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Click on the image for full-size image. Capt. Dudley J. Britton was the company commander of Company "B" of 23rd Armored Infantry Battalion when B/23 from September 1943 until 1 September 1944, when he was sent sick to an evacuation hospital. On 16 November 1944, at Ekkelrode, Netherlands, he returned from the 8th Convalescent Hospital to duty and to command of B/23. On 15 August 1944, B/23 was given a mission of circling around Chartres, France from the southwest and then attacking north into the city from the south. However, their maps were not adequate, and when they reached the point where they were supposed to turn left (north), they turned right and drove many miles to the south until they were ambushed at the town of Marboué with heavy casualties and loss of vehicles. In August 2009, area WWII historian Jean-Pierre Noeljean sent the above photograph. The bag had been found -- in excellent condition -- in an old house at Marboué. |
Click on the image for full-size image. On 15 September 1944, at Vittonville, France, three men of Company "C" of 23rd Armored Infantry Battalion went Missing in Action, though that was not officially recognized until 18 September. One of those men was Pfc. Kyle Galyean. C/23 had experienced heavy artillery the entire day, with some small arms opposition. C/23 had a mission to cross the Moselle River that day and move on. There is no record of who recovered his remains, but he was apparently not recovered until 22 or 23 September - a week after he had been killed. He was buried at the temporary US Military Cemetery at Andilly, France. His sister Blanche Jennings was his next of kin, and she decided that his final resting place should be in France. Thus in July 1947, he was exhumed and reburied in the permanent Lorraine US Military Cemetery at St. Avold, France. In October 2008, area WWII historian Jean Laurent found a US soldier's helmet near Vittonville and contacted 7th Armored Division Association Historian & Web Master Wesley Johnston, sending the above two photographs. The key to identifying the helmet is on the strap at the back of the helmet, where G-4483 can still be seen faintly. Soldiers would identify their belongings by using the first letter of their last name and the last four digits of their Army Serial Number. Kyle Galyean's serial number was 34 254 483. So Wesley Johnston's search of his files for the G-4483 combination very quickly revealed that it was Kyle Galyean's helmet. Once Jean Laurent learned that Kyle Galyean was buried at St. Avold, he adopted his grave to become the caretaker to honor the memory and sacrifice of Kyle Galyean. Clearly the hole in the back of the helmet is ominous. The exact cause of Kyle Galyean's death was never determined. However, the condition of his remains was recorded when he was exhumed for transfer to his final burial. And they bear testimony to a sudden violent death: "Crushed skull. All major bones fractured and/or missing, except left humerus, right radius and left radius, left ulna and right ulna, and left clavicle." |
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