USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Wenham > Wenham in World War II : war service of Wenham men and women and civilian services of Wenham people > Part 24
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Department stores in nearby cities placed open receptacles for the collection of worn silk and nylon stockings.
Rummage sales provided much material for making over garments when materials like cotton, shoes and warm coating were impossible to buy.
At these sales, shoes, teakettles as well as clocks and electric toasters and zippers were salvaged by those clever in repair work. Oftentimes the new-born baby was well equipped by the store of hoarded baby clothes of a past generation.
After salvage as a war measure was discontinued, household wastes continued to be needed for peace-time industry. The critical short- ages of war time became the critical shortages of peace time, and the people were urged to undertake the collections.
Various organizations undertook the collection of paper for their own benefit.
American Legion Auxiliary (2 collections ) $107.82
Boy Scouts-by the use of private trucks loaned by Jacob Barnes, A. W. Dodge and James R. Reynolds made the following collections :
June 1946
$110.54
October 1946
109.81
February 1947
146.21
366.56
Young People's Fellowship-Baptist church
April 1947 60.00
The price of paper has risen from $15.00 a ton to $22.00 in the post-war period, and at this date, April 1947, has dropped to $12.00 a ton.
Since April the collections have been for the benefit of the Boy Scouts, private trucks being loaned for the collections.
In all rural areas of the United States, school children were asked
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to collect milkweed pods, (Asclepias Syriaca), to relieve the shortage of Kapok-and particularly for the making of life jackets; the in- sulating qualities of the milkweed floss were found to be better adapted to life jackets than Kapok; separating the floss from the seed was prohibitive, until the milkweed gin was developed by Berkman.
The children of the Wenham schools collected a goodly amount which was shipped to the Midwest plant for preparation.
FOOD PRODUCTION
Increasing food production, as part of a home defense program, was undertaken by individuals some time before a State program was inaugurated.
Miss Helen Frick at the "Iron Rail" started a course in Defense Farming in the summer of 1941, which was continued through the summer of 1942. The outline of this course was made by the Lothorp School, and was especially for women, who might thus prepare themselves for actual farming. Miss Frick secured the best teachers, and offered the course to any who might wish to under- take it. Mrs. Horace Killam, Mrs. Ray Knowlton and Mrs. Edward B. Cole were enrolled from Wenham.
Early in 1942 the need for increase in food production became more vital, and a campaign was undertaken by the State. Governor Saltonstall appointed a Home Garden Committee, November 16, 1942. Director Mostrom of the Essex County Agricultural School was on that committee, and directed the Food Production and Pre- servation program in Essex County. The local chairman was Philip Horton Smith, who had for 12 years served as President of the Garden Club, with Mrs. William H. Coolidge, secretary, and a com- mittee comprising George Preston from the Grange, Mrs. Bessie Preston Cutler from the Garden Club, George Sprague, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Sanford of Hamilton.
Under this committee a questionnaire was distributed and pledges were received from 276 householders to grow gardens, to can, and in- crease production as far as possible. That this pledge was more than fulfilled, is shown by the doubling of production in the year
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1943. In round numbers the 200 home gardens became 400, pantry shelves were filled with a winter supply and a surplus for hospitals and local needs. In '43 the 6,000 chicks were doubled to 12,000, the 22 pigs to 40. The Victory Garden committee was also active in supplying demonstrations in canning, in growing, and in the newer methods of preserving foods.
An attempt was made by the committee to secure a freezing plant for this community. Lacking financial support and a suitable loca- tion, the efforts of the committee were diverted to Beverly, the next best available location, where it was established.
The Hamilton and Wenham Garden Club ran a series of Garden Club meetings from Pearl Harbor through the growing season of '44 to stimulate and help the production and conservation of food. This group also put on two vegetable and flower shows, during this period, which were judged to be the best in the county. The Garden Club also shared the responsibility of all garden clubs, in furnish- ing at stated intervals flowers for Bedford Hospital.
The Victory Garden production taken by itself, made a record, producing 486,000 pounds of food in Wenham, compared to 814,178 pounds produced commercially.
Commercial growers were faced with labor shortage, which being seasonal, was a keener handicap. Labor shortage was met by longer hours and by employment of boys and women.
The 150-tree apple orchard of Edward H. Osgood is an example. The pruning and spraying of this orchard was done by one man, Stephen Cross of Wenham, in addition to all his other farm work. In 1942-1945 he had the vacation help of the teen-age son W. B. Osgood. In 1942 over 100 bushels of MacIntosh apples were sent to an Army camp. The bulk of the crop was sold wholesale, averag- ing yearly 800 to 1000 bushels. The picking and grading of this crop was done largely by young boys and young married women from Wenham and nearby towns.
In 1943 several people in Wenham took part in the effort to raise herbs, formerly imported. In a New England drive to raise sage, Wenham took a very real part, not only by raising, but by assisting others to raise and market their product. Miss Ruth Torrey, Mrs. E. L. Mitchell, Mrs. Edward B. Cole and Mrs. William H. Coolidge were of those responsible for raising and marketing 18,000 pounds of dried sage.
Seeds of scarce drugs were also a contribution of this group. There was a good planting of belladonna and digitalis which harvested
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several pounds of seed. This seed was distributed to the West Coast and Canada where the drug plants could be grown more pro- fitably. Seeds were asked for and sent to Russia, Peru and Eng- land. With the exception of raising the seedlings which was done under the expert supervision of Alfred E. Rogers of Wenham, all labor on this project was done by women.
This group also added a bit of plant research in an experimental planting of Ramie, a source of fibre, and of the Russian dandelion, a possible source of rubber. This planting supplied valuable data to other parts of the country and restrained many enthusiasts from embarking on an expensive and useless effort in this New England climate.
In addition to these wartime organizations, the County Advisory Council, Extension Service, of which Mrs. C. Arthur Leach was representative in Wenham, carried on their regular extension work. The preservation of food by canning was specially emphasized, both by instruction in classes and by telephone, as well as in the homes.
WENHAM BOYS AND GIRLS IN WORLD WAR II
A great influence in the lives of the boys was certainly their posi- tion in substituting for the dearth of labor; these youngsters, with- out experience or even manpower, worked on the highway, spreading sand or shoveling snow for the town, took men's places in seasonal work-and in most cases had a man's pay. It was a question of supply and demand, but difficult to understand as the boy grows to manhood, and remembers the war time scale of wages of his youth. This certainly was not the fault of the boy, but of a condition; the lad's sense of proportion was upset, his ego inflated. The adjust- ment in peace time is not easy.
Boys were also enrolled in volunteer work. Albert Dodge who organized the boys' courier service thus writes of this service in Civilian Defense : "Like all organizations with many integral parts, quick communication to one another is necessary. The Wenham Civilian Defense was no exception, and the Wenham Boy Scouts were called upon to help with the idea that in case of attack or some other disaster when telephone and radio communication might
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be made useless, the Boy Scouts, under adult leadership, could set up a simple and effective system of messenger service whereby all Dis- trict Wardens were in constant touch with central headquarters. In all test air raids the Boy Scouts manned their posts more than 90% and did a very creditable job since they knew all the back roads and by-paths thoroughly."
Some of the boys who took part in this courier service were Allan and Alton Armington, Donald Dodge, Richard Lindsley, Sidney Lindsley, Alistair Gouzie, Arthur Landers, Robert Richard, Philip Richard, Frank Tarr and Clayton Summit.
The Boy Scouts also donated to the medical center the use of their camping equipment which was earned through their own efforts in several paper drives. Many of the older Boy Scouts likewise vol- unteered for spotter duty at the Aircraft Warning Center, and many of them had several hundred hours to their credit.
The lives of the boys and girls in Wenham were much influenced by the war; in school, history and geography had a new meaning, pupils became more enthusiastic letter writers, and at Christmas, Valentine and Easter time, learned to think beyond their small group, to the armed forces scattered over the world.
In 1943, the Tercentenary number of the school magazine, the "Breeze," was thus dedicated: "The boys and girls of Wenham Junior High School, dedicate this issue of the Breeze to the Wen- ham boys who are making sacrifices to bring about peace."
In 1944, the "Breeze" was dedicated to the memory of Lieut. James Ginty and Cpl. William Trowt, two boys of the class of 1930 who had made the supreme sacrifice.
In 1945, the "Breeze" was dedicated to Carl Campbell, another former pupil who gave his life for his country.
Miss Hazel Bullis, teacher of English at the Center School, thus writes of the war-time activities of the school :
"While our Wenham men and women were serving their country on the war front, the boys and girls at Center School were just as loyally serving their country on the home front.
"Realizing how much mail means to boys and girls away from home, many for the first time, we undertook a letter-writing project early in the war and repeated it at intervals. Every pupil in our Junior High worked to make his letter both entertaining and 'newsy.' It is difficult to say who received the more enjoyment from this project, the ones who received the letters or the children when they received their replies, which always came promptly.
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"Early in the fall of 1942 the seventh and eighth graders began our war-time activities by bringing articles that would be suitable to send to a serviceman. The children responded whole-heartedly and brought all manner of articles, from razor blades to jars of jam. They then decided that they would like to send their box to some person who had attended Center School. Therefore, the name of each former student in service was put into a hat, and since there were more than enough articles for one box, two names were drawn. The first was that of Nelson Bagnell, the second that of Frank Pews. Each box weighed over 25 pounds, and both boys expressed their gratitude for the kind thought from Center School.
"Perhaps the project that created the greatest enthusiasm was that of our being asked to help supply Christmas gifts for 400 boys on a navy transport. Center School came through in a most gen- erous manner, and we were able to furnish 169 attractively wrapped Christmas packages. The next year the children responded again with 114 Christmas gifts to make the season a happier one for service men, many of whom replied to individual children whose names had been on the gift tags.
"In addition, each year that the American Legion sent Christmas gifts to the Wenham service men and women, the pupils of the seventh and eighth grades always made a generous contribution to the fund, often out of their own weekly allowances.
"The projects I have described thus far were all carried out independently of and in addition to our Red Cross activities. Each month two pupils attended the monthly meeting of the Junior Red Cross in Beverly. They would return with a report of what things were needed and we would set to work to meet these needs. Miss Ruth Travers our fifth and sixth grade teacher at that time, was the chairman of all our Red Cross work, and her splendid leadership was much appreciated.
"These Red Cross projects were many and varied. In the Art classes the boys and girls made hundreds of favors and decorated paper napkins to be used at the Cushing Hospital at holiday time. We were called on to collect canes, victrolas, records, musical instru- ments, yarn, clothing, books, coat hangers and broom sticks, plus all kinds of games until at times our school more nearly resembled a shop than a place of learning. Many pupils learned to knit. Afghans were needed in the veterans' hospitals and we set to work. Not only were the girls interested but the boys asked to be taught. Whenever a pupil's school-work was satisfactorily completed he was
FIRE DEPARTMENT TRAINING BOY SCOUTS IN FIRE FIGHTING
BOY SCOUT FIRE FIGHTING UNIT
HN3M
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permitted to knit until the next class met. The results were satisfy- ing and we turned in three very gay afghans. Also while the war lasted, the pupils who took part in the annual school play contri- buted to the Red Cross a substantial sum from their proceeds.
"Like all other schools, Center School conducted a war-time sav- ings campaign. Miss Mary Pomeroy and Mr. Harlton Burr had charge of the sale of Defense Stamps and Bonds at different times. Since we were allowed to fly the Minute Man Flag over our school only if 90% of all the pupils purchased stamps, there was always a great rivalry among the different rooms. During the war our sales amounted to several thousand dollars.
"The only member of our staff at Center School to enter the service was Miss Florence Stobbart, our school nurse, and we are all justly proud of her record."
BOY SCOUT FIRE FIGHTING UNIT
During World War II the younger men of the town tried to take the place of the men who had gone into the service. As a group, the Boy Scouts of Wenham wanted to do their part and formed an Auxiliary Fire Department.
Through the efforts of Chief Frank Sargent of the local Fire De- partment and Mr. Allan Frost of the State Forest Fire Wardens, the boys were given a twenty-hour period of instruction in the tactics used in fighting fires. Demonstrations of various types of imple- ments used were shown.
The names of the boys who, under the direction of the Scout- master Harlton F. Burr, took part in this service, were: Allan Armington, Alton Armington, Donald Dodge, John Donovan, Alistair Gouzie, Arthur Landers, Richard Lindsley, James McGee, Arthur Richard, Robert Richard, Clayton Summit, Frank Tarr and Russell Todd.
The Scouts, with material supplied by the Wenham Fire Depart- ment, built a carrier for a trailer which contained five Indian tanks, buckets, shovels, brooms, axe, and a tank of water. This carrier was stationed across the street from the fire house in the barn belonging to Mr. Ralph Perkins. Many times when the whistle blew, this unit was ready to follow the last truck.
This trailer proved its worth especially during the day when many of the members of the Department were at work out of town. The
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training the boys had received made it possible for them to go ahead on their own and assist at a fire.
There was little trouble in getting the necessary number of boys as arrangements were made with the school officials giving permis- sion for the boys to leave school in case of fire.
GIRLS' ACTIVITIES
Girl Scouts assisted in the aluminum drive which took place on July 22, 1941.
Girl Scouts assisted in collecting waste fats.
Brownies made an afghan.
High school girls worked with the Victory Corps in Beverly High School by joining letter-writing groups (writing to servicemen and women), and making Red Cross bandages, etc. during school hours.
Some girls were sitters while mothers worked in defense plants.
Other girls relieved their own mothers and other mothers so that they could take part in Civilian Defense work on canteen, spotting tower and report center.
Other girls worked occasionally on the spotting tower and the report center.
Girls in Commercial courses at High School were drafted into offices in Beverly and surrounding places for work after school and during vacations to relieve shortages and assist in the extra work due to defense work. Jean Mitchell, Barbara Jones, and Dorothy Bradley were drafted into offices in Beverly. Ruth Hale worked at Sylvania in Ipswich, and Blanche Dodge at the chemical laboratory of Sylvania in Salem.
In 1943 the Girl Scouts made a quota for themselves and sold War Stamps, an amount sufficient to clothe a soldier, sailor and a marine ($407.29).
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Personal Records of Those in Civilian Services
CIVILIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WAR EFFORT BY WENHAM PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF WENHAM
Wenham is primarily a residential town, and a certain proportion of our citizens live here only a part of the year, thereby having a divided responsibility in civic matters. It seems only fair to men- tion the contributions of these citizens to the war effort, though not carried on in Wenham but by our own people, many of whom being men and women of affairs, were asked to assume large responsibili- ties both in the national and state government.
JOHN SINGLETON AMORY joined the American Red Cross in July 1943. He was sent to the American University in Washing- ton, D. C. and then to Fort Dix, N. J. for training. His first assign- ment was at Camp Shanks, N. Y., a port of embarkation, as Asst. Field Director. In January, 1944 he applied for overseas duty and in February was ordered to report to Washington for briefing.
His first overseas assignment was as Asst. Field Director at a Field Hospital in Guadalcanal in March. After six weeks the hos- pital was ordered moved to Green Island and he was assigned to the 182d Infantry as Asst. Field Director. The regiment was a part of the Americal Division formed in New Caledonia and the only division not designated by number.
In January 1945 he moved with the Division to Leyte in the Philippines where shortly after he was transferred to the Eighth Army Headquarters in the position of Asst. Supervisor. Here his duties included handling case work for men in units attached to the Eighth Army, tracing prisoners of war that had been liberated, and endeavoring to beg, borrow or steal supplies for men in units at- tached to the Eighth Army.
In May 1945 he applied for leave to return to the States because of illness in his family.
He resigned from the Red Cross in June 1945 after two years' service.
American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
FREDERICK AYER was named assistant to the chairman of the Massachusetts Committee of Public Safety, and was engaged for one and one-half years in the difficult task of trying to work out a civilian defense program, practical and workable.
FREDERICK AYER, JR. entered on duty as a Special Agent of the F.B.I. on August 25, 1941 and worked mainly on counterespionage
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and countersabotage work in Washington, Cincinnati, and Boston.
In March of 1944 he was called to Washington and briefed for a special mission to Europe and went overseas in August. There he was attached to Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces and worked in France and Germany with the counter-intelli- gence branch. His work consisted of correlating intelligence cases in Europe with those handled by the F. B. I. domestically. In the course of this duty he interrogated such persons as Herman Goering and Walter Schellenberg, Chief of German Espionage.
After the fall of Germany he was transferred to the U. S. Group of the Control Council for Germany in Berlin in the Intelligence Section.
Frederick Ayer was ranked as a lieutenant colonel and received the Bronze Star.
GEORGE EDWARD BARTON served in World War I in the Royal Naval Reserve (destroyer duty) from 1914 and was released to in- active duty in 1919 with the rank of Commander, RNR.
As a retired Captain of Cunard-White Star Line, and Retired Commander, Royal Naval Reserve, George Barton was appointed, in March 1940, Cunard-White Star Marine Superintendent at Hali- fax, N. S. and St. John, N. B. and a month later was appointed Superintending Sea Transport Officer for Canada by the Transport Controller of the Canadian Government, working in conjunction with the Canadian Army, Navy and Air Force.
His work consisted of supervising the upkeep and dispatch of Troop Transports, Hospital Ships, and Government freight, provid- ing AA (Anti-aircraft) protection when possible (a difficult job in the early days, when sufficient "protection" was hard to come by), loading and unloading ships, and health measures such as fumigation.
In November 1941, before the United States had entered the war, George Barton transferred 20,000 men who arrived from England on British transports, to six American transports including the USS West Point and USS Wakefield. (For an account of what happened to these ships, see the reports of James Cummings and George Sar- gent. )
The Canadian people had been promised that Canadian troops should not be sent to foreign lands. Therefore, 20,000 Canadians were embarked on the empty British transports and sent to Eng- land, while the English troops on American transports were sent out to attempt to relieve Singapore. George Barton effected the
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transfers and provisioned the British transports for ships' personnel and troops for 10 weeks thus avoiding their having to be re-stored in England.
He was forced to retire in April 1944 on account of ill health.
The Reserve Decoration
1914 Star
Naval General Service Medal
World War I Victory Medal
F. BURNHAM CHAPMAN served during the period of the war in- stalling new production systems in various defense plants and intro- ducing methods to speed up the output.
MRS. F. BURNHAM CHAPMAN (Eleanor Coolidge) served in the Red Cross Motor Corps attached to headquarters, Nassau County, Long Island. She also served as Chairman of the Speakers' Bureau of the Office of Civilian Defense, New York City.
E. T. GREGORY, JR. was a supervisor at Wolf Creek Ordnance Plant from 1940 to end of the war.
F. L. HIGGINSON was Director of the Massachusetts Division of Services and Supplies.
RUPERT BALLOU LILLIE. As a part of the preparatory program for inductees in the Army Air Corps, Franklin Technical School of Boston conducted a school for engineering instruction in map read- ing and map construction. Rupert Lillie was one of the instructors in these two subjects, and also taught surveying, drafting, and in- terpretation of aerial photographs. After engineering instruction was discontinued in private schools by the Army, Rupert Lillie con- tinued with map work at Chester, Vermont, doing cartographic work for the Army Map Service. Strategic areas in different parts of the globe were compiled, drafted and edited; his work consisted of checking the maps for specifications and drafting preliminary to forwarding to the printer.
MRS. EDWARD H. OSGOOD, after taking courses in First Aid, Nutrition, Canteen and Home Nursing, was a Red Cross volunteer in Boston during a four-year period, 1942-1946.
During this period she was on 24-hour call. Mrs. Osgood, first in the fall of 1941, worked at the Stationary Canteen at Red Cross headquarters, Boston, where she helped prepare food which was served daily at noon to 150 workers.
From 1942-1946 she worked on the Mobile Canteen, serving doughnuts, milk and coffee on the docks to outgoing and incoming troops and on the trains carrying the wounded to Camp Edwards.
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At the "Buddy Club" on Boston Common which was run by the Red Cross for the U. S. O. she was in charge of the Monday night team, working from 8.30 to 11.30 P. M. Here the volunteers cooked hot-dogs, hamburgers, eggs and coffee and served frappes, ice cream and cakes.
During this four-year period, the following people from Wenham worked with her: Nancy Osgood (Mrs. Richard Perry), Mrs. Ern- est Gregory, Mrs. Benjamin E. Cole, Sally Cole (Mrs. Herbert Tuckerman), and Eleanor Cole (Mrs. John Myer).
MRS. EDWARD H. OSGOOD, JR. (Virginia Cook, Chillicothe, Ohio) served in England and on the continent for two and one-half years as Assistant Director and later, Director of the American Red Cross Clubmobile, serving for some months on the airfields adjacent to Great Wenham, England.
NANCY C. OSGOOD (Mrs. Richard Perry) was secretary to Per- sonnel at Red Cross headquarters 1944-1945, and hostess at Officers' Club, 1942-1943.
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