The First World War Letters of H.J.C. Peirs is a manuscript collection made up of nearly 300 letters (written between 1915 and 1919). Hugh John Chevallier Peirs, known to his family as Jack, wrote the letters during the course of the First World War. Peirs was an officer in the 8th Battalion, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) of the British Expeditionary Force. He served in on the western front in France and Belgium and remained with occupying forces for 7 months after armistice. During the course of the war, Peirs suffered from wounds by shrapnel, gunfire, and poison gas. He earned the Distinguished Service Order (with two bars) and was named a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.
The physical collection is also composed of photographs, military documents, artifacts, newspaper clippings, and trench maps. This digital collection features the letter content at this time.
This collection of letters, postcards, posters, service questionnaires, and ephemera illustrates the experiences of soldiers and civilians during the Great War.
This collection of World War II posters, photographs, letters, and ephemera features highlights from Special Collections at Gettysburg College, and is meant to exhibit both the bold patriotism and sobering realities faced by soldiers and civilians during this period. The dynamism of political forces are evident in poster design and illustration, while items like the draft notice for 27 Gettysburg College students brings the viewer closer to an experience of the everyday.
A digital collection of the World War II Archive of Albert Chance who served in North Africa and Italy with the 360th AAA Searchlight Battalion. This collection contains the over 300 photographs taken by Chance which present a picture of the European theater from the perspective of a soldier; his journal chronicles his wartime experience from his boarding of the Kungsholm on March 2, 1943 to his Honorable Discharge at Fort Dix, NJ on September 15, 1945; and his scrapbook displays the many documents that he saved and letters, often in the form of V-mail, that he sent home during the course of his service.
A digital collection of images taken by Stephen H. Warner, Class of 1968, and letters written by him during the Vietnam War. Stephen was an editor of the Gettysburgian student newspaper while on campus and strongly opposed the war. He was drafted in 1969 while in law school and was assigned to the public relations staff of Army Headquarters-Vietnam. He strove to document the experience of the average soldier through photographs and stories written for hometown newspapers and military publications. Stephen was killed on February 14, 1971.
