Bill and Margaret Haslauer Letters

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 2005.007

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, including letters, notes and cards, primarily between Bill and Margaret Haslauer, written during periods of separation in their courtship and early years of marriage. The majority of letters are from Bill to Margaret, but Margaret’s correspondence to Bill is also included. The major themes covered in the correspondence include: the 1937 flooding of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and the impact on Southern Illinois; military life; and domestic news. Bill’s letters provide details about a soldier’s life: food, living quarters, drills, allotments, recreation, flight school curriculum, fellow soldiers, the bases and towns where he is stationed, and training missions. Bill frequently comments on movies he has seen, songs or radio programming he enjoyed, or books he is reading. Homesickness for Margaret and Susan, and the stress caused by their physical separation, are also common themes in their letters. From Europe, Bill’s letters are filled with his observations of the English people, blackouts, rationing, the weather, the impact of the war, and the places he visits. He also comments on hallmark events like the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt and V-E Day. After the war, from Sweden, he writes about the bombing destruction he witnessed in Hamburg, Bremen, and Kiel Harbor, Germany. The collection also includes letters from family in Illinois to Bill and Margaret, and from friends they developed through the military. A 50th anniversary celebration letter from Bill to Margaret is included; as well as a newsletter, Sweden: After the Flak (1999 summer/fall), which has the story of Bill’s crew’s crash landing in Sweden (pgs 6-8), and a program from Margaret’s memorial service. The correspondence is arranged in chronological order, with undated correspondence listed last. A bound typescript of the correspondence in the collection is available in Box 3117. Other materials, such as the newsletter and Margaret’s memorial service program, are listed in the container list after the correspondence and in chronological order.

Dates

Creation: Majority of material found within 1936-1988, Bulk [1936-1939, 1943-1945]

Rights Statement

Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Biographical / Historical

William (Bill) Haslauer was born in 1917 in Cairo, Illinois. Margaret (Hood) Haslauer was born in 1920 in Mound City, Illinois. The couple began their courtship in 1936. In 1938, they were secretly married in New Madrid, Missouri, by Judge Phillips. In 1943, Bill joined the Army Air Corps, and received basic training at Sheppard Field at San Marcos, TX. After basic training, Bill entered Southwest Texas Teachers College, also at San Marcos, for pre-aviation instruction (94th College Training Detachment). In December 1943, Bill was transferred briefly to the Army Air Forces Aviation Cadet Center at San Antonio, Texas, where he qualified as a navigator. In late 1943-early 1944, he again transferred to Ellington Field at Houston, Texas, for additional navigation training. At Ellington, Bill was part of Grp 4N Sqd C Flt 4 Navigation Wing. He would transfer bases three more times in the United States before deployment to Europe, with brief stays at Westover Field (Springfield, MA); Chatham Field (Savannah, GA); and Mitchel Field (Long Island, NY). In late 1944, Bill deployed from Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, to a base in Norwich, England, where he was part of the 458 Bomb Group, 752 Bomb Squad. Bill’s crew was scheduled to fly 35 missions over Europe, but their B-24 bomber was shot up over Hamburg, Germany, in January 1945. Bill and his crew bailed out over the coast of neutral Sweden, where they spent the remainder of the war as internees. Originally, Bill and his crew were interned at Rattvik, Sweden. When the war in Europe ended in mid-1945, Bill was in Stockholm, working for the Military Air Attaché at the American Legation. He was processed out of the military at Greensboro, North Carolina, in late 1945. At the time of their marriage in 1938, Margaret had recently graduated high school. For the first year of their married life, she attended Southern Illinois University and lived in Carbondale, while Bill worked for the Swift and Company Oil Mill in Cairo, Illinois. In May 1939, she left SIU. During the time that Bill was in service, Margaret and their daughter, Susan, lived with Margaret’s family in Mound City, Illinois. Margaret and Susan joined Bill briefly in San Antonio in late 1943-early 1944, and again in Houston in mid-1944. When Bill deployed to Europe, Margaret and Susan returned to live with her family in Illinois. After the war, Bill and Margaret Haslauer lived in Cairo, Illinois. They had three daughters, and were married more than 50 years. Bill died in December 1991; and Margaret died in April 2011.

Extent

3.5 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Primarily consists of holograph letters between Bill and Margaret Haslauer during their courtship and marriage. Bound typescript of the letters is also available.