Civil War Letters of John W. Derr: World War II Baseball Bat Update #3

Sunday, March 30, 2014

World War II Baseball Bat Update #3

Another update on "the bat" from previous postings here at this blog....

The Museum of the Mighty Eighth received the bat in good order and are in the process of determining what to do with it....

Here is an article from their monthly newsletter...

Link to the website of the National Museum of the Might Eighth Air Force:

http://mightyeighth.org/

Link to the article below:

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs139/1102284477874/archive/1116642369981.html

A Very Unique Donation from England

by Sam Martin

This past month the museum received a very unique donation in the form of a baseball bat made for American flyers at an English airbase in Lincolnshire. Mr. Jim Derr of Poolesville, Maryland, who facilitated the donation, provided us with the history of the bat as related to him:

"So, my story starts in England in 1998 when I was assigned to work a program for my company. My family came with me and we lived in southern England for 3 years. . . In our small village of Stubbington, my wife's regular hairdresser, Kim, loved to talk about her family and particularly her father, who loved Americans based on his interaction with them during World War II. Her father was a teenage boy who lived in Lincolnshire, a county north of London. The boy lived in a village close to one of the airfields used by the USAAF 8th Air Force, and spent a lot of his time 'hanging out' with the GIs. Kim was kind enough to share her family stories and one of them caught my attention. . . The story goes like this (from a letter written by Kim to my wife Laura) '. . . In 1944 on a Lincolnshire airfield a squadron of American bomber pilots arrived. They had their baseball, and the English pilots had their cricket. One day, the Americans decided it would be fun to make the cricket bat disappear. The English retaliated likewise, and the Americans' baseball bat disappeared as well. The local village wainwright's assistant, who was only a young lad, thought the Americans were wonderful. So he made them a baseball bat. When the Americans finally went home, they gave the bat back to the young lad who made it.' The young lad was her father. Her father always cherished the bat and the memories that it brought back to him of a time when life was uncertain...and a bunch of American pilots entered his world. He always had an affection for America after the war and his trophy bat reminded him of an exciting earlier time in his life."

In the coming weeks, we are working to identify the English airfield and the American USAAF unit assigned there as we give this unique artifact a permanent home as part of the Eighth Air Force's honored history.

Jim D.

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Welcome

With 2011 being the 150th year since the start of the American Civil War, I thought it would be appropriate for me to share letters written by my great-great grandfather, John W. Derr during the course of the war. I have completed posting each letter on the 150th anniversary of their creation (mostly!). Since Private Derr did not write his letters in a consistent pattern...sometimes there are gaps in time better one letter and the next...This blog includes gap filler with other information relevant to him and his regiment. As I posted each letter, I created a corresponding link on the right side of the webpage to provide easy access and reference as you read each posting. I hope you enjoy the history of this common soldier during the most tumultuous time in our nation's history.

Additionally, I recently completed a long anticipated project by publishing a book "A Widow's Due" in June of 2020. This book is primarily about the life of my Great-great grandmother, Magdalena Diehl Derr, the widow of John W. Derr. It is based on years of research and much documentation, and whereas it is a work of "creative non-fiction", it is accurate and true to the documents and records I was able to find. Please visit my other website relating to the book as well as other upcoming projects at: www.jamespderr.com. Thank you.

Biography of Private John W. Derr

John W. Derr (JWD) was born in Barry Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania on October 7, 1839.

He enlisted in the Union Army in September of 1861 and was mustered into the 48^th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Company D at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg Pa, in that same month. From Harrisburg, the 48^th PVI transitioned through Baltimore, MD and then down the Chesapeake Bay to Fort Monroe in Virginia. From there, the 48^th PVI was attached to the larger Burnsides Expedition to North Carolina (Hatteras/New Berne area). After the North Carolina expedition the 48^th PVI was moved north and participated in the 2^nd battle of Bull Run, where JWD was wounded on August 29^th, 1862 and taken prisoner. He was paroled by the Confederates, and was transported to Georgetown College Hospital in Washington, D.C. After staying in Washington and missing the battles of Antietam and South Mountain, he was transferred to the Cherry and Broad Street hospital in Philadelphia, Pa in December of 1863. He was subsequently furloed home for further recuperation.

His unit was then detached for guard duty in Kentucky and Tennessee, where his unit re-enlisted in December 1863 at Blains Crossroads, TN. In 1864, the 48^th PVI was involved in Grant’s campaigns of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Cold Harbor, etc…and eventually the Petersburg Campaign. JWD, as part of the 48^th PVI was integral in the digging of the Mine Crater. Documentation of his participation in the actual mining activities and subsequent illness from the damp/cold conditions are documented in his post mortem pension application by his widow, Magdalena Derr. Pension affidavits by his fellow soldiers indicate that his participation in the mining activities, along with his wounding at 2^nd Bull Run were the primary cause of his early death in 1876

In addition to his participation in the Petersburg Siege, JWD participated in the 1863 Army review by President Lincoln in Washington, D.C., the Grand Review of 1865 in Washington, D.C.

He was mustered out of the Army in July of 1865 and returned home to live out his remaining short life, dying on January 12, 1876 at age 37.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

World War II Baseball Bat Update #3

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