Trumbull Barton Collection, 1942-1946
| Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs
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Arrangement
Abstract
Administrative/Biographical History
Trumbull Barton, often referred to as “Tug,” was born on August 8, 1917, in Worcester, Massachusetts to George Summer Barton and Elizabeth Trumbull Lincoln. Barton attended the Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut, and entered the Yale School of Drama in the fall of 1935, where he studied theater. Barton left Yale in 1937 and worked briefly for Ina Claire and Otto Preminger.
In October 1941 Barton applied to the American Field Service (AFS) as an ambulance driver, and set sail for the Middle East on the S.S. El Nil from New York the following January. In July 1942 Barton was attached to the 11 Ambulance Car Company (ACC), which was subsequently renamed the 485 Company (Coy). He was also assigned to the 15 Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) in September 1942 and later attached to the 567 ACC in April 1943. Barton was transferred to the AFS Headquarters in August 1943 before being repatriated to the United States in January 1944. He reapplied to AFS in March 1945 and served as an ambulance driver in the France-Germany Campaign before being repatriated to the United States again in June 1945. Barton was awarded the Africa Star with Eighth Army Clasp for his services with AFS during the war.
After the war, Barton was involved with the theater in London and New York City, where he lived with his partner, John McCugh. Trumbull Barton died at age 86 on October 31, 2003, in New York.
Subjects (links to similar collections)American Field Service (American Ambulance Field Service)
American Field Service--Central Mediterranean Units (CM)
American Field Service--CM 68
American Field Service--FR 8
American Field Service--France Units (FR)
American Field Service--ME 2
American Field Service--Middle East Units (ME)
Barton, Trumbull, 1917-2003
World War, 1939-1945
Yale School of Drama
Yale University
Administrative Information
The Trumbull Barton Collection includes photographs, programs, and a diary, which contains daily entries written by Barton during his first engagement with AFS beginning with his New York departure in early January 1942 and ending with his repatriation to the United States on January 2, 1944. Although Barton reapplied as an AFS ambulance driver in March 1945, the diary does not include entries from his second period of service.
The diary is a single bound volume comprised of approximately 250 handwritten pages. The daily entries shed light on Barton’s routine and social activities, personal experiences as an ambulance driver, general war conditions, and postings to Syria, Egypt, and Italy. The collection also contains a photographic reproduction of Barton taken around 1944, and loose items that were found between the back cover and last page of the diary, including a clipping from an Egyptian newspaper, photographs of Barton and other unidentified individuals, and programs from a film and orchestra collected by Barton while serving as an ambulance driver with AFS.