Sergeant John Deim Serving In England
Writing from somewhere in England, Sergeant John Deim tells how traffic bothers the Yankees upon their first arrival, as everybody and all vehicles walk and drive to the left. He also tells of what a problem English money is at first and about all a person can do is to hold the money out in one’s hand and let the clerk make his own change, pounds and pennies and what have you. Nightly blackouts, too, at first confuse the Americans. No venturing out, nothing to see if you do, and one couldn’t tell whether you might walk into a bar room or a woman’s bed room. Out in the country the houses have thatched roofs and to an American this always brings the thought as to what a bit of flame would do to such covering.
To England In January
Sergeant Deim has been in England but a short time, arriving there in early January. He is the son of Mrs. Eva Deim, Algona, and was inducted from here May 1, 1942. The first six months was spent in Fort Warren near Cheyenne, Wyoming. From there he was assigned to Fort White near Portland, Ore. Just before Christmas, he was called to foreign service and from the description in his letters he is presumably stationed in or near London. He is serving in the quartermaster corps and only since arriving in England was promoted to sergeant. Prior to his entry into Uncle Sam’s forces he was a member of the Funk & Deim firm, plumbers, in this city.
Source: The Algona Upper DesMoines, Thursday, March 4, 1943 (photo included)
