This collection (1942-1999) contains papers related to the World War II service of Lt. Commander Godfrey Cheshire, Jr., in the Pacific Theatre aboard the USS Harold C. Thomas (DE-21) for which he was the commander for a year. Included are photocopies of the ship's logs for the USS Harold C. Thomas, correspondence (1990-1992) with the Destroyer Escort Commanding Officers Association about reunions, Cheshire's military records (1942-1945, 1947), photocopies of clippings and articles about the Thomas and other DEs, photocopies of certificates, photographs, and DVDs containing oral history interviews of Cheshire by family members.
Godfrey Cheshire, Jr., was born on July 17, 1918, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Godfrey Cheshire and Alice Calder Shiell Cheshire. He was raised in Raleigh, NC, and attended Sewanee Military Academy in Tennessee and North Carolina State College before graduating from University of North Carolina in 1940. Commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy in September 1941, he served in the Pacific theater during World War II on the USS Harold C. Thomas (which he commanded for a year) in Destroyer Escort 21. After the war's end he returned to his job with Superior Stone Company of Raleigh and retired in 1981 as vice president.
He married Elizabeth Sprague Silver of Raleigh in April 1949 and they had two sons Godfrey Cheshire III and Sprague Silver Cheshire and daughter Elizabeth Cheshire McOwen. Godfrey Cheshire, Jr., died on November 30, 2016, in Raleigh, NC.
This collection contains documents and photographs related to Lt. Commander Godfrey Cheshire Jr.'s service onboard USS Harold C. Thomas (DE-21). The opening documents relate to his retirement from the Navy after the Second World War and continue on with his participation in the Destroyer Escort Commanding Officers Association of World War II. This large collection of correspondence is followed by documents related to the USS Harold C. Thomas specifically, including a biography of its namesake, images and a roster of the crew, and documentation of the ship's day to day operations from 1943 to 1945. Also included are clippings and articles about the Thomas and other DEs, photocopies of certificates, photographs, and DVDs containing oral history interviews of Cheshire by family members.
February 5, 2020 (unprocessed), 1.0 cubic foot; This collection (1942-1999) contains papers related to the World War II service of Lt. Commander Godfrey Cheshire, Jr., in the Pacific Theatre aboard the USS Harold C. Thomas (DE-21) for which he was the commander for a year. Included are photocopies of the ship's logs for the USS Harold C. Thomas, correspondence (1990-1992) with the Destroyer Escort Commanding Officers Association about reunions, Cheshire's military records (1942-1945, 1947), photocopies of clippings and articles about the Thomas and other DEs, photocopies of certificates, and photographs. Gift of Elizabeth S. Cheshire.
Gift of Elizabeth S. Cheshire
Processed by Joel Cook, February 2020.
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.