“Thank God they were duds”

“Thank God they were duds”

Name: Sgt. William T Boll

Date: December 14th, 1944

Unit: 3rd cavalry, 43rd Reconnaissance Squadron

Location: Germany

Dec. 14, 1944

Germany

Dear Mrs. Frock

Hello there. Thank you very much for the Christmas card! I was thinking of you the other day when Edwine Robert wrote to me. Here it sure is lonesome over here, it is not like France. Germany is something different. There are no civilians here in the town they have all been evacuated. So we have the whole town to ourselves.

There is a lot of artillery & machine gun fire as the Jerry’s are only a thousand yards away, even now they are firing like mad. Think they are trying to draw fire from our positions here in the town. Well let them fire as the walls are pretty thick. Last week one day we were all sitting in the kitchen when the Jerry’s started shelling. Well one round took part of the home roof off. It was pretty close, but I have had them closer only thank God they were duds. They have quite a few of them lately, hope they keep getting more of them.

I am feeling pretty good, lost some weight but otherwise ok. We had a nice Sunday dinner for Thanksgiving, I suppose we will have it for Christmas too. Tell Art I said hello & to write. I guess your (?) my mother is in the WAC’s & is in Camp Stoneman California in the hospital wards & Gene is somewhere in South America by now. Well write soon & a Merry Christmas to all.

Always,

“Tom”

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Biography:

William T Boll was born on October 29th, 1918 in York, Pennsylvania. He was born to Bertha and Thomas Boll. William's father, Thomas, was a laborer at a local cement factory, and Bertha kept the house in shape. From his 1930 census, it looks like he had one step and one full sibling.

Without being told directly why William joined the army, it is hard to tell the reason. There were several reasons soldiers were going to war, including the bombing of Pearl Harbor, an attack that rallied many young men and women to fight and support their country for those that could no longer do so. Pearl Harbor was a rallying cry that united friends and enemies alike in the United States to stand up and fight. Whatever his reason, William made a decision to risk his life for the country he loved. He enlisted in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment on March 6th, 1942.

The 3rd Cavalry started their training at Fort Benning, Georgia in January 1943. William was assigned to the 43rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron as labeled on this envelope. They participated in the joint Tennessee Maneuvers before sailing off to England and arriving in June 1944. They arrived in Normandy on August 9th and were assigned to be the covering force of XX Corps of Patton’s 3rd Army. They were the first troops over the Moselle and temporarily prevented the Germans from blowing the bridge over the Moselle. The 3rd Cavalry were also some of the first troops into Germany, which is where this letter is written. They would stay close to this area and be involved in the fierce Battle of the Bulge.

William T. Boll survived the war but was wounded shortly after this letter. He was discharged after recovering from this wound on December 3, 1945. He went back home to Pennsylvania and got married in 1947 to Thelma Diven, who also did her part in the war effort serving in the Women’s Army Corp for 33 months. They had three sons together and many grandchildren and great grandchildren.