When I Think Back: The War Letters of Fitje Pitts: 1943-1945

by Mr Tilghman G Pitts III

When I Look Back is a collection of letters written from Europe during World War II by Red Cross volunteer Fitje Pitts. Fitje, a 1939 graduate of Smith College, served on USAAF bomber bases in England, France and Belgium from July 1943 until November 1945. She sailed to war on the Queen Mary in June 1943; Kathleen Kennedy was one of her cabin mates. Fitje packed a lot into her twenty-nine months in Europe. Her first flight was in a B-17 Bomber, she was in London when V-2 Rockets fell, and along the way, accumulated at least three lovers. Before sailing to England the only times she had been out of the United States were during Prohibition when her father took the family from their summer cottage in Maine across the border into Canada to buy liquor. Before returning to the United States she traveled to England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Czechoslovakia, Germany and Switzerland. She rested on the Riviera, flew into war-ravaged Berlin, and smelled the “peculiar sweet smell of death.” The letters are a historical treasure trove. They are about life on bomber bases during World War II, the pilots, flight and ground crews. They are a unique look at war as told through the pen of a young woman and Red Cross volunteer. The letters are funny and they are sad. They are about friends and lovers. They are about danger, but never about fear.

282 pages, Paperback

Published September 5, 2018

Reviews

[Chuck Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I Think Back, The War Letters of Fitje Pitts is challenging and rewarding. The book has a lot to offer but the reader has to step back to see the forest for the trees of the individual letters. Reflection allows the reader time to understand how important the letters were both for the recipients and the writer. The importance of connection in wartime, both to those around you and those at home, continues. When I Think Back is a wonderful example of someone trying to maintain those connections.

When I Think Back works on several levels. On one level the book is about Red Cross clubs and the service they provided in WWII, giving GIs a place to gather, relax, talk and escape the stress of the realities of war. It is also about the trials and rewards of running a club, as Fitje Pitts did. This level is the easiest to access.

On another level the book is the story of the impact of wartime service on a relatively young, upper middle class, single woman working for the Red Cross. Reading the letters faithfully in the order presented reveals Fitje Pitts growing in self-confidence, independence and self-awareness. She is a woman, among a small handful of females, living and working with hundreds of soldiers,while running a club in a wartime economy. Fitje needs to deal with GIs of all ranks and backgrounds, her staff of locals and the challenges of being in a world with air raids, rationing and limited availability of the comforts (like baths) she took for granted in the US. She grows not only to accept but even to embrace the challenges and deprivation she shares with those around her. She not only accepts but delights in the diversity of backgrounds she encounters, both among the GIs and among the locals.

On yet another level the book helps the reader feel the frustration created by wartime censorship of letters from Europe. The letters seem chatty rather than newsy with no substantive news about where the writer was and what military activities were going on around her. The frustration clearly was felt by Fitje’s family and friends. It msut be the same frustration felt by all the families at home hoping for news from their loved ones serving overseas. The letters present a lot of opportunities to read between the lines, just as all the readers on the homefront must have.