Hi everyone,

There is an interesting question on the French PC forum: Link (http)
Private Joseph S. Childs from NY City sent a postcard in April 43, from a French-speaking place, by a well-known French publisher, but with any reference to the location erased by the US Army (for secrecy reasons, I presume).
What remains visible is not really helpful as "Banque de ... - Boulevard de la République" can be found in thousands of French-speaking places.
Given the year, I don't believe it can be anywhere but in Northern Africa.

There seems to be some information below the private's name, is that his corps? Was 33238796 his regimental number? Is it possible to figure his whereabouts from this information?

Thanks for any help!
Manu

bonsoir cousin manny,

no, this was most likely his serial number that followed his rank and name. as this was a censored post card, it would not have had the regiment's number on it for security reasons. remember, enemy eyes were looking everywhere. why his serial number was allowed is beyond me, but i guess it was ok by the geneva convention. after all, back then if one was captured as a prisoner, all he was obligated to give was his name, rank, and serial number. i should know as i was trained by the army to do the same thing. hope this helps. by the by, it looks as if the post card was one of convenience from a french bank found and used by the soldier.

amities,
cajunsr.

bonsoir cousin manny,

no, this was most likely his serial number that followed his rank and name. as this was a censored post card, it would not have had the regiment's number on it for security reasons. remember, enemy eyes were looking everywhere. why his serial number was allowed is beyond me, but i guess it was ok by the geneva convention. after all, back then if one was captured as a prisoner, all he was obligated to give was his name, rank, and serial number. i should know as i was trained by the army to do the same thing. hope this helps. by the by, it looks as if the post card was one of convenience from a french bank found and used by the soldier.

amities,
cajunsr.

p.s. - i agree, given the year i believe the card originated in north africa. sicily would not have been an option until after july 10, 1943.

Link (http)

Well there might be some information there after all.
Someone just wrote that APO 700 is the code for US Army post-office in Oran, Algeria.
There are other examples of this: Link (http) , Link (http) , Link (http) , Link (http) (sorry, that's where it's at!)
On these it's clear that a regiment (is that the right word?) is indicated, but in initials which are a mystery to me (except one: 51st Military Police Co)
So I guess what I think I can read should make sense:

Btry K505 C.a.a.a.

Problem: can't find a bank postcard from Oran (or Algeria) that would fit...

Well there might be some information there after all.
Someone just wrote that APO 700 is the code for US Army post-office in Oran, Algeria.
There are other examples of this: Link (http) , Link (http) , Link (http) , Link (http) (sorry, that's where it's at!)
On these it's clear that a regiment (is that the right word?) is indicated, but in initials which are a mystery to me (except one: 51st Military Police Co)
So I guess what I think I can read should make sense:

Btry K505 C.a.a.a.

Problem: can't find a bank postcard from Oran (or Algeria) that would fit...

Well there might be some information there after all.
Someone just wrote that APO 700 is the code for US Army post-office in Oran, Algeria.
There are other examples of this: Link (http) , Link (http) , Link (http) , Link (http) (sorry, that's where it's at!)
On these it's clear that a regiment (is that the right word?) is indicated, but in initials which are a mystery to me (except one: 51st Military Police Co)
So I guess what I think I can read should make sense:

Btry K505 C.a.a.a.

Problem: can't find a bank postcard from Oran (or Algeria) that would fit...

bonsoir cousin manny,

yes, i missed this as well, that was his unit. i think he was in the artillery battalion. and certainly many existed along with the armor then. my dad would have been in north africa if he had not fallen ill with pneumonia. his buddies left without him and dad lost a good frenchie acadian friend there. it was the reason he stayed in the army, then the air force for the rest of his life until he died in 1968, 2 short years before his retirement. he would have served 30 years. i was in the army at the time. and ended up in vietnam 8 months later, only to be wounded myself within 2 months. dad watched over me that day, and kept me alive. he did the same for my son in iraq. thankfully, jr. was not wounded. thank you dad.

amities,
bill.


dad and jr.

Thanks!

Cousin Michel 'Gepetto' from Belgium found the place: Sidi-bel-Abbès, Algeria Link (http)
Still got to find the bank's name though...

I thankfully have no experience of war myself, but finding all those WW1 PCs from soldiers writing home, and doing a little research to just begin to understand what they actually went through, I do feel some awe and respect.

Time for bed now!
Bye,
Manu

bonsoir cousin manny,

if one was to read these letters from the soldiers, perhaps the wars would end.

un bon sommeil à vous.

bonne nuit,
cajunsr.

I can help with this

The serial number tells you nothing about the soldier except that the first number "3" indicates he was a draftee.

The APO's can be either assigned to a unit, or to a location.

The number of the censors stamp in the oval between the "US" is the number of the stanp given to the officer censoring it. You can.t tell anything from this as no registry of those numbers is known.

Looking at the return address I can see why it may be confusing.

he is in Battery K, of the 505th coastal anti-aircraft artillery

AAA units were taken from the Coast artillery, and it is not common for the "C" to be used in the name. It is also highly unusual to have a Battery K- meaning more batteries han a standard battalion.

I looked at a master list of all WW2 US units and there was a 505th Coast artillery regiment, of which the 3rd battalion (only) served in Salerno. and was in fcat cited for actions on 9-10 sept 1943. Which means it almsot certainlt staged from N Africa.

I might guess that the 505th CAAA was broken down into battalions soon after, as were all such reginments. The 505th AAA Bn (which was probably one of three Bn's formed from them) went on to serve in the Ryukus in the PAcific later on.

I can look up some info on the guy himself, where he came from when drafted if you care at all.


Jon Gawne
(collecting WW1 Bocher red cross cards.