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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 1st Armored Signal Battalion; 6828th Signal Service Detachment; 5th Army Group; 6th Army Group
  • Location of Service: Algeria; Italy; France
  • Highest Rank: Corporal

View full service history

"August 31, 1943: We were huddled in the darkness of the smelly hold and we could hear all the noises of combat… anti-aircraft firing, the crescendo of planes crossing over our ship, the shudder of bombs going off nearby. It hit me suddenly: this is real." (Memoir, page 1)

Henry Walker McIver enlisted in the Signal Corps in 1942, while he was in art school, and was promised that with some pre-induction training, he could secure a spot in Officer Candidate School. Instead, he found himself assigned to cryptographic repair, working with a SIGABA encoding device. In the letters that he sent to his family from Algeria, Italy, and France, he described his living conditions, his interactions with the local populations and French colonial troops, and the scenery of each place--and he began each letter with a detailed pen-and-ink sketch to accompany his narration.

Henry Walker McIver Collection
Interview / Recording

More Resources

View 53 images in sequence.
[ A Very Narrow View of World War II ]
View 9 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [December 15, 1943] ]
Transcript: XML
View 5 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [January 20, 1944] ]
Transcript: XML
View 6 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [January 24, 1944] ]
Transcript: XML
View 4 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [March 10, 1944] ]
Transcript: XML
View 4 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [June 4, 1944] ]
Transcript: XML

Show more resources (9)

View 6 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [June 26, 1944] ]
Transcript: XML
View 5 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [July 6, 1944] ]
Transcript: XML
View 5 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [July 10, 1944] ]
Transcript: XML
View 7 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [July 16, 1944] ]
Transcript: XML
View 4 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [July 22, 1944] ]
Transcript: XML
View 4 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [August 3, 1944] ]
Transcript: XML
View 11 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [September 25, 1944] ]
Transcript: XML
View 7 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [February 12, 1945] ]
Transcript: XML
View 6 images in sequence.
[ Letter to Folks [March 8, 1945] ]
Transcript: XML

About this Item

Title

  • Henry Walker McIver Collection

Names

  • McIver, Henry Walker
  • McIver, Tom

State of Birth

  • SC

Home State

  • CT

Headings

  • -  McIver, Henry Walker
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 1st Armored Signal Battalion; 6828th Signal Service Detachment; 5th Army Group; 6th Army Group
    • Location of Service: Algeria; Italy; France
    • Highest Rank: Corporal
    • Dates of Service: 1943-?
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [2 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 10/11/2009)
  • Manuscript: Biographical information [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected [1944])
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [14 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1943 - 1945)
  • Photograph: Photographic print [10 items] -- Photograph (collected 1943 - 1945)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/67942

Cite as

  • Henry Walker McIver Collection (AFC/2001/001/67942), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Mciver, Henry Walker, and Tom McIver. Henry Walker McIver Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.67942/.

APA citation style:

McIver, H. W. & McIver, T. (1943) Henry Walker McIver Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.67942/.

MLA citation style:

Mciver, Henry Walker, and Tom McIver. Henry Walker McIver Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.67942/>.