Alberta Clarteen Bell Willis

Millions of mothers faithfully wrote to their sons who were overseas in World War II . Sadly, much of that mail was backlogged, piling up in warehouses in England. And when seven million soldiers in Europe get no mail from home it negatively impacts morale.

A young married woman from Philadelphia helped solve that problem, along with 854 other members of a predominantly Black battalion in the Women’s Army Corps. Alberta Willis had already said goodbye to her husband of five years, a Marine serving in the South Pacific. This was a chance to do her part, so she signed up.

She was one of three daughters raised in the Carroll Park neighborhood in West Philly by an insurance salesman and his wife, Peyton and Emily Bell. Alberta graduated from Overbrook High School and married Leslie Howard Willis in 1939. The 1940 census lists them in his mother’s house with three brothers and a sister.

On September 23, 1944, Alberta enlisted with the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. It was created in part to answer the demands that African American women be given the same duties as other members of the Women’s Army Corps, including serving overseas. Nicknamed the “Six Triple Eight,” they received 4-6 weeks of basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, then another four to twelve weeks for specific jobs such as medics, administrative personnel, dining hall workers, and others.

They sailed for Scotland, then came by train to Birmingham, England in February of 1945. They were met with poor working conditions at the warehouses: sacks of mail stacked to the ceiling in buildings that were not well-heated or well-lit. Six of those facilities were airplane hangars full of Christmas presents which had been returned during the Battle of the Bulge.

The plan was to divide the work among three eight-hour shifts, each working seven days a week. “No mail, low morale” was their motto and their incentive.

There had to be a system, so seven million information cards were created, with serial numbers. It all had to be alphabetized by hand. Then there was the issue of identifying mail that had been marked undeliverable. Piece by piece, they set to work. When they were at their peak in efficiency, over 65,000 pieces of mail could be processed for delivery during a single eight-hour shift.

As both females and African Americans (with a few women of Caribbean and Mexican descent), they expected some difficulties but were pleasantly surprised by the kindness of the local residents. Families invited them into their homes for tea or even a Sunday dinner. They were free to enjoy the city’s restaurants and dance halls. What prejudice they encountered came mostly from male soldiers stationed there.

Army leadership expected the backlog would take six months to clear, but the 6888th did it in three. With ingenuity, a workable strategy and commitment, their plan succeeded where previous attempts had failed. An estimated 17 million pieces of mail passed through their hands by the end of the war.

With the mission accomplished, they were transferred to Rouen, France. After joining a parade to celebrate V-E Day, they were asked to tackle a bigger backlog of mail, some over two years old. Even with help from French civilians and former German POWs, it took five months to be sorted.

By the fall of 1945 the members of the Six Triple Eight began to rotate home. Private Willis was  certainly thrilled to be discharged on Christmas Eve from Fort Dix, New Jersey. She and Leslie welcomed a baby boy, Leslie Peyton Willis, in 1947.

Unfortunately, post-war stress might have played a part in the couple’s domestic troubles. By 1950, Alberta and son were living in her childhood home with her parents at 1229 North 56th Street. Her ex-husband remarried and lived a block away at 1302 North 56th. But Alberta had a secure future, embarking on a 20-year career as a supervisor of elevator operations for the city.

In a 2002 interview with the Philadelphia Daily News, her son revealed another side of his mother as a musical prodigy. As a child, she performed on “Uncle WIP’s Children’s Hour” on WIP radio. While in uniform, she entertained where she was stationed whenever an opportunity came open. That continued in civilian life, even singing occasionally with a musical group Leslie had put together. Although Alberta never had a piano lesson, she could hear any song and then play it on the piano.

She continued to perform while she spent her last five years at a veterans home. Unfortunately, she didn’t live to receive the recognition that would eventually come to the members of her battalion. This monument was unveiled in 2018 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas where her name and 854 others are inscribed on the back.

Four years later, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, and a movie, “The Six Triple Eight,” was released theatrically in 2024 and on the Netflix streaming service.