Uncle Bob's Legacy

Summer of '38...

Journey to Europe
(Aboard the ship "Europa"...
As written in Robert McGill's June - August 1938 Diary.)

The band members that I have identified in the photo below played in a dance band in third class and tourist with my Uncle Bob aboard the ship "Europa" during the Summer of '38 voyage to Europe.

I have recently found some more pics of that trip to Europe. I will try to get them scanned and added ASAP, but meanwhile, bookmark this site and keep checking back as we progress towards that future date.

Click photo to the left to view larger version of the Kemper Cadet Dance Band.
Wm. Nelson Gibbens, Oklahoma City, OK, backrow, sax
Phillips Brooke "PB" Gentry, piano, Clarendon, TX;
Floyd Houston Huddleston, left-front sax, Leland, Miss.;
William Olus Greer, front-center, sax;
Robert McGill (on left-front, cornet).

The following story was compiled by Robert Lee McGill "June thru August 1938 Diary" that he kept on his voyage to Europe two years before America got involved in WWII.

When he arrived in New York June 27, 1938 he wrote a letter to his Mother while waiting for his friends to show up. I have included it with his diary. Look for "Letter to Mom".

Robert (Bob McGill) and some of his buddies (PB Gentry, Bill Gibbens, Floyd H. Huddelston, and Wm. Olus Greer) met in Oklahoma City June 20th and Gibben's parents took them to Boonville. They arrived in Boonville on the 21st June and left for in New York on the 24th June. See Bill's letter to Bob dated June 13, 1938. The boys then boarded a boat (Europa) on June 27, 1938 and landed in Bremen, Germany on July 8, 1938.

Bob and his friends played in a dance band that played in 3rd Class and Tourist Class. My Uncle Bob played the cornet (trumpet) and some of his Kemper friends referred to him as "Swingman".

I really don't have that many memories of my Uncle Bob, because he died of lung cancer February 21, 1954. I would have been almost six years old when my Uncle Bob died. I've been told that Uncle Bob contracted lung cancer after he came back from his tour of duty in WWII. Bob McGill was only thirty-eight (37 going on 38) years old when he died.

He had been married twice. His first wife was Helen Louise Soper (I have seen her name spelled as "Soaper") whom he married (June, 1944) just before he was sent overseas in WWII. While Bob was overseas during the WWII, Helen moved in with Bob's Mother in Alva, Oklahoma. Helen and Bob got divorced June 22, 1948. As far as I know Helen is still alive and living in or around Houston, Texas.

His second wife was Felicia Monfort, a doctor. They were married 21 June 1950 until Bob died February 21, 1954. Felicia later moved out to California and died in the Summer of 1992 or 1993.

I hope you enjoyed finding out and reading about my family. I would loved to hear from you. Contact me by Email at paristimes@earthlink.net.

Uncle Bob's Legacy

Summer of '38...

Journey to Europe (Aboard the ship "Europa"... As written in Robert McGill's June - August 1938 Diary.)

Journey to Europe
(Aboard the ship "Europa"...
As written in Robert McGill's June - August 1938 Diary.)