An unusual piece of military history

Last year at Stampex I picked up this very unusual piece of military history.

I meant to write about it months ago but didn't get round to it, so I apologise. But I thought it is better late than never, and this is such a great piece. I bought this from Stephen Taylor, who is a dealer speciaising in US postal history. He had a lot of military themed items, especially from World War II, which I was interested in. I bought a few things from him, but I found this very interesting. It was priced at £50 but Stephen did me a very good deal and so this very important piece of history ended up in my collection.

But what exactly is it? And why is it so important?

Take a look at the envelope. You will see that it has a YMCA logo on it. It is addressed to Miss Addie Wendt, who lived in Vergas, Minnesota. It was written by a US soldier, Corporal John Wendt, who was a member of the 351st Infantry Regiment, American Expeditionary Force. It is postmarked 30th August 1918.

It's not just an envelope - there is also a letter (first page shown below).

Letters from soldiers to family members (in this case his sister) aren't that unusual, but there are other reasons that this is quite special.

Firstly, the letter and cover are on YMCA paper. Secondly, this letter is from a camp that existed for no more than a week. Thirdly, it is a first day cover of sorts.

Corporal Wendt was based at Bullswater Camp near Woking, Surrey. In the document Stephen gave to me, Bullswater Camp is described as "a temporary British military installation known to have been used as a rest camp only by elements of the US 88th Division in the period August 30 to Stepember 5, 1918. This use may have been needed because the regular camps at Morn Hill and Romsey were full."

What I have since discovered is that Bullswater Camp was initially used as a training camp for the 12th and 13th (Service) Battalions of the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) from September 1914. However, by November 1914 it had been abandoned as severe winter rain had made it "unliveable". Soldiers were moved to Malplaquet Barracks in Aldershot instead. Clearly in August 1918 temporarly reopening Bullswater was seen as a necessary but short-term measure.

What about the YMCA stationery? That is interesting too. YMCA operated recreation centres, rest huts and marquees in some of the British training and front-line camps. The YMCA would have been at Bullswater to provide essential refreshments, stationery and opportunities for socialising.

So while the YMCA paper and envelope would have been used by soldiers at other camps too, anything connected to Bullswater is very rare. In fact, it is so scarce that there are two known examples - this one and one other (from a Benjamin Everitt, postmarked 3rd September) - and copies of both are with the Surrey History Society in Woking.

The fact that this was written and posted on the very first day of the temporary camp's reopening makes it quite special in my opinion. Interestingly, Corporal Wendt gives his sister his new address, so perhaps didn't realise he would be moving on just a week later. He also says "do not worry about me, I will make it out good". I don't know if he did, but I hope so. He left us this letter, which is both ordinary and extraordinary, and I like to think he made it home to Minnesota.