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LETTER #6
AMERICAN
Y.M.C.A.
ON ACTIVE SERVICE
WITH
AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES.
[July 13] Saturday 19-sometime
G. Sweetheart:-
We are at a rest camp in England for a
while after quite a tedious journey that
was continuous from the moment we
left camp in America. Last night or
rather 3.30 A.M. today when we got off
the train at the town near here someone
asked a kid where this place was
and he said "Kutie June." As yet I have
seen no namesakes. However things
here are quite different and now
we can appreciate better what we
had at Camp Devens. You realize
that they are at war here some-
what better than it is possible to do
in America. I have not had my clothes
off for 60 hours now and tonight
I will sleep partially dressed I think.
I had about 6 hours sleep this A. M.
from 6 till 12. It was daylight
by the time we got to camp. We landed
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After a choppy but uneventful crossing, Edward Wirt and his unit arrived in England in mid-July of 1918. Life in Great Britain during the war was difficult. Because of the effectiveness of German submarine warfare, which drastically cut Britain's supplies of food and fuel, and the need to support a huge army in France, the British public underwent severe rationing. Wirt also notices the lack of men. Britain fielded an army that took far more men per capita than the United States, and its losses were enormous: more than 3 million men were killed or wounded. In contrast, the United States lost 321,000 killed or wounded.
There are ninety letters from Mr. Wirt to Miss Bartlett in the PVMA collection; twelve of them are reproduced here.
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WWI letter to Emily Gladys Bartlett
author Edward Roswell Wirt (1891-1942) |
date Jul 13, 1918 |
location England |
width 6.0" |
height 9.0" |
process/materials manuscript, paper, ink |
item type Personal Documents/Letter |
accession # #L01.014 |
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