From the sweltering, sultry, humid days back in Fort Benning, when the 563RD Army Postal Unit was first activiated (26 April 1943), to the chilly, cold and wet days in England, the Unit handled many thousands of letters and parcels.
This outfit had a short sojourn at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, then a boat trip was planned. On 5 September 1943, the 563RD embarked on the Orion for a destination unknown. The trip was uneventful except that several showed their true colors by giving up, partly due to their first experience with English food. Landing was made near Glasgow, Scotland. The Scots were friendly.
The 563RD APU served Air Corps and ground force personnel for several months in Colchester, until ordered to Army Air Force Station 153 [located at Parham in Suffolk, England]. The unit arrived there 26 March 1944.
Here it was its pleasure to serve the 390TH Bombardment Group and three other air base groups and components of the Eight Air Force. Previsoulsy, the 390TH Bombardment Group had been served by a base post office, the mail being delivered and received at Stowmarket, many miles distant.
As all Gaul was divided in three parts, so the Army post office was divided into three sections - directory, distribution, and finace. The functions of the directory section were to redirect missent mail and dispatch forwarded mail through the proper cahnnels to correct destinations. The duties of the distribution section consisted of canceling, casing, sorting and dispatching incoming and outgoing mail. The finance section engaged in the selling of money orders and stamps and the handling of registered mail and parcel post.
As many as 900 pouches of first-class mail and 3000 sacks or parcel post were handled through this APO monthly. During the Christmas season, 6000 pouches and sacks of mail were put through. The finance section had an average sale of $125,000 worth of money orders and $8,000 of stamps.
THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE ONLY THROUGH THE 390TH BOMB GROUP ASSOCIATION, PLEASE CONTACT THEM AT (520) 574-0287 OR AT THE390TH@AOL.COM FOR ORDERING INFORMATION.
"Affectionately know as the "Blue Book", this World War II reprint tells the story of the 390th Bombardment Group, Heavy, Eighth Air Force, United States Army Air Forces, from the date of activation at Geiger Field, April 1943, until the departure from England in June and July 1945. It is a record of activities and life on a heavy bombardment station written by the men of the many departments before the fighting and the travail of battle had stopped. Some things will not be found in the words or pictures, they are the calm, intrepid courage of the boys who flew the Fortresses, and took all the risks; the mud, the chill and the wet of the unpredictable English weather; the long winter nights, the crowded huts, the inadequate stoves. To those of us who were there the book will be a reminder of what we did. For others it will be the answer to the question "What was it like?" For some, undeniably, life was rough in the ETO, and there were a lot of guys - well - "they never had it so good."