Monday · Dec. 7, 1942 · 11 P.M.
A day in the Foreign Legion’s town.
Cognac, “Elephant Boy” in French, and a chaplain led home by the M.P.s.
Dec 7, 1942 · 11 P.M.
My Darling Wife.
I just got in from a recreational trip to a city quite some distance from here. There were 75 men, 3 officers including myself. [One?] was the Capt-Chaplain-priest. We got to the city at noon and the officers started in drinking. I stayed with them for a while but couldn’t keep it up. When I left them they were both nearly [crocked?]. The Lt. didn’t show up for the ride home, & the Capt was led back by the M.P’s to the trucks. The men were really [blotto?] but all our men got back to the trucks.
During the afternoon, I did some shopping and got along very well with my spanish. I met a police sgt in civilian clothes and my spanish helped again. He bought a bottle of cognac for me—which is [defendu?]—Prohibited. Later we went to a show—“Elephant Boy” with Sabu—in French.
I had my meals in a cafe, the principal courses consisting of wine, omelette, and mandarines (tangerines). After supper I got the worst of my men out of jail and into the trucks.
The city I visited is a world famous place. Those novels of the French Foreign Legion all center around it. For a description of this part of the country read Beau Geste. The [liquor?] wine is plentiful and the men go to the houses of prostitution. There are supposed to be 5 of them—government inspected—but the girls are a filthy lot they say and those who go usually get a dose of something or other. One of the officers told me that when he was in town he saw a queue—a block long lined up outside one of the houses. Nauseating, isn’t it.
There is nothing more to write about so will close and get some shut-eye.
All my love
Your John
Transcribed exactly as he wrote it in 1942.
About this letter
One year to the day after Pearl Harbor, John writes at 11 P.M., just back from a long day in town with 75 men and two other officers. He doesn’t mention the anniversary.
WHERE WAS HE?“The city I visited is a world famous place. Those novels of the French Foreign Legion all center around it.” That is almost certainly Sidi Bel Abbès, headquarters of the Legion and the setting of stories like Beau Geste.
BEFORE YOU READThis is a soldier’s honest account of a rowdy day off, including the town’s brothels and how he felt about them. His words are kept exactly as he wrote them.
READING CLOSELY
“For a description of this part of the country read Beau Geste.” He doesn’t name the city, but the home of the French Foreign Legion was Sidi Bel Abbès, about 50 miles south of Oran.
“Crocked” and “blotto” were period slang for very drunk. “Défendu” is French for forbidden, which he translates himself.
“Elephant Boy” (1937) starred Sabu, a teenage actor from India. The French version would have been dubbed or subtitled.
Dec. 7, 1942 was the first anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
The Big Picture
The race for Tunis stalls
The Germans won the race to Tunisia. By the end of November about 15,000 German troops and 100 tanks were there. The Allies got within about 12 miles of Tunis before they were stopped.
In early December German tanks struck back at Tebourba, west of Tunis, and pushed the Allies back. Then the winter rains turned the roads to mud.
At home, rationing (limits on how much of something each family could buy) was spreading: coffee from Nov. 29, gasoline nationwide from Dec. 1.
Where he was
Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria, about 50 miles south of Oran, on a day trip with 75 men. It was the headquarters of the French Foreign Legion, the city behind “Beau Geste” and the Legion movies he grew up on.