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name
SMITH, Paul Alton - Date of
birth
27 September 1922 -
Age
22 - Place of
birth
Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Georgia -
Hometown
Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Georgia
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
34827976 -
Rank
Private -
Function
unknown -
Unit
B Company,
60th Engineer Combat Battalion,
35th Infantry Division
-
Awards
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster
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
Charles W. H. Smith (father)
More information
Pvt Paul A. Smith attended high school for four years and worked on the family farm before he enlisted at Fort McPherson, Georgia on 2 September 1943.On the night of 10 October 1944, B Company suffered the loss of 47 men in an explosion of anti-tank mines at Ajoncourt, France. The third and 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, 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 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.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com – U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, After Action Report 35th Infantry Division, www.newspapers.com – The Atlanta Constitution 1 March 1945
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Dave Hansen