Throwback Thursday - The Notebooks

A group of men discussed the European war in front of the Parkman Bandstand
from Census Records Bring 1940s Boston to Life
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/07/05/census-records-bring-life-distant-time/rQ5oOavtT0ySznXx4VAd4O/picture.html

 To clear up some confusion, the Notebook passages posted on Throwback Thursday were written by my father and found by me after he passed away. They were his attempt to tell the family history. He was in his late 80s or early 90s when he wrote them. Today's chapter:

On Saturday evenings I would leave Waltham for my visit to East Boston. Sunday Monday. Tuesday morning I would leave early to get to work.

Sometime in August of 1939 when Mary happened to come by she invited me to her 21st birthday. But I did not go. At the time my interest was in Betty.

On Sept. 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland thus starting WWII. And Sept 3rd 1939 France declared war against Germany.

The Germans disposed of the French in a matter of weeks. At that time the British were also fighting the Germans on the sea side. Things got to the point that the British should get their troops out of the main land of Europe. They didn't have enough vessels to do the job and word went from the Government that it needed citizens who own power boats to volunteer.The response was great. The citizens did a great job. Some vessels were damaged as they had to get into dangerous waters. It was a great feat. The British got all of their army out of France.

The French surrendered under German conditions. And the French and most of Europe came under control of the Germans. Italy was an ally of Germany and it did not sit well in the USA. And the Government became leery of its US citizens.

From time to time I began seeing Betty. And after each date we seemed to get closer together. At time Charlie would leave the Club in charge of one of our staff. I would invited Doris to go to the movies with me. She accepted.

Throughout this period the Government did a number of things. One was that all 21 to 35 year old males were to register for military duty. Everyone who registered was given a number. And numbers were pulled every now and then. At the same time, Land Lease went into actions and the USA gave Great Britain something like 60 destroyers.

Economically things also began to pick up. The German also declared war on Russia and we helped them [ed: Russia] as well as other allies.

My job in the Fall go to the point where I had to do janitorial work as well as working as a teacher in the afternoon.

I began seeing Betty more and we began to slowly get serious.

The draft did not bother me at the time since I would be 21 in March 1940.

In the Winter of 1939, I got a raise and it helped a lot. I was able to save more and also help pay Danucci, the grocer, a bill that my mother had run up. I also registered with Calvin Coolidge College for courses on Monday. I had 2 or 3 courses. Each aimed at social work. I was doing well.

I moved up to Assistant Director at the Club. I had a budget to order games, hold staff meetings, and training them.