Here are a few notes about World War II matters that might be useful

1. The Provincetown History Project has a scrapbook from the Provincetown American Legion chapter online here:

provincetownhistoryproject.org/PDF/lib_500_001-morris-light-post-71-american-legion-scrapbook.pdf

The newspaper clippings in the scrapbook cover the WWII years (scroll halfway down), mostly about Provincetown men, though a few are about Wellfleet and Truro soldiers. These are from The Cape Cod Standard Times, which, as I mentioned in the Introduction, is not readily available online.

• The Provincetown History project archive also has this clipping about the first Provincetown soldier killed during the war:

provincetownhistoryproject.org/PDF/mun_001_1153a-announcement-of-first-provincetown-death-in-wwii.pdf

• In 2019. The Cape Cod Times printed a long story about Wellfleet’s Richmond Bell and his military service during the war. Bell was about to be inducted into the French Legion of Honor for his service in helping liberate France. Bell was the son of beloved Wellfleet doctor Clarence Bell.

Wellfleet veteran to be honored for aid to France

• The Wellfleet World War II Honor Roll is in the Town Hall, on the first-floor lobby. The dedication says Dedicated to the citizens of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, who served their country in World War II –Lest we forget — This tablet is the expression of the Love and Admiration of Mary K. Lawrence.

Who was Mary K. Lawrence? She is mentioned in various posts about the war years, but when she died soon after the war’s end, at age 85, on May 5, 1946, the Provincetown Advocate devoted a long article to her in the May 9 edition. She and her husband did not have children, but she was deeply interested in child welfare work and was a Director of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. She offered courses in manual labor and domestic science to young people in the basement of her home. Today, Wellfleet remembers her by naming the land where new housing is under development “Lawrence Hill.”

In 1944, at the Town Meeting, Wellfleet accepted Mary Lawrence’s gift of an Honor Roll to be placed in the “Colonial Hall,” the name that was still used for the Town Hall. She left a fund to create the large plaque we have today.

• The World War Two Honor Roll lists 65 men and women who served in the Army, 60 men and women who served in the Navy, eighteen men who served in the Coast Guard, two in the Marines, two in the Merchant Marines, and one in the Red Cross. 148 in all, or about 15% of the Town’s population at that time.

• Two men who served in the war were later memorialized in Wellfleet. Wilbur Ryder, born in 1893, served in the Navy in both World War I and World War II. He died in 1977. In 1979, the American Legion dedicated a “Wilbur Ryder Square” in his honor. The square is at the junction of Commercial Street and Holbrook Avenue.

Leonard Pierce, born in 1918, served as an Army Air Force pilot in World War II. He was shot down twice and saved his crew both times. He served as Selectman after the war. He died in 1965, at age 47, rather young. In 1998, the Town named the Long Pond Bridge, over Route 6, in his honor.

• An E-Mail with a Memoir

My former neighbor in the Old Wharf neighborhood, Bruce Eastman, has been in touch with me as I’ve worked on South Wellfleet history. His mother was a Barker, the owners of the old farmhouse from the early 19^th Century that still stands today.

During the war, his father, a Captain in the U.S. Coast Guard, was “skippering Army troop transports between the U.S. and Europe, and as far as India, Singapore, and the Philippines.” His mother moved to the farmhouse with her sons.

Bruce sent an email after reading a couple of these blog posts about the World War II years in Wellfleet. His mother shared memories of those years, and he shared those with me. She shared the “palpable fear” on Cape Cod that the Germans might invade, and the agency that made sure everyone drew their shades at night and that cars used only their parking lights while driving at night. No street lights were illuminated in the town.

Two of Bruce’s brothers joined the U.S. Coast Guard and are listed, with their father, on the Wellfleet Honor Roll. (Note that since the U.S. Navy takes over the Coast Guard in wartime, all Coast Guardsmen are listed with the Navy.) Captain Eastman reminded his family often that he was truly pained to see the white Coast Guard vessels painted battleship grey during the war years.

When I first wrote about Camp Wellfleet, Bruce had told me the surprising story of the U.S. Army appearing at their door, and asking or ordering the family out of the way while they used the hill near the house for maneuvers. In this email exchange, Bruce shared a conversation with his older brother, who thinks that the Army stayed on their property for about a week.

• World War II soldiers were known for their silence about the war after they returned home, and put the war behind them. My father-in-law left no war stories for his children, but he did leave a paper file of Army orders that helped me figure out where he was and when during his time in Europe. Another friend mentioned a father-in-law who told of almost stepping on a landmine, but being pulled away by an unknown soldier. Irene Paine emailed about her “Uncle Jay,” Abbott Paine Jr., who served through the Battle of the Bulge, was shot, and spent time at a hospital in Europe. He would never speak of the battles. He returned to Wellfleet, surveyed the new Route 6 as it ran through Wellfleet, and lived his life in a home near the fire tower.

Not a WWII item. My cousin is selling his complete Joseph C. Lincoln library as a lot, including all books and rare plays. If you are interested, contact him for details at edfranklin2@gmail.com