WWII 1943 Farragut Idaho Naval Training Station: 43-Cover Correspondence letters For Sale

Substantial 43-cover World War II correspondence dating from August 15 through September 25, 1943, centered on Apprentice Seaman Hiram Harding of Company 623-43, Camp Scott, U.S. Naval Training Station, Farragut, Idaho, and his wife Leora at Florissant, Missouri. Every envelope retains its original letter. Most were written by Harding from Farragut to his wife at R.F.D. 1, Box 535, care of Paul Niehaus; a small number are incoming letters sent back to Harding at Camp Scott.

This is an unusually concentrated first-person record of Navy recruit training. The correspondence covers approximately six weeks—the wartime boot-camp interval documented for Farragut recruits—and the 43 envelopes preserve a remarkably dense sequence from the beginning through the end of Harding's training period. Many letters are written on U.S. Navy stationery, with several on printed U.S. Naval Training Station, Farragut, Idaho letterhead. Harding regularly addresses his wife as “My Dearest Leora.”

The letters contain extensive day-to-day detail about military life rather than brief greetings. Examples discuss the issue and organization of Navy clothing and personal gear, sea bags, uniforms, barracks routine, inspections and discipline, dental and other processing, rifle and target practice with live ammunition, training films and instruction, recreation, anticipated leave, homesickness and family matters. A September 6 letter describes seeing wartime film material concerning fighting in the African desert involving Rommel and British forces, while September letters discuss rifle practice and Harding's expectation of returning home after completion of training. Taken together, the group offers substantial reading material on the transition from civilian family life to wartime naval service.

The postal history is also strong. Numerous outgoing pieces are 6¢ orange embossed U.S. airmail stamped envelopes with red-and-blue borders and U.S. Navy circular postmarks. Other outgoing covers use 6¢ airmail adhesive stamps, and one example carries the wartime “Buy War Savings Bonds and Stamps” slogan cancellation. The incoming correspondence includes mail from Florissant and St. Louis, Missouri, including 6¢ airmail and 3¢ wartime frankings. Harding's return address repeatedly identifies Company 623-43, Camp Scott, U.S.N.T.S., Farragut, providing a closely dated postal record of his assignment.

Farragut was one of the major U.S. Navy recruit-training installations created during World War II. Built on roughly 4,050 acres at the southern end of Lake Pend Oreille in northern Idaho, the station was planned for a 30,000-recruit training capacity in a series of approximately 5,000-man camps. Construction began in 1942, and the installation ultimately comprised 776 buildings. Idaho state historical material records that 293,381 sailors received basic training there during its wartime operation, when Farragut was regarded as the world's second-largest naval training center.

Camp Scott, Harding's specific training unit, opened December 19, 1942, only about eight months before this correspondence began. It was named in honor of Rear Admiral Norman Scott, who was killed in the November 1942 Guadalcanal campaign and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Thus these letters date from the first year of Camp Scott's operation and document Farragut while the enormous wartime training establishment was still relatively new.

One September 20 letter retains an especially attractive mint, unmailed real-photo postcard by noted Sandpoint photographer Ross Hall: H-20, “Beautiful Lake Pend Oreille in North Idaho.” The view shows the lake, wooded islands and surrounding mountains near the Farragut area. Hall was directly associated with the training station during the war; Idaho Parks and Recreation records that in 1942 he was contracted to produce group and portrait photographs of Farragut recruits and companies. The RPPC is an excellent original visual companion to the correspondence rather than an unrelated later addition.

There is also a strong genealogical connection. Public indexing records a Hiram C. Harding, born October 5, 1918 and died June 23, 2001, whose later residence was Florissant, Missouri. The uncommon name and matching locality make him a strong probable match for the sailor represented here, although the wartime envelopes themselves do not provide the middle initial and therefore do not make the identification conclusive. The repeated Florissant address is “c/o Paul Niehaus”; public records likewise identify a Paul Niehaus (1893–1968) associated with Florissant, but the precise family relationship is not established by the material shown.

A cohesive WWII naval correspondence archive with excellent military, Farragut, Idaho, Missouri, postal-history, social-history and genealogical interest. The short date span and quantity of surviving letters give an unusually detailed look at one married recruit's complete training-era experience, while the Ross Hall Lake Pend Oreille RPPC adds an appealing period photographic component.

G-VG.

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I am selling my own personal collection of unique postcards, postal history, and ephemera.

Smoke-free and dry-humidity household.

Everything is guaranteed as described.I was previously a long-time seller, and I need to downsize my collections as I am moving overseas for personal reasons.

I will combine shipping costs with other lots.

Many more postcards and items are coming.