FP's used in armed forces during WWII?

[chela]

Hi all --

 

Being a history buff, I happened to be watching an "American Experience" episode relating to the Battle of the Bulge, narrated by David McCullough. It was very well done.

 

In the film, a short clip is shown of a GI writing a letter with a fountain pen. I re-ran the segment a couple of times and, near as I can tell, he was using an Esterbrook, though I could be very wrong about this.

 

Does anyone know which pens the US armed services supplied, or which were supplied through the PX, etc., during the war? For that matter, what about other countries?

 

I assume that ball points were not yet on the scene during WWII, right?

 

Thanks,

 

John

[KCat]

Hey John!

 

well, it's not an area Ron gets into in his WWII research but he may have an idea where to look for the info. I'll badger uh... ask him about it in the next couple of days. Right now we are deep in "buy house/move/build house/move" insanity. But all of his WWII books are still on the shelves because of our current game project. (yes, delayed - Real Life and all that!)

 

got your note and will respond ASAP.

[Gerry]

I expect that the sighting was historically accurate.

 

Hoban's book mentions that the $1.00 Esties all but dissappeared from the civilian market due to military orders taking precedence, and that most others became scarce then.

 

Regards

 

Gerry

[pathologyliu]

I have been interested in millitary history for several years. As far as I know

Wahl -Eversharp ever designed a kind of FP for US pilots,which wouldn't leak in the

sky.It looks like a "Skyline".It is well acknowledged General Eisenhower signed the armistice with two Parker 51s ,so did Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.My

idol ---General Douglas MacArther used Duofolds (maybe 6 or 7) on the deck of USS Missouri.President Harry Truman signed the Yalta Agreement with Waterman

Carene.And Scheaffer witnessed the establishment of UN.

When Italian invaded Africa in 1935 ,Aurora introduced a kind of white FP.There were tiny ink granules in the pen .Once filled with water ,it could work.They used

granules instead of bottle-ink for two reasons.Frist ,it 's easy to carry.Secondly, ink is easy to evaporate in hot weather.Because of their white color ,some of them were sent by drug manufactur as presents to doctors.There was an ad of Aurora

showing several pens marching through the triumphal arch with their nibs.

[rowdy]

Being a history buff myself I find this stuff fascinating for some reason.

 

Eisenhower and Monty used the Parker 51 (in fact I believe that Ike had a good relationship with Kenneth Parker and he asked that Ike use 51's that were presented to him to sign the surrender documentation).

 

I've heard Truman used both the 51 and various Sheaffer and Esterbrook products. In fact if you go to his museum website there are photos of him at his desk with Sheaffer desk pens. I've heard he didn't like to support one pen company in particular. Gen Mark Clark signed the Korean Armistice with 51 Flighters I've heard.

 

I think the Skyline and Vacumatic was quite a popular pen. I have a photo at home of Richard Bong (Pacific Ace) in a Time Life book giving an interview to news reporters and one definitely has a Parker Vacumatic.

 

On a morbid note I read the book "In Cold Blood" and in this book Truman Capote makes reference to Mr. Clutter writing a cheque to the insurance salesman a few hours before he and his family were murdered. Mr. Capote makes reference to Mr. Clutter "uncapping a Parker pen". Now this being 1959 was it a Vac, a 51? or a 61?

 

Anyways, I am truly fascinated by the historical use of pens and am always looking for new info.

 

Take care

 

Kent (rowdy)

[Mannenhitsu]

When my father was with an MP division in the ETO, they were all given Esties to use. While they were a nice and readily available, he preferred his Parker Duofold hands-down, which was lost a day before he helped to pack up Major Glenn Miller's personal belongings to be shipped home to his family in New Jersey. He really missed that pen to no end, and throughout the rest of War in Europe, he had to use standard issue Esties.

 

 

One of the first things he did when he got back the states in early 1946 was to order him two very large T-Bone steaks. Then he went and found a nice pen store and purchased a brand new Parker 51, which was his standard pen for many years until it sprung a leak. Ironically, the ink completely ruined a nice white suit he had on in 1964 and he made the switch to ballpoints after that day.

Edited June 3, 2005 by Mannenhitsu

[Lalique]

The fountain pens that best met U.S. military regulations for proscribed length and top military shirt pocket protrusion and that were the most sylish with a specially designed "military clip" were Sheaffer's Lifetime Balance Valiant, a full-length, standard-girth pen and slimmer Lifetime Vigilant that was about 15% less costly than the Valiant. Those pens were used by U. S. soldiers in the field during WWII.

[Shangas]

As I explained in another thread on a similar subject, any pens used in the army were likely to be the REALLY REALLY REALLY cheap ones. Either dip-pens, pencils or the really really bottom-of-the-line dime-a-dozen fountain pens.

 

Don't forget that in the 1930s and 40s, a fountain pen of quality was a HUUUUUGE investment. $12 for a Parker 51 was the kind of money you could buy a watch for. So it's unlikely the soldier in the field would carry the pen he was given for graduation from higschool or something. He'd carry something much cheaper and affordable. No point in taking your beautiful 1937 Parker Vacumatic to France, only to get shot and lose a pen that cost you so much, you could've used the money to buy lunch for a month instead...

[blbjdtny]

When my father was with an MP division in the ETO, they were all given Esties to use. While they were a nice and readily available, he preferred his Parker Duofold hands-down, which was lost a day before he helped to pack up Major Glenn Miller's personal belongings to be shipped home to his family in New Jersey. He really missed that pen to no end, and throughout the rest of War in Europe, he had to use standard issue Esties.

 

 

One of the first things he did when he got back the states in early 1946 was to order him two very large T-Bone steaks. Then he went and found a nice pen store and purchased a brand new Parker 51, which was his standard pen for many years until it sprung a leak. Ironically, the ink completely ruined a nice white suit he had on in 1964 and he made the switch to ballpoints after that day.

 

Wow!!! I feel for your dad. Ruining a suit due to a pen at that time could cause an extreme reaction, but I have to ask, what ever happened to that P51 that ruined, what I can only imagine to be, a beautiful summer suit??

[Kitty Kat]

I know a relative of mine stationed in Iceland, England, and France liked his Parkers. I have his wartime journals and they were mentioned several times (the man was particular about his pens!). I'm thinking about pouring through them and scanning the pen-related pages, if I have the patience.

[hardyb]

In a book I read on the American POW experience under the Japanese during the first part of WWII, prisioners were seached and watches-rings-fountain pens or any valuable were snapped up quickly. According to the author, Parkers and Sheaffers were especially prized. Any reluctance or attempt to "hide" the objects were met with brutal beatings, bayoneting and later in the march to the POW camps, death if found.

Edited June 17, 2012 by hardyb

[Nihontochicken]

A bit late here, just happened to be surfing by and caught this thread. I have two WWII era fountain pens, one a first quarter '44 silver pearl ring Vacumatic, the other a third quarter '42 model 51 with coin silver cap. Both are imprinted with the owner's name (not the same person) plus "U.S.M.C." underneath. I believe somewhat premium pens of their time, both have seen heavy use. One can only imagine if their owners "saw the elephant" while carrying them.

[inky7712]

Hi all --

 

Being a history buff, I happened to be watching an "American Experience" episode relating to the Battle of the Bulge, narrated by David McCullough. It was very well done.

 

In the film, a short clip is shown of a GI writing a letter with a fountain pen. I re-ran the segment a couple of times and, near as I can tell, he was using an Esterbrook, though I could be very wrong about this.

 

Does anyone know which pens the US armed services supplied, or which were supplied through the PX, etc., during the war? For that matter, what about other countries?

 

I assume that ball points were not yet on the scene during WWII, right?

 

Thanks,

 

John

 

If he was using a FP during the Ardennes Offensive, I wonder how he was keeping his ink from freezing.

[rowdy]

I have a Time Life book series about fighter pilots and aviation, etc. In one photo there is a shot of the ace Richard Bong sitting on the edge of a table giving an interview to reporters and one of the reporters is distinctly using a Parker Vac.

 

Rowdy

[thorn]

My Dad joined the Navy when he was 17 years old, 2 weeks before his 18th birthday in Jan 1944. He was in boot camp and radio school in Farragut, Idaho. Later, in Oregon and California. He wrote home almost everyday to my Grandparents in KS and they saved all the letters in a scrap book. My Dad scanned them about 10 years ago. He wrote them with a fountain pen, a type writer and pencil. I asked him before he passed away about the fountain pens. He remembered using a fountain pen but did not know what brand.

 

Link to the Letters

 

Here's some samples:

 

Blue ink:

http://kd3su.us/genealogy/navy/Tillamook_Air_Station/157.jpg

 

Red ink:

http://kd3su.us/genealogy/navy/Boot_Training/36.jpg

 

Green ink:

http://kd3su.us/genealogy/navy/Tillamook_Air_Station/302.jpg

 

This one looks like black ink :

http://kd3su.us/genealogy/navy/USS_Bagaduce/330.jpg

 

He said that some guys on the ship he was stationed on bought some of the first ball point pens but they didn't last long and were expensive. He said he stuck with fountain pens and the type writer. I have not read all the letters, he may talk about fountain pens or the ball point pens. I guess I should transcribe them.

 

In the early 50s he bought my Mother a Snorkel which I still have. She used to write letters with it. When I was in high school he bought me a Targa and he got a silver Sheaffer for himself. I also have some of their Sheaffer ink from the 80s.

[Rosetta59]

"In a book I read on the American POW experience under the Japanese during the first part of WWII, prisioners were seached and watches-rings-fountain pens or any valuable were snapped up quickly. According to the author, Parkers and Sheaffers were especially prized. Any reluctance or attempt to "hide" the objects were met with brutal beatings, bayoneting and later in the march to the POW camps, death if found.

This post has been edited by hardyb: 17 June 2012 - 07:13 PM"

 

 

I read another book (Crimes and mercies, by the canadian author James Bacque), where German prisoners in US and Allied POW camps were not only "seached and watches-rings-fountain pens or any valuable were snapped up quickly", but were moreover starved to death. From 1.5 to 2 million german soldiers found death in the allied camps "after" the war...

Edited August 1, 2012 by Rosetta59

[Romagno]

Edited August 2, 2012 by Romagno

[Parker51]

"In a book I read on the American POW experience under the Japanese during the first part of WWII, prisoners were searched and watches-rings-fountain pens or any valuable were snapped up quickly. According to the author, Parkers and Sheaffer's were especially prized. Any reluctance or attempt to "hide" the objects were met with brutal beatings, bayoneting and later in the march to the POW camps, death if found.

This post has been edited by hardyb: 17 June 2012 - 07:13 PM"

 

 

I read another book (Crimes and mercies, by the canadian author James Bacque), where German prisoners in US and Allied POW camps were not only "seached and watches-rings-fountain pens or any valuable were snapped up quickly", but were moreover starved to death. From 1.5 to 2 million german soldiers found death in the allied camps "after" the war...

 

Key qualifier is "Allied POW camps". The vast majority of deaths of German military prisoners were among those taken by the Red Army and used as forced labourers, during and after the war. Their were comparatively few German military prisoners taken by the US whom died, though there were some. The German military prisoners whom starved to death were also relatively few in number, and primarily occurred among those taken prisoner by the Red Army during the War, when food was very limited in both the German Army and the Red Army, and even among these, death due to disease, or exposure was more likely.

[HDoug]

Hereʻs a long bit at Richardʻs Pens about military fountain pens.

 

Doug

[Rosetta59]

"In a book I read on the American POW experience under the Japanese during the first part of WWII, prisoners were searched and watches-rings-fountain pens or any valuable were snapped up quickly. According to the author, Parkers and Sheaffer's were especially prized. Any reluctance or attempt to "hide" the objects were met with brutal beatings, bayoneting and later in the march to the POW camps, death if found.

This post has been edited by hardyb: 17 June 2012 - 07:13 PM"

 

 

I read another book (Crimes and mercies, by the canadian author James Bacque), where German prisoners in US and Allied POW camps were not only "seached and watches-rings-fountain pens or any valuable were snapped up quickly", but were moreover starved to death. From 1.5 to 2 million german soldiers found death in the allied camps "after" the war...

 

Key qualifier is "Allied POW camps". The vast majority of deaths of German military prisoners were among those taken by the Red Army and used as forced labourers, during and after the war. Their were comparatively few German military prisoners taken by the US whom died, though there were some. The German military prisoners whom starved to death were also relatively few in number, and primarily occurred among those taken prisoner by the Red Army during the War, when food was very limited in both the German Army and the Red Army, and even among these, death due to disease, or exposure was more likely.

 

Please have a good reading: Crimes and Mercies by James Bacque, you have a lot to learn ...