William Hoke Camp papers, 1944-1945, 2019

Held by The Filson Historical Society

Creator:  Camp, William Hoke, 1924-2021

Title:  William Hoke Camp papers, 1944-1945, 2019

Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.

Size of Collection:  0.33 cu. ft.

Location Number:  Mss. A C186

Biographical Note

William “Bill” Hoke Camp, Jr. was born on November 19, 1924 in Louisville, Kentucky to William Hoke Camp and Catherine Thomas Camp.  His father was manager of the Memorial Auditorium.  He had two sisters: Mary Thomas Camp and Nancy Hoke Camp.  Camp graduated from Louisville Male High School in 1942.  During his school years, he was a member of the Castlewood Athletic Club and the Athenaeum Literary Association.  He attended Centre College before being drafted into the Army in April 1943.  He served with the 68^th Armored Infantry Battalion, 14^th Armored Division in France and Germany in 1944 and 1945 where he earned the Combat Infantry Badge and was awarded the Bronze Star.

Following his discharge from the Army, he attended the University of Virginia, paid for by the G.I. Bill of Rights.  At Virginia, he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and manager of the basketball team.  Following graduation, Camp became president of Shippers Supply Company, where he worked until his retirement.

He married Edith Daintry Fitzhugh Camp in 1954, with whom he had four children: William Hoke Camp, III, Henry Fitzhugh Camp, Mary Lawrence Camp, and James Carroll Camp. Following Edith’s death in 2009, he married Katherine Smith Camp.  He is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.

Sources:

William Hoke Camp obituary, Courier-Journal, March 21, 2021.

Edith Fitzhugh Camp obituary, Courier-Journal, December 6, 2009.

U.S. Federal Census records.

 

Scope and Content Note

A series of letters written by Sgt. William “Bill” Hoke Camp, Jr., of Louisville to his parents while serving in Co. B, 68^th Armored Infantry Battalion during World War II. The letters date from the summer of 1944 to August of 1945. Camp writes about his military training at Camp Campbell, Ky.; arrival and service in France, especially in the Maritime Alps and Alsace; his hospitalization with trench foot; the advance into Germany, including the surrender of German soldiers, liberation of POW and concentration camps, and interactions with civilians; his concerns about being sent to the Pacific to fight against Japan; and arrangements for his return home.

In addition, the collection includes a memoir, William Hoke Camp Jr., World War II, written by Camp circa 2019. The memoir relates additional details about Camp’s service that are not included in his letters, due to censorship at the time. It also covers Camp’s educational exemptions from military service early in the war, before he was eventually drafted, and some details about his post-war activities and maintenance of friendships with fellow veterans.

 

Folder List

Box 1

Folder 1: Correspondence, August – October 1944

Folder 2: Correspondence, November 1944

Folder 3: Correspondence, December 1944 – January 6, 1945

Folder 4: Correspondence, January 13, 1945 – February 5, 1945

Folder 5: Correspondence, February 11, 1945 – March 1945

Folder 6: Correspondence, April 1945 – May 12, 1945

Folder 7: Correspondence, May 26, 1945 – July 2, 1945

Folder 8: Correspondence, July 4, 1945 – August 1945

Folder 9: Memoir: William Hoke Camp Jr., World War II, circa 2019

 

Subject Headings

Armies – Medals, badges, decorations, etc.

Brussels (Belgium) – Description and travel.

Christmas.

Civilians in war.

Finance, Personal.

Fort Campbell (Ky. and Tenn.)

Germany – Description and travel.

Kentucky Derby.

Louisville Country Club (Louisville, Ky.)

Marseille (France)

Nazi concentration camps.

Operational rations (Military supplies)

Rationing.

Sexually transmitted diseases.

Soldiers – Education, Non-military.

Soldiers – Religious life.

Soldiers – Training of – United States.

Soldiers – United States – Social life and customs – 20th century.

Thanksgiving.

Transports.

United States. Army. Armored Infantry Battalion, 68^th.

United States. Army – Recruiting, enlistment, etc.

United States. Army – Regulations.

United Service Organizations (U.S.)

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945 – France – Alsace.

World War, 1939-1945 – Germany.

World War, 1939-1945 – Maritime Alps (France and Italy)

World War, 1939-1945 – Medical care.

World War, 1939-1945 – Pacific Area.

World War, 1939-1945 – Prisoners and prisons.