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name
SMOLINSKI, Leo Edward - Date of
birth
28 May 1923 -
Age
21 - Place of
birth
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York -
Hometown
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
32796578 -
Rank
Private First Class -
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
Peter Smolinski (father)
Nellie (Dombrowski) Smolinski (mother)
Stanley Smolinski (brother)
Edmund T. Smolinski (brother)
More information
Pfc Leo E. Smolinski was employed at the General Office Record Bookbings Company before he enlisted in New York City, New York on 8 February 1943.On the night of 10 October 1944, B Company B 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 / 1940 Census / Manley Family Tree, After Action Report 35th Infantry Division
Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Dave Hansen