By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Sponsored by the Friends of the Tewksbury Public Library, the Needham Free Public Library (NFPL) shared an online event in which author James L. Parr discussed his newest book “World War II Massachusetts.” 100+ live attendees gathered together online, eager to hear how those living in Massachusetts during this time were active in World War II (WWII) and its efforts.
The NFPL website went on to give a brief synopsis about Parr’s book, writing, “Over 500,000 Massachusetts residents answered the call to military duty in the Second World War, while the rest of the state's citizens fought the war on the home front. Everyone in the family, including pets, found creative and essential ways to contribute. Thousands worked in factories, volunteered for Civil Defense, watched for enemy aircraft, and took part in salvage collections and bond drives, all while dealing with rationing, blackouts, rumors and a host of other wartime inconveniences. And while thousands of service members left to fight overseas, the Bay State also welcomed thousands more to serve on its military bases that were such an important part of our nation's defense.”
Before starting his presentation, Parr prefaced that his book was more about the people who did not fight in the war and how their lives were changing because of it. This topic was rather personal to Parr and he ended up dedicating the book to his Mother and Father. “My Father was eighteen years old when he enlisted,” he stated, “and he was stationed in China and India. My mother had a very large family. She was from Mattapan and was one of seven children. I not only dedicated the book to her, but her family was very typical of families who were from Massachusetts where almost everybody was involved in the war effort in some way.”
Throughout his presentation, Parr briefly went through seven sections included within his work: Preparation, Reaction/Adaption, Participation, Fortification, Celebration/Conclusion and Personal. Each section had an array of both unique and popular stories that were seen in and around Massachusetts from 1939-1945.
A few particular stories that Parr shared that he touched upon both within the Preparation and Reaction/Adaption sections of his book were the bans and rationings that had started during WWII. Things like fireworks, electric signs and gas were banned, while shoes, bread, ice cream flavors, sugar and bicycles were rationed. While many of these bans and rations happened within Massachusetts and most likely along the East Coast, not everyone was initially aware of them.
For example, Parr shared an article that was posted in the Boston Globe during the summer of 1941 in which a group of six young men were stranded after 7pm at a Lynnfield gas station on their way home from a Red Sox game. These individuals had not heard about the gas ban that had been put into effect from 7pm to 7am and ultimately had to sleep at the station and wait for it to open the next morning.
Another interesting story that Parr shared was in relation to how he previously mentioned that all family members participated in the war efforts, including the dogs. The “Dogs for Defense” program started back in January 1942 and was the brainchild of Harry Caesar who was the President of the American Kennel Club. For this program, Caesar wanted to recruit 125,000 dogs of all breeds from the families (a.k.a they were pets) and train them to help with different war efforts on the front lines. They would be trained locally and then sent off to different military bases. According to Parr, Caesar actually received more dogs than he originally needed. People were very eagerly signing up their dog(s) for this program as an effort to try to help their soldiers come home safe and quickly. Ironically, some dogs were even returned due to them being too friendly.
All in attendance of this presentation were truly fascinated by all that Parr had shared. At the end of the event, Parr took different audience questions and received great praise for his outstanding work. For more information about his book “World War II Massachusetts,” please visit or call the NFPL.
