Letter #54 from Wilbur C Garner 19 December 1944

In the text of the letter below I have highlighted my Dad's (Bill's) words "Tanks a lot." It is hard to believe he maintained a sense of humor through those difficult days but he seemed to have managed. He, in his letters to Mary, never misspelled "Thanks a lot" when letting Mary know how much he appreciated her gifts and letters. Therefore, I believe he was letting her know about his situation, during the time when  fighting had escalated and drawn near, with a wit that would pass the Censors....I smiled when I read that sentence, knowing how Dad (Bill), exhibited his sense of humor when I was growing up.

 

Planning for the drive across the Roer was well under way in the Corps when the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes forced a postponement, and finally a change in the defensive for the first time since the Corps had come into action in Europe. With the first deep penetrations toward the Muese by the German Sixth SS and Fifth Panzer Armies, the XIX Corps sector formed a deep salient into the German homeland. There was acute danger of an attack on the Corps north flank by the Germans through Sittard toward Maastricht to join the other prong which Rundstedt was pushing North through Eupen and Malmedy. The 30th Division was withdrawn from our front to hurry to Malmedy to hold off the German threat there. In the most critical days of the battle, this great division met and smashed the 1st SS Panzer Division. Some days later the famous 2nd Armored followed, to the western end of the "Bulge" where it met and almost completely destroyed the powerful German 2nd Panzer Division. Other elements of the XIX Corps stood fast, and prepared defensive plans for any eventuality, inspiring confidence in the civilians of that part of Holland occupied by our rear elements, that we would not desert them to fall again into the hands of the Germans.

(Text: Captain Fredric E. Pamp Jr (Public Relations Officer XIX Corps 1945)

S/Sgt. Wilbur C. Garner, 33377578
G-1 Section, Hq XIX Corps
APO 270, c/o Postmaster, N.Y.

Mary W.Garner, SK2c
Supply Department
U.S. Naval Air Station
Minneapolis, 6, Minnesota

U.S.A. "Somewhere in Holland"
19 December 1944

Dear Sis,

Howdy pardner! Packages galore. Well, your packages mailed in September are just starting to come through. I've received about 2 from you and one from Mother & Dad and one from Bernard & Jane. Thanks a lot for that soap dish. I needed one of those but never thought to ask in any of my letters. It is a nice large dish too. Thanks for all of it, Sis. Boy you surely are knocking a hole in your pocketbook. You'd better take it easy.

I received a letter from Gwen yesterday dated 6th Dec. She is still feeling fine and anxiously looking forward to February.
Haven't had much mail from home lately. I guess everything is OK. 

Well, in another couple of days you'll be heading for good old Baltimore, well, I envy you but am very glad you were able to get a furlough home. I know it will mean an awful lot to Mother & Dad and it will at least keep their mind occupied. Here's hoping we can all be home for next Christmas. I'm certain Gwen will be there by that time.

There isn't much news right now. I just hope I'll be able to sleep tonight. A little rough the last two nights.
I got a letter from Mrs. Bell the other day and it seems as though she is going to be operated on. I hope it turns out OK. I guess you'll already know how she is doing by the time you get this letter.
Incidentally, Sis, Thanks for that cheese. I can always eat cheese. Tanks a lot.
 
Have you heard anything from Souil lately? I'm wondering how they are. Pretty lucky to be spending the winter in Florida. It will be much warmer than Indianapolis was last year.
Well, I'll close for now and hope to hear from you soon again.

Lots of Love and Luck
Bill

P.S. How is Henri?
Have you heard from him lately? You really goofed off by writing me his letter. Ha! ha! Keeping things from me Huh? Let me in on the dope. So long for now.

Letter #53 from Wilbur C Garner 15 December 1944

December 16-27, 1944  Battle of The Bulge in the Ardennes

Part of the Prisoner of War Interrogation team at Corps had been attached to the 113th Cavalry near Sittard when we were getting ready to hit for the Roer. The officer with them was on his way to his old home, with a good escort of the American Army: Lt. Ernest Kaufman had grown up just on the other side of the Roer, in a little town just south of Duren. Just before he had been forced to leave Germany in '38 all the countryside had known about the great new dams that were being built in the wooded area up the Roer. He came and talked about it to Colonel Washington Platt, the G-2, who sent him to First Army with the urgent advice to listen to him. The Army Engineer did, and it was news to him. Lt. Kaufman was among the first into Aachen, and made for where he knew the information would be: the offices of Water Administration. He had to blow a safe to get them, but there they were - the complete Wehrmacht plans for the flooding that would follow the destruction of the three great dams, with the delineation of the area to be flooded, the speed of water, the duration of the flooding and all. Now the Army was really interested, and we could see the results in the way the plans were laid. It was then, on the 16th of December, that the Ardennes offensive of von Rundstedt struck, and forced a postponement of three months in all our plans. The Corps moved south of Aachen and took over the divisions formerly under VII Corps: the 104th, the 78th, and the 8th. There with a Command Post in an old monastery in Kornelimunster, the Corps held the north shoulder of the "Bulge", rebuffed German patrols, and later pushed forward toward the big dams on the fronts of the 78th and 8th Divisions.

S/Sergent Wilbur C. Garner. 33377578
G-1 section, Hq XIX Corps
APO 270, c/o Postmaster, N.Y.

Mary W. Garner, Sk2c
Supply Department
U.S. Naval Air Station
Minneapolis, 6, Minnesota

"Somewhere in Holland"
15 December 1944

Dear Mary,

Howdy, Sis! I received two letters from you yesterday dated 9th and 12th November. It's about time I was hearing from you once more. The mail has been lousy going and coming lately. Did you ever receive that small bottle of perfume from Paris that I sent you? I hope it hasn't gone astray. 

So you think Gwen is a good luck charm for me. I wonder what makes you feel that way. Gwen is a wonderful girl and will really make a good mother & wife. Incidentally she hates smoking and drinking. I think maybe that is something else that made me like her so much.
Don't worry about not being able to send her anything more than you have. I hope to be able to get Gwen to the States about April or may of next year. Of course, a lot depends upon how strong the baby is and whether or not Gwen feels like she can make the trip. The sooner the better, I figure. She'll be much happier, too. If you have anything you want to send her, send it to me, I'll see that she gets it.

Hey you dummy, that insignia I sent you is mine (XIX CORPS). Here is a paper clipping you may be interested in. Ops! Excuse me. I sent the last one I had to Mother.

So you think I'm going to let you spoil my child, huh?
Not on your life. You probably won't pay any attention to mine if Jane has twins. I wouldn't like that. One at a time goes further. I guess they'll all be spoiled. I haven't seen any children around that home that didn't become spoiled. We'll see.
I had a letter from Gwen day before yesterday dated 5th December and she is still feeling fine. I feel certain everything will be OK with her.

I haven't heard from Souil & Harriet for sometime but I guess she is OK. Harriet was very fortunate to get a job right next door to where Souil works. I hope she'll decide to stay with him for the duration or as long as he remains in the States.

Well, Sis, there is not much more news now so I guess I'll be signing off. So long and take care of yourself I hope you had a nice Christmas at home "Lucky".

Lots of Love from Gwen and Me,
Bill
P.S. Can you get any cheese up that way?

Letter #49 from WIlbur C Garner 7 December 1944

S/Sergent Wilbur C. Garner, 33377578
G-1 Section, Hq XIX Corps
APO 270, U.S. Army 

Miss Mary W. Garner
2425 Calverton Heights Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 16
U.S.A. 

Christmas Greetings written from Bill to Mary, addressed to their parents home in Baltimore, as Bill expected Mary to be home on leave for the holidays. On a card designed by one of the members of the 62nd. Engr. Topogaphical Co., Mac Millan, he simply wrote Bill and Gwen

The printed information inside the card reads as follows:

XIX CORPS. U.S. ARMY
CROSSING THE MEUSE RIVER AT MAASTRICHT, HOLLAND
The Meuse River was the last obstacle between us and Germany.
Maastricht is the oldest town in Holland. It,like Trier, was an outpost of the Roman Empire. On the site of a Roman wooden bridge, "ponsMosae", the foundations of the present "Massbrug" were laid in 1280, it was restored in 1683; altered in 1932, destroyed by the Dutch Army on May 10, 1940 to slow up the German advance; repaired in 1942; blown up by the Germans on 13 September 1944; and repaired as shown by XIX Corps on 30 September 1944.

The Tomahawk Insignia of the Corps was encircled by a wreath of Holly inside with a simple
"Christmas Greetings" message

Signed
Bill and Gwen

Letter #48 from Wilbur C Garner 1 December 1944

XIX Corps attacked for the line of the Roer. The enemy had had time to dig in well, and the resistance they offered was bitter. But the Divisions of the XIX Corps, working under the Corps plan, refused to hit him where he was strongest, by frontal attacks on the line of low ridges parallel to the river. The 2nd Armored lashed out northeast with crushing power, overcoming the muddy terrain and inferiority in tanks by sheer fighting guts. This attack drew most of the German armor, and the enemy threw in the best he had. Against the 2nd Armored he threw the 9th Panzer and the 15th Panzer Grenadier, but the 2nd Armored and the Corps Artillery and Tank Destroyers knocked out 118 of their tanks. As the armor flanked each ridge, the attached infantry cleaned out the Germans from its flanks. At the same time in the center the 29th drove east toward Juelich. Meanwhile the 3rd Panzer Grenadier and elements of the 116th Panzer Division smashed at our right flank where the 30th Division turned them back. By the 28th of November all three divisions were at the Roer, and the plans for crossing were begun. Higher headquarters had to hold up any such operations until possession of the Roer River dams was assured. With these dams under German control a wall of water could be sent down the Roer to wash out any crossing operations, and isolate our bridgeheads beyond rescue. So the Corps held at the Roer to wait for the dams to be taken.     (Text: Captain Fredric E. Pamp Jr (Public Relations Officer XIX Corps 1945)

                                     
S/Sergent Wilbur C. Garner, 33377578
G-1 Section, Hq XIX Corps
APO 270, c/o Postmaster, N.Y.

Mary W. Garner, SK2c
Supply Department
U.S. Naval Air Station
Minneapolis, 6, Minnesota

U.S.A. "Somewhere in Holland"
1 December 1944

Dear Sis,

How is Henri these days? I've heard tell of people getting letters mixed up but that is the first time I've experienced it. Well OK let me in on it. So you are worried about Henri. Have you heard from him yet?

I got a letter from Mother, Souil and you all dated 26th-28th of October and a letter from Gwen dated 16th Nov. Gwen is still feeling fine. I told you she expects the baby about the 8th of February. Gwen is hoping it is born on the 14th then all three of our birthdays will be on the 14th. Gwen's Birthday is 14th October. She is also hoping it is a boy. If a boy we are naming it Wilbur C. (Charles) Garner, Jr. I've suggested several names, if a girl, but we haven't decided about that yet. 

I saw the picture "Janie" last night and that was a really swell picture. I enjoyed it. It sorta took a guys mind off of the war for a few minutes.
I hear the Army-Navy game is being played in Baltimore this year. Boy I'd like to be back there to see it. I'm glad you will be able to get home for Christmas. I'd call that very fortunate.

I'm glad to know that Souil & Harriet have been able to find a nice place. I guess she thinks she is up in the top bracket. Spending the winter in Florida. Well it is much better. Harriet was lucky to get a job there also. Well more power to them. I don't know but I imagine Souil will be coming over some of these days, if it is only after it is all over.

Thanks for sending that stuff for Gwen. I'll see that she gets it.
The weather has been fairly nice here lately, I mean for 24 hours. Darn fortunate if it is nice for any longer than that at one time. A little sunshine looks good once in a while. I guess it has gotten rather cold where you are now.

Well, Sis, I guess I'll close for now and hope to hear from you soon again. Take it easy on that Christmas leave. How many days did you get? Let me know how Baltimore looks. Goodnight for now.

Loads of Love from Gwen and me,
Bill
P.S. Got any more of those good nuts or sardines or cheese. Thanks

Letter #46 from Wilbur C Garner 22 November 1944

Planning for the drive across the Roer was well under way in the Corps when the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes forced a postponement, and finally a change to the defensive for the first time since the Corps had come into action in Europe.
(Text: Captain Fredric E. Pamp Jr (Public Relations Officer XIX Corps 1945)

S/Sergent Wilbur C. Garner, 33377578
G-1 Section, Hq XIX Corps
APO 270 c/o Postmaster, N.Y.

Mary W. Garner, SK1c
Supply Department
U.S. Naval Air Station
Minneapolis, Minnesota

U.S.A. "Somewhere in Holland"
22 November 1944

Dear Mary,

Well one more Christmas away from home. Just a little note to let you know I'm OK. Haven't heard from you lately.
Here's hoping we will all be able to be together for next Christmas. I'll be thinking of you all.

Merry Christmas and God Bless you,
Lots of Luck and Love from Gwen and me,

Bill

Back of Card

Letter #45 from Wilbur C Garner 17 - 19 November 1944

More enemy armor fell before the attacks of the 29th and 30th. Captured German staff officers were unanimous in their praise of the tactics employed in this Corps drive - complaining that they were constantly confused as to the direction and strength of the effort by our refusing to plunge head-on into their planned defenses, and by our unexpected maneuver and feints. Model tactics executed by hard fighting veteran troops crushed one of the enemy's most concentrated efforts since D-Day, and by the 28th of November the 2nd Armored, 29th and 30th Divisions were on the Roer River. Some Germans held out in the Sportsplatz of Juelich, and a little pocket in Hasenfeld Gut farther north. These pockets took a few more days of desperate in-fighting to eliminate.(Text from the Corps Newsletter "The Tomahawk Strikes" From Siegfried line to victory)

Making the Army's main effort, General McLain's XIX Corps was to prepare plans for seizing a bridgehead over the Roer River at Juelich. In line with the mission of protecting the First Army's left flank, General McLain was to make his main effort close alongside the First Army. (Text: Captain Fredric E. Pamp Jr (Public Relations Officer XIX Corps 1945)

S/Sergent Wilbur C. Garner, 33377578
G-1 Section, Hq XIX Corps
APO 270, c/o Postmaster, N.Y.

Mary W. Garner, SK2c
Supply Dept.
U.S. Naval Air Station
Minneapolis, Minnesota

U.S.A. "Somewhere in Holland"
17 November 1944

Dear Sis,

Good afternoon, kid. How are you doing these days? Boy I sure hope you've been getting my mail better than I've been getting yours. I haven't had any mail or packages from home for about two weeks now. I know it is tied up here on the continent though because Gwen writes every day and I haven't received any letters from her for almost the same length of time. I can't give you any news of her? Gwen was fine on 27th of Oct.

Have you received the small bottle of perfume I sent you? It was a bottle the Colonel brought back from Paris. Boy I sure hope you receive it in good shape. I got a bottle for Gwen too. Hers was a little larger.

How is the weather out your way these days? I imagine it has started to get rather cold. It has not been so cold here but it has been nasty and rainy.

"Somewhere in Holland"
19 November 1944

Hello. I didn't get a chance to finish this letter the other night but will before I go to bed tonight. Boy I feel fine tonight. I finally got a letter from Gwen dated November 3rd. There are six before that one, that are still missing. Gwen is feeling fine, "I'm feeling fine-never felt better in all my life", which is just how things should be. And if it is double trouble honey - just you look out - when I meet you again - for not warning me!! There are twins in her family also and due this generation. Ha! ha! Wouldn't that be something? What a man. Well we shall see. Gwen is very anxious for time to pass quickly so that we can get back to the States.

Well kid I'll close for now and hope to hear from you real soon. No mail from the States for a couple of weeks. Got any more nuts or canned meats/ Boy sure could use some. So long for now. Take it easy and don't work too hard.

Loads of Love from Gwen and me.
Bill

Letter #44 from Wilbur C Garner 11 November 1944

Jumping off on the 16th of November, the 29th and 30th infantry and the 2nd Armored Divisions drove forward over the flat, scarred, muddy countryside against desperate German resistance made from long prepared defensive positions. To halt this drive the German's command committed his best - 9th and 15th Panzer Grenadier Divisions against out left flank and 3rd Panzer Grenadier and elements of 116th Panzer Divisions on our right, together with three infantry divisions. As an example of the intensity of enemy resistance, the 2nd Armored Division and Corps Artillery and Anti Tank units knocked out 118 German tanks in badly defeating the 9th Panzer and 15th Panzer Grenadier Divisions. 

(Text from the Corps Newsletter "The Tomahawk Strikes" From Siegfried line to victory)

S/Sergent Wilbur C. Garner 33377578
G-1 Section, Hq XIX Corps
APO 270, c/o Postmaster, N.Y.

Mary W. Garner, SK2c
Supply Department
U.S. Naval Air Station
Minneapolis, Minnesota (6)

U.S.A. "Somewhere in Holland"
11 November 1944

Dear Sis,

Howdy stranger. I received your letter of the 16th Oct. today and sure was glad to hear from you once more. It has been about 2 weeks since I got any mail from the states. I got some mail from Gwen about 4 days ago but that must have piled up someplace also. I know what happened the Air Mail, They sent it by boat.

I sent you a small bottle of Gardenia perfume from Paris. It is supposed to be the real stuff. I believe it was Corday's stuff. I hope you get it OK and like it. I'll be looking out for those six packages you said were on the way and let you know how they arrive.

I went around town today looking for something to send home but all I could find was a small pair of wooden Dutch shoes. I'm sending them to Bernard & Jane. I've sorta neglected them. I hope they like them.

How is the weather out there? It is rather chilly here. We had our first snow this week. It didn’t amount to much but surely made it miserable and uncomfortable for the boys. You asked me if I could use a sweater, yes if it is not too heavy to wear under my shirt. It will probably be a nice cold winter and I'll sure be glad to see spring once more.

Well, Sis, I guess I'll close for now. It is 9:45 P.M. and I've finished listening to the Army Notre Dame football game. Army sure plastered them. So long for now, if you have any more sardines or canned goods you can send them along. Incidentally how about a jar of mayonnaise. Mother sent me some ham spread. Thanks a lot. Good night.

Lots of Love and Luck

from Gwen & Me,
Bill

The little wooden shoes Bill sent home from Holland

Letter #42 from Wilbur C Garner 2 November 1944

The main effort of the American Army in the Fall campaign was centered farther south, but when the jump-off came in the middle of November, XIX Corps attacked for the line of the Roer. The enemy had had time to dig in well, and the resistance they offered was bitter. But the Divisions of the XIX Corps, working under the Corps plan, refused to hit him where he was strongest, by frontal attacks on the line of low ridges parallel to the river. The 2nd Armored lashed out northeast with crushing power, overcoming the muddy terrain and inferiority in tanks by sheer fighting guts. This attack drew most of the German armor, and the enemy threw in the best he had. Against the 2nd Armored he threw the 9th Panzer and the 15th Panzer Grenadier, but the 2nd Armored and the Corps Artillery and Tank Destroyers knocked out 118 of their tanks. As the armor flanked each ridge, the attached infantry cleaned out the Germans from its flanks. At the same time in the center the 29th drove east toward Juelich. Meanwhile the 3rd Panzer Grenadier and elements of the 116th Panzer Division smashed at our right flank where the 30th Division turned them back. By the 28th of November all three divisions were at the Roer, and the plans for crossing were begun. Higher headquarters had to hold up any such operations until possession of the Roer River dams was assured. With these dams under German control a wall of water could be sent down the Roer to wash out any crossing operations, and isolate our bridgeheads beyond rescue. So the Corps held at the Roer to wait for the dams to be taken.
(Text: Captain Fredric E. Pamp Jr (Public Relations Officer XIX Corps 1945)

Bill and buddy Herleen Holland October 1944

Benny Henderson Herleen Holland 1944

Buddies Herleen Holland 1944

Castle Neubourg, Holland Command post for US Army's XIX Corps

S/Sergent Wilbur C. Garner, 33377528
G-1 Section. Hq XIX Corps
APO 270, c/o Postmaster, N.Y.

Mary W Garner, SK2c
Supply Office
U.S. Naval Air Station
Minneapolis, Minnesota

U.S.A. "Somewhere in Holland"
2 November 1944

Dear Sis, 

Well what do you know, Sis? How has the world been treating you lately? I hope not too rough. I haven't heard from you for about a week but thought I'd write you a few lines tonight.
Well one more month has passed and that means we are one month closer to getting home once more. That will really be the day. Its hard to realize just what that day will be like. 

I hope Gwen will be able to be in the states by that time. She is looking forward very anxiously to meeting the family and setting up a home for me in the states.
 
It has been another beautiful fall day today, rather chilly though. I dread to think of winter over here because I'm certain they are long and drawn out. 

I got a letter from Gwen today and she is feeling fine. She asked me to send you her love. I'm enclosing a replica of my insignia and a little card I think you will get a little laugh from. 

I thought it was rather cute. I sent one to Souil & Harriet & one to Gwen. I'm going to enclose one in my next letter to Dad & Bernard.
 
Gee it is a beautiful night tonight. The moon is very brilliant.

Well, Sis, I guess I'll close for now and hope to hear from you soon again. Say, Sis, if you can find anymore of those good salted nuts, I'd like to have some more. 

Well I'll say goodnight for now. 
Take care of yourself.
Loads of Love from
Gwen and Me,
Bill

Letter #39 from Wilbur C Garner 25 October 1944

Bill and Gwen's wedding day September 26, 1944

 

Gwen on her Honeymoon from the
archives of Gwendoline W. Garner

Honeymoon Hotel from the archives of Gwendoline W. Garner

Bill and Gwen "Just married" wedding procession September 26, 1944

Bill on honeymoon September 1944.

 

Gwen on honeymoon September 1944

As Bill began his journey back into the battlefield from the UK, the attack on the Siegfried line began by the XIX Corps. His "Letter to Mary" follows the narrative in blue from the Corps publication, "Normandy to the Elbe," describing the events at that time.
 Finally the attack began on October 2nd, with the 30th Division racing down a long slope and across the Wurm River to smash through the Siegfried Line at Palenberg and Rimburg. The 29th Division did its part with diversionary attacks around Geilenkirchen. The 2nd Armored crossed through the line the next day, and took Ubach alongside the 30th, then turned north to defend the bridgehead. The 30th turned south, and repulsing constant counterattacks, made slow but steady progress south to join with VII Corps and close the pocket around Aachen. The Germans brought up reinforcements from all along the whole Western Front to hold this breakthrough, but all the counterattacks they could throw in were repulsed or made good. By 16th of October, slugging, heart-breaking, close-in fighting against the best that the German Army had, brought the 30th, and the 116th Infantry fighting with it, to contact with the 1st Division, and Aachen was encircled.

The Corps Surgeon, Colonel Rumpf, knew that the problem would come, and when all the outfits began talking about their Trench Foot cases, he had them make up thousands of little bottles with oil and oil of peppermint mixture, with the label saying "Rub this on your feet every day and prevent Trench Foot." They say our average number of cases was low compared to other Corps.

It was cold and damp and raw, when it wasn't raining, and a few days of that kind of fighting was enough to drive them crazy, the men up front. The Corps began to set up Rest Centers. All of Valkenberg was one big Rest Center, run by the 426th Medical Collecting Company. They ran eight hotels, and Civil Affairs helped them to find sheets and linen to give the guy from the foxhole a taste of civilized living again. And the Red Cross and Special Services made Heerlen, the clean little town where the Corps Command Post was, into another island of rest for the GI. Corps Artillery took over the hot baths hotel at Aachen and made its own Rest Center, with the best of chow, hot baths, clean sheets, and even a bar.

All this bitter time the drizzly cold Fall was closing in and the warmth and light of the previous summer seemed like the memories of another world. We made fast friends in Holland, and the Corps Headquarters found a second home in the clean little city of Heerlen, which made a record of hospitality and kindness to the American soldier that could not have been equaled. They had their problems, intensified by shortages of food and clothing, of limitations on their activities, by increased danger from shelling and bombing, but they never let us forget their gratitude for what the men of the American Army were doing to give them back their freedom.

Nobody could explain what the stuff was at first, the night it came in. Some said it was a new kind of V weapon, remembering that we had been the first recipients of the V-2 when we were in Maastricht. But the Artillery said it was a 280mm Railroad Gun somewhere to the south, just lining in on the town of Heerlen. Anyway they had a new kind of fuse they guessed, because they seemed to adjust with air burst, and then bring them down to ground. The first night they made two hits on the hotel where the Red Cross girls stayed, and Colonel Goodwin had just marshaled them all downstairs in their hotel when the fragments peppered many of the rooms. They took it all like a picnic, and the officers mess at the Grand Hotel the next morning was considerably dressed up, with lovely girls in negligees, for breakfast. The next time they began coming in near the station, and started fires in the hotel where the Rear Echelon Officers lived. That was a lively place for that night, and Corps Headquarters ambulance had a job. But it was more a break in the monotony that they made than anything else. The Corps Artillery had the gun spotted and made it move several times. And later VII Corps found the wreck of a 280mm gun in their sector. We may have hit it, at that.

By the middle of October the men of the American Army were taking another hitch in their courage, and facing the grim fact that it was still a long way to Berlin. Preparations went on to move forward in the inching village-to-village fighting to and across the next natural barrier that faced us, the Roer River. General Corlett, who had ably led the Corps all across France and Belgium and to the edge of Germany was recalled to the United States for other duties, and Major General Raymond S. McLain arrived on October 18th from command of the 90th Division to be the new Corps Commander. His was a record of action and leadership that augured well for the Corps, and so it has proved. A machine-gun Company Commander in the last war, he had led his troops under fire in some of the fiercest fighting of this one. He had made the landings in Sicily, at Salerno, and Anzio. He had come to France as Artillery Commander of the 30th Division, had taken over the 90th Division in mid-campaign and built it into an outstanding fighting division. Most of his long list of decorations were won under fire, actually leading his troops, and his unmistakable mark has been on all the subsequent operations of this fighting Corps: in its thorough planning and preparation, its speed and daring in attack and maneuver, its recognition of the problems of the doughboys and tankers, and the constant insistence on the least possible cost of every operation in human lives.
(Text: Captain Fredric E. Pamp Jr (Public Relations Officer XIX Corps 1945)

S/Sergent Wilbur C. Garner 33377578
G-1 Section, Hq XIX Corps
APO 270, c/o Postmaster, N.Y.

Mary W. Garner, SK2c
Supply Department
U.S. Naval Air Station
Minneapolis, Minnesota

U.S.A. "Somewhere in Holland"
25 October, 1944

Dear Sis, 

Well I guess you really thought I had deserted you. Nope. You were wrong. Conditions were such that I could not write. I finally arrived back with my unit on the evening of the 23rd. What a trip I had coming back. It took me 23 days. Going out it only took 4 days. What a difference!

I received about four packages from you when I got back. The one with fruit the nuts, the chewing gum and one more I think. I also had about two packages from Mother and one from Bernard. What a jack-pot. Well it sort of piled up on me so I sorted some out and made two nice boxes to send to Gwen. Now I can keep up with them.

You mentioned that you were sending Gwen a silk nightie for Christmas. I hope you get the right size. I'll give you some of her sizes now so you'll have them. She takes a 36 blouse or sweater. Size 10 stockings. Hips are 40 inches. I guess that's, I think that is all you have to know. Gwen is a good size girl. She is about 5ft 6inches and weighs about 154. Stocky huh!

Well my stay in England was very pleasant. We had 6 precious days together or rather 5 1/2. Do you remember when I was home in June 43 and you & I were in the attic talking. I guess I was foolish & also selfish to say I would never marry again because I'd never find anyone I could love as much as Betty. Gwen is really a wonderful person and I know she is very happy. She has certainly given me some very comforting and happy hours. I know we will always be as happy as we are today and happier still when things are over and we can all be together.

So you wanted Gwen to come out to Minneapolis and stay with you for awhile. Well Bernard & Jane wanted to get a larger apartment so she could stay with them & Harriet wanted to come all the way from Florida to meet her. Well its a darn good one. At least they are all anxious to help one another out. I think it is swell the way every one feels.

Mary, as you, Mother & Dad and Harriet suggested, I have decided to just tell anyone back there we were married secretly on 26th April and not mention the circumstance to Bernard & Jane. Miss Dashiel said she noticed a plain golden ring on Gwen's finger in those pictures on the River and she said she thought as much so. Dad just let it go and said yes, sometime this spring but he didn't have full particulars. I've told Gwen about Bernard & Jane.

You mentioned in your letter of the 8th of October that you can get canned meats of fish. If you can send me some cheese & some of those good old kippered herring or sardines I'd like to have some. Thanks a lot for those other packages.

You asked when Gwen is going to leave for the States. She would like to remain with her Mother until after the blessed event. I'm going to try to write the American Consulate in London tonight and get the particulars. I think she can get passage with a friend of hers who is a Bomber Ferry Pilot. If that's the case, all she needs is the passport.

Well, Sis, I guess I'll close for now and hope to hear from you real soon again.

Lots of Love from Gwen & I,
Bill