V-Mail (“Victory Mail”) in WW2 by Peggy Scholberg

Victory Mail (V-Mail) in WW2

During WW2, receiving mail was extremely important to military serving overseas. The amount of mail flowing back and forth internationally was massive, leaving post offices overwhelmed. An innovative approach was needed for transporting mail. The US looked to the British for answers, and modeled an approach after their “Airgraph” process, an Eastman Kodak operation. 

On June 15, 1942, the Post Office Department officially inaugurated V-Mail. The name “V-Mail” was derived from use of the “V is for Victory” symbol. President Franklin D. Roosevelt received the first official U.S. V-mail message, just three days prior, to test the system. 

Using V-Mail, instead of mailing a traditional letter, civilians and service members wrote on standardized self-folding sheets. These letters were collected, censored, and then photographed onto 16mm microfilm. Next, the tiny, lightweight film rolls were sent overseas—where it was developed and printed out on small paper sheets. These miniature letters were delivered to soldiers, sailors, airmen, and others serving in the field.

An important part of the V-Mail system was the use of a standardized stationary. A 7 by 9 inch sheet combined the letter and envelope into one piece of paper. The form was designed by the Government printing office and was provided free of charge by the Post Office. All of the paper used had to be the same size and weight so that the pages could be fed into the processing machine for microfilming. The original form could accommodate up to 700 typed words. 

The Post Office worked with the Army and Navy in the V-Mail operation. All mail was funneled thru three giant postal centers operating in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. Censors read each letter before it was filmed. A Kodak Recordak machine could film 40 letters per minute and accommodated 1600 letters per roll. After transporting to the final receiving station, the film was enlarged and printed back onto paper sheets measuring 4.25 by 5.25 inches. Film was not destroyed until it was certain that letters had reached their intended receiver.

The V-Mail system saved vital shipping space. Regular mail that would fill 37 mail bags could instead fit into 1 mail bag by using V-Mail.

The V-Mail system was free for members of the Armed Forces overseas. Civilians could send a V-Mail letter by regular mail for three cents and by airmail for six cents. 

More than a billion V-Mail letters were delivered between June 15, 1942 and November 1, 1945, when the service ended.

This photo is an actual V-Mail received by my father while serving in England from his sister in New York. Below is my interpretation.

Jan 22, 1943

To Lt. James J.R. Munro 01036314

HqVIII Fighter Command

ADO 6 37 % P.M. NYC NY

From E.M. Barbarin

127 So. 6th St. Olean, NY

Dear Jackie:

We haven’t heard from you for a quite some time. Hope you are OK. Big doings must be abroad according to all news reports. Naturally we worry but know you will come home O.K. I just couldn’t have a baby after all these years if the favorite uncle wasn’t here to pass approval on his namesake. Bunny is will but has the sniffles which keeps me busy – “Stop sniffing.” Ginger, the dog, is busy trying to eat a rug. Sandy looks on with great disgust and a growl once in a while. Jack did you ever get the socks? Butts was very pleased with the ones you sent – also my scarf. I have worn it once and every Sunday to church and of course everyone knows where it came from. Don’t forget to send a note stating you want candy – or gum – the only way we can send it is with a letter.

Bunny was promoted from Kindergarten A- to Kindergarten B-. Got a very good report card in all but music – she hasn’t impressed any but boy is she smart! “Wants to know when you get a furlough.” She hopes soon and that you get here safely – also where is her “dough.” Knows a good way to surround the enemy by herself. (Ought to rent her out to the army.)

God Be With You Jack. Love, Bess XXX Bunny

No doubt my father was delighted to hear from his family. She stated he needed to request candy for her to send it. Read in Girls in a World at War the unique ways my father, like other American soldiers, enjoyed providing games and candy to children overseas.

A letter like the above may seem harmless. Regardless, during WW2, both incoming and outgoing mail was heavily censored to prevent secrets from reaching the enemy.

Letters written by soldiers were routinely read and censored by their own commanding officers or special military units. Black ink or scissors removed secret words before taping the letters shut with official inspection tape. The U.S. Office of Censorship employed thousands of examiners to open and inspect letters and packages crossing national borders.

As an officer in the Army, my mother, alias Kathy, served as a censor for a short while when she was recovering from her illness.

The following is an excerpt from Girls in a World at War:

The next day she was put to work. Her job was to read and censor the patients’ mail. She was surprised to find just how lonely these soldiers were. Some of the letters were from patients she knew to be badly crippled, yet they were casual about their troubles. Some, from patients such as the Corporal who had measles, were too cautious, insisting military regulations would not allow him to tell them the nature of their casualty. Kathy added a note for the Corporal’s mother, “I doubt that measles constitutes a military secret, signed, the censor.” Some patients had cut large chunks out of their letters. What were they trying to do, make their letter look important, or as though it could have been long but for the censor’s scissors? Kathy was tempted to add a note, “Cut by writer, not by censor,” but decided it was his privilege to send any letter he chose. One patient enclosed sticks of gum, “One for you, Mom, and the other for the censor. Kathy took the gum, and added her “Thank you” to the end of the letter.

Duplicate letters written to several girls intrigued her. She was tempted to switch them so Mary would get Jean’s letter, and vice versa, but didn’t. Any soldier in a hospital was entitled to as many letters from as many girls as he could get. She was actually conscientious about her work, doubly so since the fighting remained fierce in the area.

Read on in Girls in a World at War to find out how others on the Hospital staff approached the censor job.

Girls in a World at War by Peggy Scholberg is available online wherever books are sold.