Gilmer Meriwether, WWII Military Records
Scope and Contents
The Meriwether letters cover Captain Gilmer Meriwether’s voyage overseas to Australia and India. The 340th Bomb Group had arrived in North Africa by April, 1943, and apparently remained there during the whole period of the correspondence. Meriwether describes the voyage, the reactions of the Australians to U.S. troops, sandstorms and the end of the campaign in North Africa. Several letters reflect his opinion that the Germans would soon surrender. An April 9, 1943 letter from a relative in Clarkesville, Tennessee, describes relations between African American women working as domestics and their white employers and 'Eleanor Roosevelt Clubs.' A May 8, 1943 letter from Kansas City refers to the Women’s Army Corps. Meriwether's letters to his wife and family in Kansas City, Missouri, cover his service from February to October, 1943. His wife saved all of these letters along with photographs and other memorabilia in scrapbooks, one of which is housed in the UNL library special collections. The whereabouts of the other scrapbooks is unknown.
Dates
- 1943, Feb.-Oct.
Creator
- Gilmer Meriwether (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The records are open for research.
Biographical / Historical
Gilmer Meriwether served as a captain in the 340th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force, during World War II.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
- Photographs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Status
- Completed
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries Repository
Archives & Special Collections
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
P.O. Box 884100
Lincoln NE 68588-4100 United States
402-472-2531
archives@unl.edu