Loose Lips Sink Ships

For men and women deployed during World War II, mail was an important morale boost. Letters from home were a brief escape from the stress and dangers military and civilian personnel experienced daily. The Ann Ingersoll Townsend Simpson papers are full of correspondence to and from her while she was serving in the China Burma India (CBI) Theater. Ann, who was referred to as “Nancy,” volunteered for the American Red Cross Military Service in early 1942, and after completing her training was assigned to the 20^th General Hospital that May as the unit began its training at Camp Claiborne, L.A. The unit would be deployed in early 1943, sailing for India from California by way of Australia and New Zealand. The 20^th General was stationed along the Ledo Road in Assam for the duration of the war. Ann would stay with the 20^th General until 1945 when she was transferred to the 95th Station Hospital in Kunming, China. While the contents of the letters document Ann’s experience in the CBI Theater, they also document the experience of wartime correspondence traveling between home and the front lines.

While the U.S. Government encouraged writing to those serving, it was important to make sure that letters did not contain information that could compromise the war effort by providing details (such as unit movements, troop strength or availability of supplies) that could prove useful to the Axis powers. To that end, all correspondence to and from to those serving was censored. In fact, the first piece of correspondence that Ann sent to her parents after arriving at Camp Claiborne was a boiler plate form announcing her arrival, and providing them with her military mailing address. The letter also advised the recipient not to provide any information on the movement of destination of the unit.

Each letter sent to or from someone overseas was opened by military censors and reviewed. Afterwards, the envelope was resealed and stamped with the number of the censor indicating it had passed inspection.

Letters could be sent back or redacted by the censors. One letter from Ann to her parents was redacted in several places to remove sensitive information.

Letters in theater were also subject to censor review. In a 1943 April 13 letter from Lt. George W. Bachman, he notes to Ann that his letter from March 29^th had been returned as it contained, “… vital information regarding installations, duties, movements, etc.” Which is interesting as on a number of letters Ann sent home Bachman’s name appears on the envelopes as the censor.

In addition to the censor stamps, many of Ann’s letters home were annotated by a family member to indicate the time it took to arrive. With a letter taking anywhere from 13 to 32 days.

The Simpson papers also contains examples of V-Mail. Introduced on 1942 June 15 V-Mail consisted of special stationary that contained space on one side for a message, with sending instructions on the other. Once the letter was received at a processing facility, and automated system opened the letters, and microfilmed them at a rate of 2,500 an hour. About 1,600 letters could fit on a single roll, thus reducing the weight and space needed, freeing up space for essential military cargo. The microfilm was then sent to a facility near its destination where it would be reproduced as a 4×5 inch photograph and sent to the addressee in a specially designed envelope. V-mail typically arrived faster as it could be sent by plane, and was less likely to be lost as letters received a serial number and the film was not destroyed until it was assured it had reached its destination.

This is just a fraction of the information contained in the correspondence of the Ann Simpson papers. Beyond how letters were handled during World War II, the contents of the letters document the thoughts and experiences of Ann, her friend and family during this period of American History.

For more on mail and World War II, visit the online exhibits at the U.S. Postal Service, the Postal Museum on victory mail and letter writing, and the National World War II Museum.