by Glenn N. Holliman
A Family Member at the U. S. Navy Sonar Training School, Key West, Florida.....1942
"By late January 1942 more than twenty U-boats were operating in American waters. On January 28, a single submarine standing off New York harbor sank eight ships, including three tankers, in just twelve hours." - Williamson Murray and Allan B. Millett, A War to be Won (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000)
After two months in the U.S. Navy, Bishop Holliman, a 22 year old young man with three years of college, a native of Irondale, Alabama, began training as a sonar operator at the U.S. Naval Base in Florida. His job would be to listen to sound waves bouncing off German submarines which were devastating U.S. shipping in 1942. Through his diary below, we read of his training, homesickness, seasickness, but his pleasure at being stationed at Key West.
"January 12, 1942 - Started classes on sound operation at Key West, Florida. Not exactly to my liking. Got liberty at 4:30 pm. Went ashore, saw the beach. About 9 p.m. I called the (Holliman) family. Talked to all of them, including the Dalys (Robert W. Daly, Sr. was married to his sister, Vena Holliman).
January 15 - Had boat watch. Today was pay day. I might say here that pay day and mail are looked forward to more than any two events. If folks only knew how the boys like to get mail they would write more often. A letter cheers one more than anything else.
January 17 - Had first test today. Make 3.90 out of 4.00.
January 18 - Went to Methodist Church today. Met Mr. and Mrs. L.L. Trent, formerly of Birmingham YMCA. Went to Baptist Church that night. Four of us enjoy going to shows, eating in restaurants, etc. Run together a great deal." - Diary of H. Bishop Holliman, 1942
Information booklet for sailors based in Key West, Florida during World War II
"In January 1942 German U-boats prowling off the East Coast sank 48 ships of 276,795 tons; in February, 73 ships of 429,891 tons, and in March, 95 ships of 534,064 tons. The Navy did not sink its first German submarine until April 1942." - Murray and Millett
So the same week a U.S. sailor from Alabama went to church, in the suburb of Wannsee outside of Berlin, Germany, officers of the German S.S. held a meeting over lunch and brandy to discuss a 'final solution' for the disposition of European Jews. In that bureaucratic atmosphere, as if they were deciding whether to build a new factory or construct a hydroelectric dam, Reinhardt Heydrich (pictured below) and high ranking Nazi fanatics set in motion the process by which six million persons would be murdered by the spring of 1945.
Heydrick assured those present from civil service and security organizations that the plans to eliminate Jews were approved by the Furher. Not until after the War did news of this nefarious Wannsee meeting come to the attention of Allied historians. - Chronicle of the Second World War by Derrik Mercer (Longman, London, 1990).
Meanwhile, the training continued in Key West, the pace increasing, the need great for sonar operators....
"February 2, 1942 - Went out to sea as a sound operator. Really got sea sick.
February 4 - Sea again today; did not get sick.
February 6 - Out to sea again on Saturday.
February 8 - To sea again on through the week, went to sick bay a couple of times during the week.
February 17 - Working five hours a day in buildings on base. Awaiting transfer to ship." - Bishop Holliman, Diary 1942
Next posting, fearing a quick transfer to sea duty, the family visits and a marriage occurs at home....
Have questions about Holliman family history? You are invited to join the Hollyman Email List at Hollyman-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com and the Hollyman Family Facebook Page located on Facebook at "Hollyman Family". Post your questions and perhaps one of the dozens Holyman cousins on the list will have an answer. For more information contact Tina Peddie at desabla1@yahoo.com, the list and Facebook manager for Hollyman (and all our various spellings!).
Or join your many cousins at MyFamily.com and view an expanded Holliman family tree and many files on the history of the family. Just write to glennhistory@gmail.com for an invitation.
Since early 2010, I have been publishing research and stories on the broad spectrum of Holliman (Holyman) family history at http://hollimanfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/ . For stories on my more immediate family since the early 20th Century, I have been posting articles since early 2011 at http://ulyssholliman.blogspot.com/ . GNH
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