Leslie Lampton Wilkinson

Leslie Lampton Wilkinson was born in Tylertown, Pike County (now Walthall County), Mississippi, on June 11, 1911. He was the son of Simpson Wilkinson, a lumber worker, and Otera Andrews Wilkinson. Leslie Wilkinson had one older sister, Hilda; two older brothers, Lewell and Frank; one younger brother, Louis; and a twin sister, Louise, who died in 1931.

From 1929 to 1930, Leslie Wilkinson attended Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. After leaving school, he continued living in Jackson and worked in sales and management for the 555 Tire and Service Company. He later was manager of the Nu-Tread Tire Company, but by 1940 was working as a representative for the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. Wilkinson married Bess Dowd on April 14, 1937. The couple had three daughters.

After his discharge from the army, Wilkinson resumed his career in the tire industry. He eventually became the owner of the 555 Tire and Service Company, later known as Wilkinson's 555 Tire and Auto Center. The company expanded around the state, also selling home and automotive appliances. Wilkinson was active in many local civic organizations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Jackson Exchange Club, and the Jackson Sales and Marketing Club. He also served as president of the National Tire Dealers and Retreaders Association. Wilkinson died on July 29, 1985, at Manhattan Health Care Center in Jackson, and was buried in Jackson's Lakewood Memorial Park.

After about two and a half years' service in the Mississippi National Guard, Wilkinson was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army on July 30, 1942. He was first assigned to the Quartermaster Training Pool and in August 1942 attended Quartermaster Motor Transport School at Atlanta Quartermaster Motor Base. In September, he was stationed in Washington, D.C. He sailed for overseas on October 7, 1942, arriving in Egypt on November 12.

Wilkinson was initially assigned as an ordnance planning and control officer at what would become Camp Russell B. Huckstep, just outside of Cairo. In December 1942, he was formally assigned to the First Battalion Headquarters, 125^th Ordnance Motor Base Shop Regiment Q, later known as the 125^th Ordnance Base Automotive Maintenance Battalion. Wilkinson's initial assignment was as superintendent of shops, supervising 300 to 400 men. In February 1943, he was promoted to technical director of shops, and in April gained an additional shop to supervise along with a promotion to first lieutenant.

In November 1943, Wilkinson's unit was charged with handling transportation for the Cairo Conference, where United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese President Chiang Kai-skek. In particular, the unit had to bullet-proof and bomb-proof President Roosevelt's car. In recognition of his leadership in this task, along with his overall performance in establishing and running the base's vehicle maintenance operation, Wilkinson was awarded the Legion of Merit in February 1944.

In April and May 1944, Wilkinson's unit moved from Egypt to Caserta, Italy, near Naples. He served as assistant to the commanding officer there, overseeing daily work in many shops, in addition to serving as acting commanding officer for several periods. In May 1945, he was transferred to the 606^th Ordnance Base Automotive Battalion in Rome, where he operated a maintenance shop and commanded fifty-five soldiers and 500 civilians.

Leslie L. Wilkinson sailed for home on October 22, 1945, arriving on November 3. He was discharged from the army on February 18, 1946, at the separation center at Camp Shelby, Forrest County, Mississippi.

Bess Dowd Wilkinson

Bess Dowd Wilkinson was born September 15, 1915, in Eastabuchie, Jones County, Mississippi, the daughter of James Gaines Dowd and Jo Ella Scott Dowd. She had one older sister, Mattye Mae. After her husband's death in 1918, Jo Ella Dowd and her daughters lived in Hattiesburg, Forrest County, Mississippi, where she was a matron at Mississippi Woman's College (now William Carey University), and later moved to Jackson, where she was employed as a high school teacher.

Bess Dowd graduated from Central High School in Jackson. She then attended Mississippi State College for Women (now Mississippi University for Women) in Columbus, Lowndes County, before receiving a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Lafayette County, in 1933. She met Leslie Wilkinson while teaching mathematics in Jackson public schools.

After her marriage, Bess Wilkinson worked for the Mississippi State Livestock Sanitary Board until her husband joined the army in 1942. She briefly returned to work there in late 1944, before her husband came home on leave that fall.

The Wilkinsons had bought a home on Warrior Trail in Jackson's Fondren neighborhood a few years after their marriage. In January 1943, Bess Wilkinson began renting out their house and living with her mother and stepfather, Louis Howell May, at their home in Mendenhall, Simpson County, Mississippi. Along with her daughter June, born in March 1943, Bess Wilkinson moved back to Jackson in January 1944. When Leslie Wilkinson returned to Europe after his leave in early 1945, Bess and June Wilkinson moved to an apartment in Tylertown. They lived there until Leslie Wilkinson returned later that year. After the war, the Wilkinsons lived in Fondren and northeast Jackson for the next forty years.

Bess Dowd Wilkinson died on November 3, 2007, at Indywood Personal Care Home in Greenwood, Leflore County, Mississippi. She was buried alongside her husband at Lakewood.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of correspondence, papers, photographs, and memorabilia documenting Leslie Lampton Wilkinson's service as an automotive maintenance and repair officer in the United States Army during World War II. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence between Wilkinson and his wife, Bess Dowd Wilkinson. Most was sent and received while he was serving with the 125^th Ordnance Motor Base Automotive Maintenance Battalion, first at Camp Russell B. Huckstep, near Cairo, Egypt; and then at Caserta, Italy. Of particular interest are materials related to Leslie Wilkinson's receipt of the Legion of Merit in 1944.

Series Identification:

1. Series 1: Correspondence to Bess Dowd Wilkinson, 1942-1945.

   This series consists of letters sent to Bess Wilkinson, arranged chronologically. Though a few are intermingled with the letters, most V-mails in the series are arranged chronologically as a group after the other letters for each year. All the letters are from Leslie L. Wilkinson except one, which is a letter commending his performance from his commanding officer at Atlanta Quartermaster Motor Base (box 1, folder 5). Included with the letters are a number of items Leslie Wilkinson enclosed with them, such as newsclippings, a few photographs, ship and restaurant menus, small souvenirs, church bulletins, basketball game programs, and notes received from Egyptian civilian workers. With one letter (box 1, folder 64), Wilkinson enclosed a letter and copies of short articles he had received from Fred Barton, an American war correspondent in India. Barton had stayed with Wilkinson while reporting in Egypt.

   Wilkinson wrote of his constantly busy schedule and the long hours he and the men working under him put in. He regularly noted that censorship regulations prohibited him from telling many details about his work, which often involved constant paperwork, meetings, and tours for visiting officials. After the Cairo Conference he discussed the role he played in coordinating transportation for the event, where he was able to meet Roosevelt and Churchill. He also told of the hardships endured during his unit's move from Egypt to Italy, where his work involved more travel and conducting training for Italian soldiers. He wrote of repeated conflict with his commanding officers at Caserta, which motivated his successful transfer request in May 1945; his letters express greater satisfaction with his work after transferring to Rome.

   Wilkinson also discussed his recreational activities, including sightseeing, athletic activities, and films he viewed on the base. Along with seeing traditional Egyptian tourist sights, he took leave to travel to Palestine in summer 1943 and Alexandria in spring 1944. In Italy he was able to visit Naples, Rome, Pompeii, and other areas, including the former battle lines at Cassino. He regularly wrote of buying and sending home gifts during his travels. In the spring of 1944, he served as coach for a basketball team of soldiers playing at Camp Huckstep, and wrote often of their practices and games.

   Wilkinson frequently requested news about family and friends in his letters, and inquired about his wife and daughter's well-being. His letters also discuss finances, sometimes noting enclosed money, and the rental status of the Wilkinsons' Jackson home. Occasionally the letters tell of soldiers Wilkinson had met, whom he had asked to call or meet with Bess Wilkinson upon their return home.

   Box 1
   Box 2, folders 1-24

2. Series 2: Correspondence to Leslie L. Wilkinson, 1942-1945.

   The arrangement of the letters and V-mails in this series is the same as in series 1. The vast majority of the letters are from Bess Wilkinson, but a small number, especially of the V-mails, are from other family members and friends. The most common other writer is Leslie Wilkinson's mother, Otera Andrews Wilkinson. Other family members whose letters are occasionally included are his sister, Hilda (Mrs. C. Vance) Harvey, of Tylertown; his sister-in-law, Neva (Mrs. Lewell) Wilkinson, who lived in Jackson; his brother and sister-in-law, Frank and Katharine Wilkinson, who lived in Florida; and his brother Louis, who was at college in Chicago and then served in the army in the Pacific theater. There are also a few letters from Bess Wilkinson's stepfather and mother, Louis Howell and Jo Ella Scott Dowd May, and her sister, Mattye May (Mrs. T. Kendall) Dampeer, who lived in Forth Worth, Texas. These letters mostly inquire about Leslie Wilkinson's well-being or share news from the writers' lives.

   Most of Bess Wilkinson's letters to her husband simply detail her daily life and activities, but the main topic throughout is the couple's daughter June, including preparations for her birth, the birth itself, and her growth and development. Bess Wilkinson also told of news from family and friends, particularly others who were in the military, and discussed her social activities and travel. She traveled regularly between Jackson, Mendenhall, and Tylertown, with occasional extended trips to her sister in Texas. She also sometimes traveled to New Orleans, where her mother was seeking medical treatment for diabetes. Other frequent topics in Bess Wilkinson's letters are similar to those in Leslie Wilkinson's, such as finances, their home, gifts he had sent, his work, and his leisure activities.

   Box 2, folders 25-52

3. Series 3: Military Service Papers, 1942-1948.

   This series consists of other papers related to Leslie Wilkinson's army service, arranged chronologically. These include a telegram with his initial orders upon joining the army; his Legion of Merit citation (folder 1); various documents related to taking leave (folders 2-3); paperwork related to his trip home at the end of the war (folder 4); and documents related to his discharge, including copies of his separation qualification record and certificate of service (folder 5).

   Box 3, folders 1-5

4. Series 4: Personal Papers, 1942-1944.

   This series contains material related to Wilkinson's work for the Cairo Conference. This includes an article written for the Lincoln Electric Company by Fred Barton, with accompanying photographs; a copy of an edited version of that article that appeared in print, along with a letter the company sent to Bess Wilkinson; and the April 1944 issue of Points magazine from the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, featuring an article about Leslie Wilkinson.

   Also in this series is a copy of Leslie Wilkinson's birth certificate and a rental contract with the Wilkinsons for a safe deposit box at Jackson State National Bank. Attached to the envelope for the contract is an unrelated note to Bess Wilkinson from an insurance sales colleague of her husband.

   Box 3, folder 6

5. Series 5: Photographs and Memorabilia, 1942-1945; 1959; n.d.

   This series contains eighteen photographs, one postcard, and memorabilia documenting Leslie Wilkinson's military service. Most, but not all, of the smaller photographs (box 3, folder 7) are labeled and dated. They generally show Leslie Wilkinson in uniform or performing military duties. Several show his Legion of Merit award ceremony in March 1944. One photograph shows Leslie Wilkinson with the soldiers' basketball team he coached in Egypt, and the postcard is undated and shows three unidentified men in uniform. One photograph is of Bess and June Wilkinson; one of Leslie Wilkinson and two men is unlabeled and dated 1959.

   Of the seven larger photographs (box 3, folder 8), only two are labeled. One is a posed photograph of Wilkinson and other soldiers. The other shows a large group of military officers and defense officials, including Wilkinson, seated around a conference table. Three of the unlabeled photographs show soldiers outside a building and receiving a visitor in a car. The other is a candid shot of Wilkinson and two other soldiers talking.

   The memorabilia (box 4) includes Wilkinson's Legion of Merit medal, World War II Victory Medal, three service bars (one with one silver star), lieutenant's bar, dog tags, two identification bracelets, a basketball medal, and a pin holder. Due to the fragility of these items, permission of the manuscript curator is required to access them.

   Box 3, folders 7-8
   Box 4 (restricted)