Letters Home, Using V-Mail

This is the continuing story of George J. Gorrell's service during World War II in the Army Air Force, stationed in England, and later in Germany.

George J. Gorrell wrote many letters to his family while in the service in England and Germany during World War II. Some of his letters have been saved and I am in the process of scanning them.[1] Most of the saved letters were written to his sister, Ada May. These were written on all different kinds of paper from newsprint to tissue-like paper. 

Letter to his sister, Ada

Other saved letters written to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Gorrell, and to his sisters, were written as V-Mail. These are small photographs of the letter he wrote.

V-Mail sent to his father

This style of mail service was inaugurated by the Post Office Department on June 15, 1942. Letters of service men were microfilmed, shipped, and then printed out for the recipient. It saved a lot of weight and space, so other things could be shipped.[2]

The paper used was distinctive: there was a place to write the message and the recipient’s name and address. The letter writer had to use dark ink or dark pencil. Instructions for sending the letter were on the reverse side. Using V-mail was the fastest way to send a letter but there was limited space and enclosures were not allowed, except photos of infants.[3]

These letters were filmed at a rate of 2000 to 2500 an hour and about 1600 letters could fit on one roll. Military personnel who censored letters could decide whether the letter was filmed or mailed in the original form. The example in George’s papers meant it was sent in original form.[4]

Letters sent by servicemen and women didn’t need a stamp. They just wrote “free” on the envelope where the stamp goes. Civilians sent their mail by surface mail for three cents and by airmail for six cents to domestic V-mail stations.[5]

George didn’t appear to have saved the letters sent to him by his parents or sisters, Bertha, Ada May, and Clara. At least, they are not in his papers.

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[1] Gorrell Family Papers, archived by Thelma N. Gorrell; privately held by Lisa S. Gorrell.

[2] “V-Mail,” Historian, U.S. Postal Service, 2008, https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/v-mail.pdf.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

Copyright © 2020 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.