"Kilroy was here" (AP story, 14 Nov. 1945)

Wed Oct 3 06:29:12 UTC 2007

Over three years ago, Michael Quinion made an ADS-L post, tracking
"Kilroy was here" to the 2 December 1945 Nevada State Journal.
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I just noticed that the "First Mention" website tracks "Kilroy was
here" to the 2 December 1945 Nevada State Journal.
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However, there was a widely circulated AP story on "Kilroy" on 14
November 1945. Fred Shapiro's excellent YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS (pg.
669) gives citations of 26 June 1945 and 20 October 1945.
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"First Mention" states that Kilroy doesn't appear in STARS AND STRIPES
until 7 January 1946, but Fred Shapiro cites it from STARS AND STRIPES
on 19 August 1945. That date actually should be 18 August 1945. There
are very many cites in STARS AND STRIPES, actually.
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(FIRST MENTION)
http://firstmention.com/kilroywashere.aspx
Undoubtedly the most famous piece of graffiti in history, Kilroy Was
Here is almost synonymous with American GI's in World War II.  So much
so, it's even engraved in the World War II Memorial in Washington DC.

But tracking down the origins of this ubiquitous phrase is maddening.

There do not seem to be any WWII-era photos of the Kilroy Was Here
scribble, despite numerous pleas in military forums asking for such
photos.

Nor does the phrase show up in actual WWII newspapers or other
publications during the war. Not even the venerable Stars and Stripes
mentioned Kilroy until well after the War was over, in their January
7, 1946 issue.

The actual First Mention of Kilroy Was Here isn't until December 2,
1945 in an article from the Nevada State Journal, which attributes the
origin of the phrase to Sgt. Francis J. Kilroy.
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(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
14 November 1945, Lowell (MA) Sun, "How Kilroy Got There," pg. 4, col. 6:
20 November 1945, Portsmouth (NH) Herald, pg. 4, col. 3:
Boston (AP) -- To those men of the army air force who wondered how
"Kilroy" happened to be just ahead of them at air bases all over the
world, here's the answer!
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The army public relations office said that a friend of Sgt. Francis J.
Kilroy, Jr. of Everest, early in the war wrote on a barracks bulletin
board at Boca Raton army air field in Florida: "Kilroy will be here
next week."
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Kilroy was ill with the flu at the time.
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Later the catchy phrase was picked up by other airmen who changed it
to: "Kilroy was here," and scribbled it on air force station walls.
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Kilroy, himself, only wrote it a couple of times.
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By the time Kilroy got overseas, the public relations office said, the
thing had gotten out of hand and Kilroy even acquired a cousin.
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One sign at an Italian base said:
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"Kilroy's cousin, corduroy, was here."
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(ADS-L, 22 January 2004)
Anyone collecting folk etymologies may like to add this one, which I
found in the Nevada State Journal for 2 December 1945:

Kilroy Was Here; Mystery Message Traced to Source

EVERETT, Mass., Dec. 1. (U.P.) The mystery of world war II's most
frequently chalked inscription - "Kilroy was here" - apparently has
been solved. Veterans, who have seen that curious phrase on
buildings, aircraft fuselages and piers wherever Americans have
fought, will be happy to know that Sgt. Francis J. Kilroy, jr. 21-
year-old Everett soldier, was responsible. Now awaiting a discharge
at Davis-Monthan field, Tucson, Ariz., Kilroy informed his parents
here that while he was hospitalized earlier in the war a friend
scrawled on a bulletin board at a Florida airbase: "Kilroy will be
here next week." Airmen carried it overseas and left millions of
veterans guessing until now.

So now we know ...

--
Michael Quinion
Editor, World Wide Words
E-mail: <[log in to unmask]>
Web: <http://www.worldwidewords.org/>
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(STARS AND STRIPES)
18 August 1945, Stars and Stripes (Middle Pacific), pg. 1, col. 1:
<i>Kilroy's Fame</i>
<i>Is Earned By</i>
<i>Going To Pot</i>
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25 August 1945, Stars and Stripes (Middle Pacific) ,pg. 2, col. 3.
"Kilroy" letter.
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30 August 1945, Stars and Stripes (Middle Pacific), "Kilroy Again!",
pg. 2, col. 1.
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4 September 1945, Stars and Stripes (Middle Pacific), "Kilroy Again?",
pg. 2, col. 1:
Your story of Aug. 18 seems a bit on the inquiring side as to "Who's
Kilroy?" Well, I know Kilroy well. I assure you he's a well-bred Texas
gentleman now seeing the world at Uncle Sam's expense.
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6 September 1945, Stars and Stripes (Middle Pacific), pg. 2, col. 3:
"Kilroy ate here -- and died."
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10 September 1945, Stars and Stripes (Middle Pacific), "Kilroy's
Buddy," pg. 2, col. 1.
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14 September 1945, Stars and Stripes (Middle Pacific), "Kilroy in
Verse," pg. 2, col. 3.
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18 September 1945, Stars and Stripes (Middle Pacific), pg. 2, col. 5.
(letter about "Kilroy Puzzle")
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28 September 1945, Stars and Stripes (Middle Pacific), pg. 2, col. 4:
The Kilroy legend was started at Sheppard Field, Tex., by Staff
Sergeant Bennet. He started to write "Kilroy Was Here," "Kilroy Slept
Here," etc. Later, when we were at Kearns, Utah, a first sergeant
wanted to know who was missing from formation. Everyone yelled
"Kilroy!" The same thing happened at Ft. Lawton, out POE. We even
wrote "Kilroy" on the ship's head on our (Col. 5) way overseas. I
believe Staff Sergeant Bennet is on Saipan now, while I'm in Okinawa.
--Pfc. R. M. Belanger, APO 337
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12 November 1945, Stars and Stripes (Middle Pacific), "Kilroy's
Brother," pg. 2, col. 3.
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16 November 1945, Stars and Stripes (Middle Pacific), pg. 3, col. 4:
<i>Kilroy Found</i>
<i>-- Secret Ends</i>
Everett, Mass. (AP)...

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