Robert Court Fletcher World War I Correspondence and Dog Tags
Collection
Identifier: MSS-4151
Scope and Contents
The collection contains sixteen postcards and letters from Robert C. Fletcher of Birmingham, Alabama, to his sister Fay. Each letter starts with "My Darling Sister" and are mostly requests for more mail; he does not give much information about the fledgling Tank Corps. Fletcher's dog tags are also included.
Dates
- 1918-1919
Creator
- Fletcher, Robert Court (Author, Person)
Biographical / Historical
Robert Court Fletcher, second child and only son of James M. and Florence Court Fletcher, was born in Vigo, Indiana, on September 10, 1893. At least he and his sister Fay were living in Birmingham, Alabama, when he was drafted in March of 1918. Only two of his letters mention the he has written to their mother (James Fletcher died in 1912 before the war) but didn't indicate where she was living. In one of the early letters he tells Fay that he has taken an insurance policy for $10,000 listing her as his beneficiary and then once she marries, that he will change his insurance as soon as he can. All his letters and postcards begin with "My Darling Sister" and close with "your devoted brother, Bob."
In March 1918, Fletcher was drafted, and by early May he was at Camp Colt in Getttysburg, Pennsylvania, where he was part of the newly formed Tank Corps commanded by Major Dwight Eisenhower. When he was deployed to the European Theater, he was assigned to the 302nd Tank Battalion equipped with heavy British Mark VI tanks. Once in France, the battalion was stationed in Langres at the American Expeditionary Forces' Tank Center commanded by Captain George S. Patton. After the Meuse-Argonne offensive, he was transferred to the 344th Tank Battalion, which was also stationed at Langres and was equipped with lighter French Renault tanks.
Very little is known about Fletcher after he returned from Europe. He married Ethel (maiden name unknown) and worked as a clerk in the soda industry. He died on April 6, 1958, and is buried in Sanford, North Carolina in the same cemetery plot as his father.
In March 1918, Fletcher was drafted, and by early May he was at Camp Colt in Getttysburg, Pennsylvania, where he was part of the newly formed Tank Corps commanded by Major Dwight Eisenhower. When he was deployed to the European Theater, he was assigned to the 302nd Tank Battalion equipped with heavy British Mark VI tanks. Once in France, the battalion was stationed in Langres at the American Expeditionary Forces' Tank Center commanded by Captain George S. Patton. After the Meuse-Argonne offensive, he was transferred to the 344th Tank Battalion, which was also stationed at Langres and was equipped with lighter French Renault tanks.
Very little is known about Fletcher after he returned from Europe. He married Ethel (maiden name unknown) and worked as a clerk in the soda industry. He died on April 6, 1958, and is buried in Sanford, North Carolina in the same cemetery plot as his father.
Extent
0.1 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Overview
Sixteen letters and postcards from this World War I soldier to his sister in Birmingham, Alabama.
Provenance
purchased from Bartleby's Books, 2015
General
To provide faster access to our materials, this finding aid was published without formal and final review. Email us at archives@ua.edu if you find mistakes or have suggestions to make this finding aid more useful for your research.
Processed by
Martha Bace, 2015
- Title
- Guide to the Robert Court Fletcher World War I Correspondence and Dog Tags
- Status
- Completed
- Date
- August 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections Repository