Winsor War Notes-Luther Snow Winsor's WW II experiences

Watch for Lu's binoculars in many of his photos. They might be his best used acquisition from the war.  This mimeographed newsletter is an interesting view into the voyage home. 

We can see by this envelope that the letter didn't catch up with Lu until he was back at home in Utah.  Teheran Nov. 4 1945 It is probable that you are already on your way home so this will not reach you-Anyway I'm sending a few lines just to say that I have returned safely from a long and somewhat hazardous trip. I find 3 letters from you-one written in July one in Aug and one on Oct. 15- Last one came thru in good time- Anyway I'm surely glad to get your letters even tho they have been on way so long-and I appreciate more than I can tell your expressions of affection and confidence- It is this love and faith that keeps me going when otherwise I should be discouraged and maybe give up- All being well I may see you before this reaches you-so I'll just stop here- If by any chance you are still there you can try again to reach me thru APO 523 c/o American Embassy--- Mean time my boy please avoid thinking about army problems, brass hat maneuvers etc.- I know ...

What do you do with thousands of service men all day-the army answer-set them to digging ditches!

Chow time instructions and line up. Those may be some wash stands out in the open too, with puddles around them and an extra layer of gravel laid down to keep the mud in check.  Marilu: This looks like a big camp set up to handle large numbers of troops to house and feed until the time comes to load them onto their ships. The mood must have been relaxed and elated as the wheels were now in motion for a return to civilian life and loved ones at home. According to a letter posted earlier in this blog, This was probably Camp Boston and Lu and many others were here for over a month waiting to move to an area to board a ship. Cliff Hope in his book talks about his returning home experience:"20 November: Then began a dismal, four-day ride in a truck convoy to the Calas Staging Area near Marseilles. The stops were few and far between. We arrived at the Calas staging area, a desolate-looking place....We were in unlighted, winterized tents. The 13 days we spent waiting were the u...

 Marilu: Lu gave no notes or explanation of this series of photos or the events they represent, but they were at the end of the scrapbook and secured onto the page in a certain order, so we will have to speculate about what they might be. There are no dates, but this must have been late October. He put the train photos on first and the cars are labelled 'Allied Forces' which you wouldn't see in the US, and he places them before the camp and ship photos. My guess is that he and his group got their orders to ship out back home and were taken by train from where they were serving, possibly in Bensheim.