| James W. Stewart left
his home in upstate New York in March 1941 with the British-American Ambulance
Corps, a group of volunteers that were going to Africa to help in the Allied
war effort. The ship he was sailing on, the Zamzam, was sunk by
a German commerce raider in the south Atlantic Ocean. After a rather harrowing
trip, Stewart and most of the rest of the corps was transported to German
occupied Europe and were interned while the Germans decided what to do with
them. Stewart and one companion escaped while being transported by train
and made it to Spain and eventually back to the United States. Before the
year was over, Stewart was on another ship, sailing in the Pacific. He had
volunteered to serve with the Flying Tigers, another group of private American
volunteers who were assisting the Chinese in their war with the Japanese.
Before Stewart could reach his destination, Pearl Harbor was bombed and
he was dropped in Australia. He eventually made it to New Guinea, where,
as a member of the Red Cross, he brought aid and comfort to front-line American
troops. This incredible and adventurous story is told in the scrapbook kept
by Stewart's family during the war of his letters, photos, and newspaper
and magazine articles. The Archives was interested in the scrapbook because
of its connection to the Zamzam
story (Collection 624). David and Marilou Stewart (David is
the son of James) generously allowed the Archives to have the scrapbook
microfilmed and the microfilm is now part of the Archives. |