Collections

This collection contains letters that Staff Sergeant George J. Mahl wrote to his mother and sister while serving in the 346th Infantry Regiment in Europe during World War II. He described his service in England, France, and Belgium, and discussed his recuperation from a leg wound in army hospitals in France and England.

This collection (70 items) contains 63 letters that Staff Sergeant George J. Mahl wrote to his mother and sister while serving in the 346th Infantry Regiment in Europe during World War II. He described his service in England, France, and Belgium, and discussed his recuperation from a thigh fracture in army hospitals in France and England.

During his service overseas, Mahl sent letters and V-mail to his mother and sister, Marie and Helene Mahl. After arriving in England in October 1944, he discussed his transatlantic journey and commented on English food, currency, weather, and scenery. Mahl's regiment was transferred to France later that month, and he commented on war destruction, the effects of the weather, and the differences between civilian life in France and in England. He mentioned participating in active combat, and wrote one letter from a town his company had captured near the German border, in which he noted the increase in soldiers' church attendance following battle (December 17, 1944). Mahl, who was proficient in German, listened to German radio broadcasts, translated orders for German-speaking civilians, and communicated with German prisoners upon their surrender. Some of his letters have been censored.

Mahl was shot in the leg while fighting in Belgium in January 1945, and his remaining letters concern his medical condition and recovery. He wrote about his discomfort, described his medical treatments in French and English military hospitals, discussed fellow wounded men, and noted a large influx of patients in March. He occasionally remarked on his postwar plans, including the possibility of attending college. The Mahl family also received an official military telegraph and 4 postcards about Mahl's injury and recuperation. The collection contains 2 additional V-mail letters: one from George Mahl to Colonel F. M. Sheffield (ca. October 30, 1944) and one from Technical Sergeant Lee Zipfel to the Mahl family, concerning Zipfel's service in India (February 4, 1945). Mahl enclosed 2 photographs in his letter of March 25, 1945.

This collection contains approximately 50 letters that Private First Class George W. Ingram wrote to his mother and siblings in Boyne City, Michigan, while he served with the United States Army between 1943 and 1945. Ingram corresponded with his family while in training in the United States and while stationed in North Africa, Italy, and southern France with a military police unit. The collection also includes a document, 2 postcards, photographs, a photograph album, and ephemeral items.

This collection contains approximately 50 letters that Private First Class George W. Ingram wrote to his mother and siblings in Boyne City, Michigan, while he served with the United States Army between 1943 and 1945. Ingram corresponded with his family while in training in the United States and while stationed in North Africa, Italy, and southern France with a military police unit. The collection also includes a document, 2 postcards, photographs, a photograph album, and ephemeral items.

The Correspondence series contains George Ingram's letters to his family, as well as 2 postcards and 1 document. He wrote regularly to his mother, Sadie Ingram, and less frequently to his siblings, Bob and Guy, between January 1943 and February 1945. In his earliest letters, he commented on his experiences at Camp Grant, Illinois, and Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, where he attended basic training. By March, he relocated to Camp River Rouge, Michigan, and anticipated being sent to military police training. In July 1943, he reported that he had been deployed overseas as a member of the "149th Prov. M.P. Det.," and that he would help guard prisoners of war.

Ingram wrote about his service in North Africa, Italy, and southern France, and he frequently responded to news of friends from home. He occasionally mentioned his religious habits. After his return to the United States in late 1944, Ingram discussed his wife Betty, expressing hopes that his family would approve of her and inquiring about their opinions of her. He shared some of his postwar plans and related his efforts to obtain a medical discharge from the army. Ingram spent much of early 1945 as a member of the Army Service Forces at Camp Peary, Virginia. Throughout his service, he occasionally wrote on illustrated stationery, and he sent his mother 1 postcard from Wisconsin, which includes an image of two Mongolian pheasants. The series holds a "War Savings Bond Pay Reservation Application," signed by George W. Ingram in January 1943.

The Photographs series includes 4 individual photographs, a photographic negative, and 1 photo album. The photo album (52 pages) contains snapshots and portraits taken primarily in and around Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, Michigan, between 1941 and 1943. Most pictures depict soldiers, young women, and a baby. Other scenes include St. Petersburg, Florida; Niagara Falls; and the United States Capitol.

The Printed items and ephemera series contains newspaper clippings of a poem and an image of a bride, a certificate for Bob Ingram's service in the United States Crop Corps Victory Farm Volunteers program in 1945, and a booklet illustrating methods for creating shadow illustrations with one's hands.

The Realia series consists of a pair of iron ice tongs.