World War II. Holland reported on his experiences while training from June 1943 to November 1944, at Fort Devens, Massachusetts; Camp Davis, North Carolina; and Camp Stewart, Georgia. He also wrote from the Hawaiian Islands, the Ryukyu Islands, and Okinawa between November 1944 and November 1945. In addition to responding to news from his home in Worcester, Massachusetts, and to sharing his love for Jane, Holland discussed his health, fellow soldiers, training exercises, and the scenery.

The Correspondence series is comprised of Holland's letters to Anderson throughout his military service. His first letters from Fort Devens, Massachusetts, concern his stay in the camp hospital in June 1943, after he contracted the chicken pox. He transferred to Camp Davis, North Carolina, later that month, and regularly wrote to Anderson throughout his time in training. He discussed many aspects of military life, such as the scenery and climate, training exercises and hikes, duties around the camp, and his fellow soldiers. He frequently wrote of his love for Jane and reminisced about their times together. After transferring to Westhampton Beach, Long Island, around February 1944, he attended automotive classes. He spent most of April-November 1944 at Camp Stewart, Georgia, where his training included bivouacs and hikes.

Holland often wrote while traveling, and described his accommodations and the passing scenery. His itineraries included stops at Chicago, Illinois, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, in late 1944. He spent a few weeks at a camp in the west before arriving in Oahu in November 1944. He frequently commented on Hawaiian scenery, the local people, and visits to Honolulu. Between July 1945 and October 1945, he wrote from the Ryukyu Islands and Okinawa, Japan, where he served in the final days of the war. He remarked broadly on his military experiences and described the life of American soldiers stationed in the Pacific theater. On one occasion, he reported in depth on the effects of a recent typhoon (October 11, 1945). After mid-August, he shared his feelings about the end of the war, and his expectation of a discharge. He arrived in California in early November, and by November 28, 1845, had returned to Barre, Massachusetts.

Various letterheads include:
  • Camp Davis, North Carolina, including images of soldiers with antiaircraft guns
  • Camp Stewart, Georgia, including images of soldiers, the camp's buildings, and antiaircraft guns
  • Fort Devens, Massachusetts
  • Kilauea Military Camp, Hawaii
  • United Service Organizations (USO)
  • United States Army Air Corps
  • United States Red Cross

The Ephemera series has 6 items: 2 change-of-address notices that Holland sent Jane during the war; a bank form inquiring about the respondent's postwar financial plans; a printed program for a religious service held onboard the Sea Bass on October 21, 1945, during Edwin S. Holland's return from the Pacific; and covers once used to house groups of Holland's letters. The correspondence series includes 1 printed program for a religious service held at Camp Davis, enclosed in Holland's letter of December 19, 1943.

Biographical / Historical:

Edwin Stetson Holland was born in Barre Plains, Massachusetts, on September 26, 1906, the son of Frederic B. and Katie Stetson Holland. He joined the United States Army as a private before June 1943, and attended training at Fort Devens, Massachusetts; Camp Davis, North Carolina; and Camp Stewart, Georgia, before being transferred to Oahu in November 1944. He served with the 43rd Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion in Hawaii until June or July 1945, and in the Ryukyu Islands and on Okinawa, Japan, until his return to Massachusetts in November 1945. He attained the rank of corporal during the war.

Holland worked as a banker both before and after the war, and was employed by the Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank and the State Mutual Life Insurance Company. He proposed to Jane C. Anderson, also of Worcester, before he left for the army, and they married on September 21, 1946. Edwin S. Holland died on October 2, 1990.

Acquisition Information:
2007. M-4628 .
Processing information:

Cataloging funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). This collection has been processed according to minimal processing procedures and may be revised, expanded, or updated in the future.

Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in the following series:
  • Series I: Correspondence
  • Series II: Ephemera

Each series is arranged chronologically, with undated items placed at the end.

Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown

PREFERRED CITATION:

Edwin Holland Papers, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan

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Collection

Edwin Holland papers, 1943-1945
Total components 5
Last indexed 2025-02-09