Memorial

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Pfc John B. Purdie volunteered for the Army of the United States at Camp Shelby, Mississippi on 29 August 1943.

Apparently Pfc Purdie and a couple of other men were killed when a Sherman tank, captured by the Germans, fired at them.

From the book 'Deliver us fom Darknes 'by Ian Gardner:
"The tank turned and opened fire with its machine guns before backing off a little. By that time, Purdie and Carpenter had reached the corner of the ditch and turned left towards the tank. The tank jockey knew he couldn't hit the ditch, so he began firing high explosive into the trunks of the trees behind us. Hahn was just about to crawl around the corner when the first shell slammed in. One round struck a tree close to Johnny, just as he was trying to disperse some of our guys away from the line of fire. The blast huried me out of the ditch and onto the gravel road. With no better place to go, I immediately jumped back in.... Crawling around the corner of the ditch, I discovered that both Purdie and Carpenter had been hit by shrapnel and were beyond help and could never known what hit them".

This tragic incident happened near the Van Genugten Farm.

Pfc Purdie was initially buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery of Son, The Netherlands.