Date
of Arrival on WWII discharges can be used to determine by deduction the ship
our Baby Boom fathers came back on, but it’s
hard. U.S. WWII maritime records seem to
have disappeared. My feedback from
researching WWII troop movements is mostly negative: “There was a fire.” “The Record Group is no longer here.” “Records of the troopships were destroyed a
long time ago.” My e-mails bounce back
like raindrops off my truck’s hood.
Somewhere in that world of bureaucratic dusty warehouses there should be
loads of WWII primary source records.
Some supply records are just now being declassified. Besides, it doesn’t make sense. Something ain’t right here. Archivists prefer to keep their jobs and just
don’t throw away good stuff. That’s the
reason from coast to coast this nation is bursting at the seams with millions
of warehouses that are crammed with storekeeping nightmares. Clerks don’t just don’t throw things
away. It’s the same with
government. Don’t snoop and don’t rock
the boat. Don’t inquire. “We’ve had cutbacks here.” “Unless you’re a Pulitzer Prize winner, don’t
bother us.” My point - I believe the
good stuff is there.
In
the meantime there’s the old fashioned way of researching - reading the
newspapers. Dad’s Date of Arrival was
September 19, 1945 the day Shirley Temple got married (to an enlisted
man!) Many years ago I found the New York Sun on microfilm tape at the
Mid-Continent library in Independence, Missouri. Today it’s possible to find digital troopship
docking records on the Internet.
New York Sun Wednesday, September 19,
1945, “7 Troopships Arriving Here”:
New
York: Rockhill Victory, Aiken Victory, Algonquin, Charles Goodyear, Depauw
Victory, John Spencer, Zacapa; Boston: Frederick Lykes, Huntington, Kemp
Battle; New Port News: Fayetteville Victory, Santa Barbara, SS Cape Nun C1-A,
Sea Fiddler Victory, Carter, Coaldale Victory, Cooper Union Victory, USS
Farragut, Howard Victory, Lee
Binghamton Press Thursday, September
20, 1945: “More Than 7,500 Veterans Are Due on East Coast Today”
New
York: Mormacmoon, Surprise (from Antwerp), Zachary Taylor (from Antwerp). Queen
Elizabeth, still offloading from last night with 14,979 troops; Boston: Kingston
Victory, William and Mary Victory, Nathan Towson, Francis Harrington, Lake
Charles Victory. New Port News: Pleiades,
Walter Reid, Admiral Capps, Leopold Damroach
From
the list compiled of the ships arriving on that discharge date, you can start
deducting until you may actually find the one your father came back on. Of course there are bibliographies like the
one in the Gray Ghost (RMS Queen Mary) by Steve Harding. Troopships
of WWII website based on diaries and passenger accounts is a noble attempt
but fails because it isn’t updated with other primary sources,
especially those that have been declassified.
(See: CARL digital WWII operational documents). Otherwise, you can roll up your sleeves and
dig. Newspapers ain’t that bad.
