James A. Kelley Second World War correspondence

This collection contains two letters from T/Sgt James A. Kelley, USA during the Second World War. Also included are a biographical note and photocopies of the letters and photocopies of service documents for T/Sgt. Kelley.

The first letter is a typed segment of a larger letter sent to "Dutchy" on December 8, 1944 from Palestine. In this segment he describes Tel Aviv, Haifa and the new city of Jerusalem, as well as the Jewish people, though he acknowledges early that "generalizations are not good." He compares the people of these cities to Americans in a negative way, being very depricating about Americans. He likes Haifa the most because it is more green and reminds him of home.

He then describes, in some detail, his visit to a kibbutz called Ramat Yohanon and the origins of the settlement. He spends the last several pages giving his opinion on the state of the Arab-Jewish conflict, the involvement of the British, and the future problems and oppression for the Jews in Palestine. Of note, he mentions being there for the US presidential elections, and the settlers were "all very much pro-Roosevelt. In fact they were inclined to believe that the US would one day take over the Palestine mandate -- so were some British police that I met. I hope it never happens because we'll make more enemies."

The second letter is missing the third and final page, but there is a photocopy of that page. It is written to "Ted" on December 11, 1944 and describes in some detail the early conflict in Greece, what would turn out to be the precursors to the Greek Civil War, 1946-1949. He discusses the negotiations between the EAM (National Liberation Front) and the (Georgios) Papandreou government, describing the government and the fascist remnants from the Germans as having "practiced deceit in executing the agreement." Also mentioned are several other groups involved in the conflict, including: ELAS, PEAA, EDES, the Greek Middle East Army consisting of the Rimini Third Mountain Brigade and the Sacred Battalion, General Ronald Scobie of the British Army, and the Security Battalions formed by Ioannis Rallis, the prime minister of the collaborationist government during the Nazi occupation.

Of note, T/Sgt. Kelley desribes the violence of December 3, 1944 during which the government disbanded a demonstration by the EAM and "poured thousands of rounds into a totally unarmed crowd including many children. The aggression of the Greek fascists and royalists against the Greek people had been launched." He went on to admit that his account was "probably one sided and a little emotionally written but I think it represents a point of view you are not at all likely to encounter in the" local newspapers.

The photocopied service documents include one certificate of honorable discharge, one record of separation qualification, one report of separation, two pages of soldier's individual pay record, and two pages of an immunization register.