What Pens Would Soldiers In Wwii Be Using?

[welch]

My Dad used a Parker aboard ship in the Pacific. Mom gave it to him, and he says he "wrote lots of letters with that pen". It was gray and marbled, so I'd guess that he, also, had a Vac.

 

If marbled and not striped, it could also have been a Challenger.

 

Thanks, David. I got one of those, also. It could have been my mother's high school pen or HS graduation pen (1940).

[camoandconcrete]

Well thank you everyone for all the help. I just found out from my grandma that she bought my grandpa a Parker Vacumatic to use when he was in Belgium. I am kinda curious to see how well such a pen would have held up during his time. He was a paratrooper for the 101st Screaming Eagles and his unit was surrounded in Bastogne during the Ardennes Offensive.

[pen2paper]

http://www.compassmuseum.com/esc/esc.htm

Scroll down this page to see a Compass fountain Pen..

Can anyone ID this pen?

[mikerph]

I remember my dad mentioning that he used a Parker(probably a Vac) in the service. He was a Captian the Army Air Corps during the end of WW2. He had just graduated from med-school and was sent to the Pacific theater near the end of the war. After Japan surrendered, he went in with the occupation forces and became the base surgeon at a converted air base on the southern tip of Japan. He remembers getting a Parker 51 at the base PX not to long before he left in 1946. He liked it so much he used one till the 1960's the went to Parker jotters til he passed away in 1991. I have the last jotter he used--a 12K golld filled international flighter ball pen-the one with the button on top.

Edited January 30, 2010 by mikerph

[GarciaG]

At least, for the German side, definitely the Tintenküle, ist´s more a chinograph than a pen, no nib, is a tubed barrel with a metal wire in it to manage the ink flow, they are very nice to write with, I personally have two, an original german, and an argentinian made (must be by the time Biro brothers were developing the ball point pen, in Argentina by 1930's)

Edited February 14, 2010 by GarciaG

[GarciaG]

To: Donor Pen that rare pen in the add at Compass Museum looks a lot like a Sheaffer´s flat top. See for the ball ended clip, and middle section ink indicator.

Edited February 14, 2010 by GarciaG

[yulie1]

My dad served in the Navy during WWII (assigned to the Naval Air Corps), and almost all the letters I have that he wrote are in blue ink. I remember seeing a photo of him during that time and the pen poking out of his pocket sure looks like an Eversharp Skyline. But I'm not sure what pen he may have used for those letters. He's been gone now for over 20 years.

 

My uncle, who served in Patton's 3rd Army, wrote his letters (at least the ones that survived), in pencil. That would make sense as he was always on the move after the Battle of the Bulge. My dad was on base or aboard ship, so he probably had easier access to pens.

 

Mark

[welch]

My Dad used a Parker aboard ship in the Pacific. Mom gave it to him, and he says he "wrote lots of letters with that pen". It was gray and marbled, so I'd guess that he, also, had a Vac.

 

If marbled and not striped, it could also have been a Challenger.

 

It was a gray marbled Vacumatic. I gave Dad both for Christmas. He says his pen was the Vac.

 

Note that he was aboard ship; his "barracks" traveled with him. Soldiers in combat units would have had a harder time storing pen and ink.

 

Incidentally, he keeps telling stories of trainee pilots or radioman/gunners who had ink-bladders explode in their pockets. US Navy flyers worked in pencil. They might have written reports or letter with pens once back aboard ship, but daily work was done in pencil.

[Ryder]

As a grunt in VNM, we were instructed to write home in pencil only, as it mad the job of the censors easier. Besides, I don't think a MB (or any other good FP) would stand up to the rigors of the bush.

[Argee]

Recently I've been researching the pens used by MacArthur at the Japanese Surrender. I've read all the previous threads on this forum on the subject I could find. Last discussion on it was in 2008 so I was pointed in here. First I'd like to point out that there's all sorts of conflicting information on this subject out there. I'm here to discuss the desk pens that were used. Mrs. MacArthur's Duofold is a settled issue (though given how much it sticks out of his hand I'm inclined to say it's a full sized model rather than one of the smaller ones).

 

The other pens used is the real mystery. Contemporary newspaper accounts don't match the photos of the event. We know that the other pens were desk pens. Slightly conflicting reports on where they ended up. We see General Wainwright and General Percival each get one, everybody says West Point got one too. Interestingly, there is one on display at West Point but it's the one that belonged to General Wainwright, he donated it to them. I haven't seen the The West Point pen discussed before. I bring it up now because I found a picture. It looks like a match to the pictures of the signing to me. But I can't identify it, and I'm hoping some of you can.

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4424232172_b8ef0a1195_o.jpg

[OldGriz]

You want to get down to what the average "Joe" wrote with while he was in combat or just on the lines waiting for something to hit the fan....

It was a PENCIL, a good old wooden pencil. Something he could sharpen with his pocket knife or bayonet.

YUP, that was the writing instrument of the common soldier during the war.

Yes, a lot of them had fountain pens, but mostly did not use them until they were back in rear echelon areas where they could relax, sit at a real table with real paper and envelopes and compose a letter back home to their high school sweetheart.

Think about carrying a fountain pen that would be rather fragile under combat conditions, but also the bottle of ink needed to fill that pen.

Now compare that to stuffing a couple of wooden pencils in your kit back.

I discussed this with my Dad before he died... Dad was USN Air in the Pacific. His letters home were mostly written in ink. WHY??

He was stationed on an aircraft carrier and had the time and place to use a fountain pen to write home.

He said his brother (the dumb one in the family, :roflmho:), who was a Marine wrote the majority of his letters home in pencil because it was easier to carry one in combat.

I am fortunate enough to have the letters my father wrote home and the letters my uncle wrote to my father during the war. They exchanged combat experiences and news during the war, it is an amazing read.

 

The ballpoint pens were most likely some souvenir item the seller had on hand. The old soldier was correct in remembering a fountain pen as the correct item for the time period.

The seller is correct (albeit thick headed) in stating they are real pens...

BUT, the real writing instrument that would most likely have been found in a combat soldiers kit bag would be a pencil.

[Beechwood]

You want to get down to what the average "Joe" wrote with while he was in combat or just on the lines waiting for something to hit the fan....

It was a PENCIL, a good old wooden pencil. Something he could sharpen with his pocket knife or bayonet.

YUP, that was the writing instrument of the common soldier during the war.

Yes, a lot of them had fountain pens, but mostly did not use them until they were back in rear echelon areas where they could relax, sit at a real table with real paper and envelopes and compose a letter back home to their high school sweetheart.

Think about carrying a fountain pen that would be rather fragile under combat conditions, but also the bottle of ink needed to fill that pen.

Now compare that to stuffing a couple of wooden pencils in your kit back.

I discussed this with my Dad before he died... Dad was USN Air in the Pacific. His letters home were mostly written in ink. WHY??

He was stationed on an aircraft carrier and had the time and place to use a fountain pen to write home.

He said his brother (the dumb one in the family, :roflmho:), who was a Marine wrote the majority of his letters home in pencil because it was easier to carry one in combat.

I am fortunate enough to have the letters my father wrote home and the letters my uncle wrote to my father during the war. They exchanged combat experiences and news during the war, it is an amazing read.

 

The ballpoint pens were most likely some souvenir item the seller had on hand. The old soldier was correct in remembering a fountain pen as the correct item for the time period.

The seller is correct (albeit thick headed) in stating they are real pens...

BUT, the real writing instrument that would most likely have been found in a combat soldiers kit bag would be a pencil.

 

This post from Griz brought back an old memory.

 

Does anyone else remember a type of pencil that was used to write letters around the time of WW2 which the writer used slightly wet, perhaps by touching his tongue, the pencil then produced a blue wet line on the paper?

[Johnny Appleseed]

The pencils one licked were called copying pencils, and they in fact contained a dry analine dye similar to fountain pen ink - here is an article about them The Copying Pencil: Composition, History, and Conservation Implications.

 

Here too is an old thread on Handwriting in WW2by James Pickering, including his own reminiscences of what they wrote with during the war (as a civilian in England).

 

John

[Beechwood]

The pencils one licked were called copying pencils, and they in fact contained a dry analine dye similar to fountain pen ink - here is an article about them The Copying Pencil: Composition, History, and Conservation Implications.

 

Here too is an old thread on Handwriting in WW2by James Pickering, including his own reminiscences of what they wrote with during the war (as a civilian in England).

 

John

 

 

John

 

Really appreciated, thanks

[Robert Alan]

Hi,

 

I was wondering what pens would American, German, British and Russian soldiers be using to write letters, sign documents, etc. What would be the average pen they could afford?

 

Thanks,

 

MiamiArcStudent

 

My uncle was in the Navy in the Pacific (at 17--he lied about his age). He wrote all his letters with a Waterman 100 Year fountain pen with a black plastic barrel and gold-filled cap. It was a gift from my grandparents and my uncle's name is engraved on the cap. He gave the pen to me for restoration and inclusion into my collection. I was honored. The pen travelled with my uncle all over the Pacific, to some of the worst battles imaginable (he was in a landing craft & very lucky to have survived the war), and, being kept in the bottom of his sea bag, it was, consequently, pretty 'beat up.' The plastic 'jeweled' end of the barrel was broken off, but the nib is still perfect.

 

Regards, Robert

[OldGriz]

Hi,

 

I was wondering what pens would American, German, British and Russian soldiers be using to write letters, sign documents, etc. What would be the average pen they could afford?

 

Thanks,

 

MiamiArcStudent

 

My uncle was in the Navy in the Pacific (at 17--he lied about his age). He wrote all his letters with a Waterman 100 Year fountain pen with a black plastic barrel and gold-filled cap. It was a gift from my grandparents and my uncle's name is engraved on the cap. He gave the pen to me for restoration and inclusion into my collection. I was honored. The pen travelled with my uncle all over the Pacific, to some of the worst battles imaginable (he was in a landing craft & very lucky to have survived the war), and, being kept in the bottom of his sea bag, it was, consequently, pretty 'beat up.' The plastic 'jeweled' end of the barrel was broken off, but the nib is still perfect.

 

Regards, Robert

 

Robert,

Richard Binder can restore the bottom of your uncle's 100Yr ... he does amazing work on these pens...

For some reason these bottom pieced did not actually break as much as crystallize and disintegrate