November 2, 2024 • 14 mins
PFC John William (Willie) Phillips, a farmer of Virginia served in the 116th Infantry and the 1906 Ordnance. Hear his letters home to his sister Virginia in 1943 and 1944!
During WW2 men and women were deployed throughout Europe and the Pacific and their only means to communicate home was through letters, handwritten notes to assure those at home they were alright and waiting for letters from their loved ones to provide semblance of support and normalcy. Over the years I have collected letters with the intention of returning to family - but first I’d like to share who these men were, where were they from and the context of where the soldiers were and what role they played in the War.
Please sit back and get to know these members of the greatest generation. Please visit me on Facebook, or email me at warandfamily@outlook.com and help me get the letters home
Thank you for listening!
During WW2 men and women were deployed throughout Europe and the Pacific and their only means to communicate home was through letters, handwritten notes to assure those at home they were alright and waiting for letters from their loved ones to provide semblance of support and normalcy. Over the years I have collected letters with the intention of returning to family - but first I’d like to share who these men were, where were they from and the context of where the soldiers were and what role they played in the War.
Please sit back and get to know these members of the greatest generation. Please visit me on Facebook, or email me at warandfamily@outlook.com and help me get the letters home
Thank you for listening!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
And welcome back to Warren Family Letters Home. I'm your
podcast host, Lauren Muse. This podcast well, we talk about
letters written home by US servicemen and women in World
War Two. I find these letters and antique stores and
auction sites, and I researched the letter writer and where
(00:45):
they were from, what their families were like, how they
served in the war, and what they did after the war.
It's my hope that someone will hear the podcast, recognize
family connections, and contact me. My mission is to returned
World War II history to families and these letters home.
Will they belong home with descendants, to cherish and show
(01:08):
with pride. Our letter for this week's podcast was written
by Pfc. John William Phillips, US Army. John William Phillips,
(01:33):
or Willie as he was known by, was born September third,
nineteen thirteen in Jackson, Virginia. He was the second of
four children born to Frank and Lucy Phillips, who ran
a family farm. The nineteen twenty census tells us that
Frank supported his family by running his family farm in Bellefonte, Virginia.
(01:54):
On the nineteen thirty census, the family is still operating
their farm, and Willie, at age sixteen, and his older
brother Roy, age eighteen, were working with their father. The
census of nineteen forty shows us that the boys are
still living and working with their dad on the family farm.
Their younger sisters, Virginia and Eugenia had moved away from home,
(02:19):
Virginia having been married to mister Edward Beach. On October sixteenth,
nineteen forty, Willie went to the Nottaway County, Virginia Local
Board and registered for the draft. He has recorded as
five foot six, one hundred and sixty pounds, blue eyes,
with black hair and a light complexion. He reported that
(02:41):
he was self employed farmer and his mom would be
the person that would always know his address. In October
of nineteen forty two, Pfc Phillips sustained an injury in
the line of duty to his knee, which had him
in the hospital for about three months. He was discharged
(03:02):
back to duty, and in February of nineteen forty three,
we find Pfc. Phillips in the hundred sixteenth Infantry Company B.
In nineteen forty three, Company B of thee hundred sixteenth
Infantry Regiment was formed with soldiers from Lynchburg, Virginia. It
was made part of the twenty ninth Infantry Division and
(03:23):
was involved in several key events in World War II.
In May of nineteen forty three, the hundred sixteenth was
sent to Ivybridge, UK to take part in Operation Balero,
which was the initiative to prepare Britain for the amassing
of troops needed for the D Day invasion. Hundreds of bases,
(03:47):
air fields, warehouses, depots, hospitals and storage tanks would be
needed to support the three million US military personnel that
were to be staged and trained there. On December twenty fifth,
nineteen forty three, P F. C. Phillips wrote one of
many letters home to his sister Virginia. My dearest sister,
(04:11):
I will drop you a few lines to day on
this nice Christmas day which I'm thinking of my sweet
loved ones. Well, sister, we sure had a nice day
here everything we could ask for except to be home.
We had turkey, ice cream and a lot of other
nice things to eat. The Red Cross truck came here
with a lot of things for the boys. I hope
(04:33):
all of you had a fine Christmas. You know, we
would have liked to have been home, but couldn't, so
I'll look forward to the next one. I will have
to close for now, so give my best regards to
all my loved ones. On February twenty third, nineteen forty four,
he wrote again, my dearest sister, I received my nice
(04:56):
Valentine from Charles. He sure is a sweet little one.
I wish I could see him more and all of you, sister.
I got me a nice little watch that Mom sent over.
It got dirty and broke, so I traded a guy
and gave him some difference. Sure like the one I
have now. This one is yellow gold, long and not
(05:19):
very wide. Slaughter is on furlough now I'm going on
my second one soon. Hope to have a good time.
I've been pressing my clothes. I hope all of you
were just fine and dandy. Tell Eddie and all hello.
In March of nineteen forty four, P. F. C. Phillips
(05:41):
was admitted to the hospital. His diagnosis was sinovitis in
the knee. Sinovitis is when a capsule that produces the
fluid that lubricates a joint becomes inflamed, infected, or swollen,
and this sometimes happens after a severe injury. To the joint,
which we know so that he had a severe injury
(06:02):
to his knee two years prior. Treatment of cinovitis would
consist of rest anti inflammatory medications and steroid injections. It
looks like Pfc Phillips spent about three to four weeks
in hospital, and in April of nineteen forty four I
find him in the tenth Replacement Depot in Britain. The
(06:25):
tenth Replacement was based in Lichfield, England, and its purpose
was to process hospital returnees to duty. In early May
of nineteen forty four, he was still in the tenth
Replacement waiting for his assignment, and on May first, he
wrote another letter home to his sister Virginia. My dearest sister,
(06:47):
I will drop you a few lines to say hello
and hope all of you are just fine. I heard
from you today and was more than glad to hear.
I sure appreciate all you do for me, and especially
the present you gave Mama for me. I'm glad you
could get to see Aunt Vita. She writes to me
real often while by for now Willie. Later in May
(07:11):
of nineteen forty four, we find PFC Phillips reassigned to
the nineteen oh six Ordnance Ammunition Company in Braybrook, Northamptonshire.
During World War II, an Ordnance ammunition company was responsible
for the manufacturing, acquisition, distribution and storage of all manner
(07:32):
of ammunition and weapons, including bombs, shells, bullets, grenades. There
were many of these areas scattered throughout Britain, and Braybrook
was a forward depot and was built for the US
Army Air Force. These ammunition supply depots were no picnic
to work at, as the total site limit of explosives
(07:53):
were ten thousand tons and individual stores were designed to
hold fifty six tons of bombs each. Braybrook is located
just under one hundred miles outside of London and most
likely was a prize target for the Germans. On June
twenty fifth, twenty one days after D Day, PFC Phillips
(08:18):
sent another letter to his sister. My dearest sister, I
received your letter written the fifteenth of June and was
real glad to hear from you, Sister. I bet you
wonder why you and the people back home didn't hear
from me for a week or two, But I guess
you know now ha Well, sister, this still leaves me
(08:39):
well and all right, and hope it will find you
all the same. Sister. You don't have to send anything
and you have nothing to worry about, so don't you hear.
We'll close for now, so tell all hello for me
and write soon. Love Willie. PFC Phillips would have been
(09:01):
hard at work at the Braybrook Munitions Depot, and I
believe that he stayed at that depot for the remainder
of the war. Suited better for that position given his
knee problems. I don't see his discharge date on any records,
but I do see an article in the Richmond Times
Dispatch of Wednesday, January twenty ninth, nineteen forty seven, that
(09:25):
mister and missus J. M. Smith announced the marriage of
their daughter, Edna Lucinda Smith to John William Phillips of Wilson.
The article continues, the ceremony was performed at the home
of the Reverend E. C. Davis in Blackstone at four
o'clock the afternoon of January eighteenth. The bride wore a
(09:47):
white wool dress with black accessories and a shoulder corsage
of red roses. On the nineteen fifty census, we find
the couple living back on the Phillips farm in Bellefont, Virginia.
Willie's father was living with them, as well as the
couple's first born child, John, who was born in nineteen
(10:07):
forty nine. They would go on to have a daughter,
Lucy Annette, in nineteen fifty nine. Willie would remain in
Virginia farming until April twenty first, nineteen ninety one, when
he passed away at the age of seventy seven. His
obituary was published in the Richmond Times Dispatch on April
(10:28):
twenty third, nineteen ninety one, and reported that John William
Willie Phillips, age seventy seven, a farmer of Ruth three, Blackstone,
died Sunday, April twenty first, nineteen ninety one. He is
survived by his wife, missus Edna Smith Phillips, his son John,
(10:48):
and daughter Annette, and one granddaughter. He's buried in Lake
View Cemetery in Blackstone, Virginia. He has a wonderful stone
on his grave, and I noted that it has his
rank as Tech five, which means he did get a
promotion between his letter written June nineteen forty four and
(11:12):
his discharge, perhaps to honor mister Phillips, you could take
a trip to a local farm. The number of family
farms in this country they are dwindling, and these families,
I believe, do it more for the love of the
farm than hoping they can get rich. Visit their farm
stands each season. They all have lots of amazing things
(11:35):
to offer. Thank you for joining me for another story
of a World War II hero. Please share my podcast.
The more listeners I have, the better chance I have
to return history to families, one letter at a time.
(11:56):
You can find me on Facebook at Warren Family Letters Home,
and I can be reached via email at Warrenfamily at
outlook dot com. All details in this podcast were discovered
by research done by me using public research, military genealogy,
(12:17):
and newspaper search sites. The original letters written by Pfc.
John William Phillips were obtained by me through an auction site.
Along with his letters, there's also a few written by
his brother, Roy, who I will talk about in an
upcoming podcast. If you know of the Phillips family, please
(12:39):
contact me. I would love to return these letters home
to family again. Warren Family Letters Home will never ask
for any payments to return letters. It's our way of
thanking the servicemen and women of the Greatest generation. I'm
(13:01):
recording this just a few days before the twenty twenty
four general election. Regardless of your viewpoints and candidate choice,
I truly hope that you get out and vote. In
seventeen seventy six, a lot of good men and women
sacrifice everything to build this great nation, and over the
past two hundred and forty eight years, a lot of
(13:24):
good men and women have sacrificed to defend it. Please
honor them just by getting out to vote. As always,
please support our military, both active and veteran status. We're
coming into the holiday season. Please consider volunteering or donating
(13:46):
to wreaths across America. Let's be sure every grave of
a veteran is beautifully remembered for the holidays until next week.
This is Lauren Mues and you've been listening to a
Warren family father's home.
And welcome back to Warren Family Letters Home. I'm your
podcast host, Lauren Muse. This podcast well, we talk about
letters written home by US servicemen and women in World
War Two. I find these letters and antique stores and
auction sites, and I researched the letter writer and where
(00:45):
they were from, what their families were like, how they
served in the war, and what they did after the war.
It's my hope that someone will hear the podcast, recognize
family connections, and contact me. My mission is to returned
World War II history to families and these letters home.
Will they belong home with descendants, to cherish and show
(01:08):
with pride. Our letter for this week's podcast was written
by Pfc. John William Phillips, US Army. John William Phillips,
(01:33):
or Willie as he was known by, was born September third,
nineteen thirteen in Jackson, Virginia. He was the second of
four children born to Frank and Lucy Phillips, who ran
a family farm. The nineteen twenty census tells us that
Frank supported his family by running his family farm in Bellefonte, Virginia.
(01:54):
On the nineteen thirty census, the family is still operating
their farm, and Willie, at age sixteen, and his older
brother Roy, age eighteen, were working with their father. The
census of nineteen forty shows us that the boys are
still living and working with their dad on the family farm.
Their younger sisters, Virginia and Eugenia had moved away from home,
(02:19):
Virginia having been married to mister Edward Beach. On October sixteenth,
nineteen forty, Willie went to the Nottaway County, Virginia Local
Board and registered for the draft. He has recorded as
five foot six, one hundred and sixty pounds, blue eyes,
with black hair and a light complexion. He reported that
(02:41):
he was self employed farmer and his mom would be
the person that would always know his address. In October
of nineteen forty two, Pfc Phillips sustained an injury in
the line of duty to his knee, which had him
in the hospital for about three months. He was discharged
(03:02):
back to duty, and in February of nineteen forty three,
we find Pfc. Phillips in the hundred sixteenth Infantry Company B.
In nineteen forty three, Company B of thee hundred sixteenth
Infantry Regiment was formed with soldiers from Lynchburg, Virginia. It
was made part of the twenty ninth Infantry Division and
(03:23):
was involved in several key events in World War II.
In May of nineteen forty three, the hundred sixteenth was
sent to Ivybridge, UK to take part in Operation Balero,
which was the initiative to prepare Britain for the amassing
of troops needed for the D Day invasion. Hundreds of bases,
(03:47):
air fields, warehouses, depots, hospitals and storage tanks would be
needed to support the three million US military personnel that
were to be staged and trained there. On December twenty fifth,
nineteen forty three, P F. C. Phillips wrote one of
many letters home to his sister Virginia. My dearest sister,
(04:11):
I will drop you a few lines to day on
this nice Christmas day which I'm thinking of my sweet
loved ones. Well, sister, we sure had a nice day
here everything we could ask for except to be home.
We had turkey, ice cream and a lot of other
nice things to eat. The Red Cross truck came here
with a lot of things for the boys. I hope
(04:33):
all of you had a fine Christmas. You know, we
would have liked to have been home, but couldn't, so
I'll look forward to the next one. I will have
to close for now, so give my best regards to
all my loved ones. On February twenty third, nineteen forty four,
he wrote again, my dearest sister, I received my nice
(04:56):
Valentine from Charles. He sure is a sweet little one.
I wish I could see him more and all of you, sister.
I got me a nice little watch that Mom sent over.
It got dirty and broke, so I traded a guy
and gave him some difference. Sure like the one I
have now. This one is yellow gold, long and not
(05:19):
very wide. Slaughter is on furlough now I'm going on
my second one soon. Hope to have a good time.
I've been pressing my clothes. I hope all of you
were just fine and dandy. Tell Eddie and all hello.
In March of nineteen forty four, P. F. C. Phillips
(05:41):
was admitted to the hospital. His diagnosis was sinovitis in
the knee. Sinovitis is when a capsule that produces the
fluid that lubricates a joint becomes inflamed, infected, or swollen,
and this sometimes happens after a severe injury. To the joint,
which we know so that he had a severe injury
(06:02):
to his knee two years prior. Treatment of cinovitis would
consist of rest anti inflammatory medications and steroid injections. It
looks like Pfc Phillips spent about three to four weeks
in hospital, and in April of nineteen forty four I
find him in the tenth Replacement Depot in Britain. The
(06:25):
tenth Replacement was based in Lichfield, England, and its purpose
was to process hospital returnees to duty. In early May
of nineteen forty four, he was still in the tenth
Replacement waiting for his assignment, and on May first, he
wrote another letter home to his sister Virginia. My dearest sister,
(06:47):
I will drop you a few lines to say hello
and hope all of you are just fine. I heard
from you today and was more than glad to hear.
I sure appreciate all you do for me, and especially
the present you gave Mama for me. I'm glad you
could get to see Aunt Vita. She writes to me
real often while by for now Willie. Later in May
(07:11):
of nineteen forty four, we find PFC Phillips reassigned to
the nineteen oh six Ordnance Ammunition Company in Braybrook, Northamptonshire.
During World War II, an Ordnance ammunition company was responsible
for the manufacturing, acquisition, distribution and storage of all manner
(07:32):
of ammunition and weapons, including bombs, shells, bullets, grenades. There
were many of these areas scattered throughout Britain, and Braybrook
was a forward depot and was built for the US
Army Air Force. These ammunition supply depots were no picnic
to work at, as the total site limit of explosives
(07:53):
were ten thousand tons and individual stores were designed to
hold fifty six tons of bombs each. Braybrook is located
just under one hundred miles outside of London and most
likely was a prize target for the Germans. On June
twenty fifth, twenty one days after D Day, PFC Phillips
(08:18):
sent another letter to his sister. My dearest sister, I
received your letter written the fifteenth of June and was
real glad to hear from you, Sister. I bet you
wonder why you and the people back home didn't hear
from me for a week or two, But I guess
you know now ha Well, sister, this still leaves me
(08:39):
well and all right, and hope it will find you
all the same. Sister. You don't have to send anything
and you have nothing to worry about, so don't you hear.
We'll close for now, so tell all hello for me
and write soon. Love Willie. PFC Phillips would have been
(09:01):
hard at work at the Braybrook Munitions Depot, and I
believe that he stayed at that depot for the remainder
of the war. Suited better for that position given his
knee problems. I don't see his discharge date on any records,
but I do see an article in the Richmond Times
Dispatch of Wednesday, January twenty ninth, nineteen forty seven, that
(09:25):
mister and missus J. M. Smith announced the marriage of
their daughter, Edna Lucinda Smith to John William Phillips of Wilson.
The article continues, the ceremony was performed at the home
of the Reverend E. C. Davis in Blackstone at four
o'clock the afternoon of January eighteenth. The bride wore a
(09:47):
white wool dress with black accessories and a shoulder corsage
of red roses. On the nineteen fifty census, we find
the couple living back on the Phillips farm in Bellefont, Virginia.
Willie's father was living with them, as well as the
couple's first born child, John, who was born in nineteen
(10:07):
forty nine. They would go on to have a daughter,
Lucy Annette, in nineteen fifty nine. Willie would remain in
Virginia farming until April twenty first, nineteen ninety one, when
he passed away at the age of seventy seven. His
obituary was published in the Richmond Times Dispatch on April
(10:28):
twenty third, nineteen ninety one, and reported that John William
Willie Phillips, age seventy seven, a farmer of Ruth three, Blackstone,
died Sunday, April twenty first, nineteen ninety one. He is
survived by his wife, missus Edna Smith Phillips, his son John,
(10:48):
and daughter Annette, and one granddaughter. He's buried in Lake
View Cemetery in Blackstone, Virginia. He has a wonderful stone
on his grave, and I noted that it has his
rank as Tech five, which means he did get a
promotion between his letter written June nineteen forty four and
(11:12):
his discharge, perhaps to honor mister Phillips, you could take
a trip to a local farm. The number of family
farms in this country they are dwindling, and these families,
I believe, do it more for the love of the
farm than hoping they can get rich. Visit their farm
stands each season. They all have lots of amazing things
(11:35):
to offer. Thank you for joining me for another story
of a World War II hero. Please share my podcast.
The more listeners I have, the better chance I have
to return history to families, one letter at a time.
(11:56):
You can find me on Facebook at Warren Family Letters Home,
and I can be reached via email at Warrenfamily at
outlook dot com. All details in this podcast were discovered
by research done by me using public research, military genealogy,
(12:17):
and newspaper search sites. The original letters written by Pfc.
John William Phillips were obtained by me through an auction site.
Along with his letters, there's also a few written by
his brother, Roy, who I will talk about in an
upcoming podcast. If you know of the Phillips family, please
(12:39):
contact me. I would love to return these letters home
to family again. Warren Family Letters Home will never ask
for any payments to return letters. It's our way of
thanking the servicemen and women of the Greatest generation. I'm
(13:01):
recording this just a few days before the twenty twenty
four general election. Regardless of your viewpoints and candidate choice,
I truly hope that you get out and vote. In
seventeen seventy six, a lot of good men and women
sacrifice everything to build this great nation, and over the
past two hundred and forty eight years, a lot of
(13:24):
good men and women have sacrificed to defend it. Please
honor them just by getting out to vote. As always,
please support our military, both active and veteran status. We're
coming into the holiday season. Please consider volunteering or donating
(13:46):
to wreaths across America. Let's be sure every grave of
a veteran is beautifully remembered for the holidays until next week.
This is Lauren Mues and you've been listening to a
Warren family father's home.
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