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Personal info

Full name
GAULTON, John Howard
Date of birth
8 December 1922
Age
21
Place of birth
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York
Hometown
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

Military service

Service number
32796280
Rank
Corporal
Function
unknown
Unit
B Company,
60th Engineer Combat Battalion,
35th Infantry Division
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
10 October 1944
Place of death
Ajoncourt, France

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Tablets of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
John V. Gaulton (father)
Rose (McIntyre) Gaulton (mother)
Rose H. Gaulton (sister)
Helen Gaulton (sister)

More information

Cpl John H Gaulton was employed by the Todd Shipyards before he enlisted in New York City, New York on 8 February 1943.

On the night of 10 October 1944, B Company suffered the loss of 47 men in an explosiom of anti-tank mines at Ajoncourt, France. The third elements of the first platoon were engaged in a night mine laying operation just north of the town. The squad trucks loaded with mines were parked at a point just south of the town and the mines were being fused and unloaded from the trucks and carried to the mine field. At approximately 2300 hours, a terrific explosion from the leading truck which was loaded with mines caused a sympathetic detonation of a nearby truck load of mines and mines that were stacked on the ground nearby. Approximately 1,500 mines in all exploded. The entire area immediately became an inferno of exploding mines, small arms ammunition and burning vehicles.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.memorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men / Lynkowski Gretfrath Family Tree, After Action Report 35th Infantry Division, www.findagrave.com - MAJ Jimmy Cotton, www.newspapers.com - The Tablet, 10 March 1945
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - The Frogman