USS Henry R. Mallory

There's a little bit of Marine Corps in Cambridge, England.

While visiting the American Cemetery in Cambridge, the last thing I expected to find was a list of Marines on the wall of remembrance. The cemetery holds over 8,000 men and women from a variety of nations who died while serving in the US Armed Forces during the war - most are merchant seamen or aircrew; some are infantry or engineers who were wounded in Europe and died after evacuation; a surprising number are what the government refers to as "DNB" - died, non-battle, meaning a disease or accident took their lives. Those to me are some of the saddest, and when you read about them - an experienced C47 crew who dropped paratroopers in France and Holland crashes because of an improperly secured load, a B17 transporting men for a three-day leave in Ireland suffers a mechanical failure and kills 31, a B24 making an emergency landing due to horrible weather crashes into a snack bar and elementary school in Freckleton and kills 91 people (including most of the town's children) - they seem much more tragic, for some reason.

At any rate, I had not expected to find any Marines over here, but here they were on the wall of missing. A little research shows that they were all casualties of the sinking of the USS Henry R. Mallory in February, 1943. The Mallory was part of a convoy bound for Iceland; she carried troops headed for England as well as a cargo of other military goods. The convoy had already sustained several losses by the time the Mallory was hit. A torpedo from U-240 hit the ship at the Number 3 Hold - where the enlisted Marines were quartered. Of the detachment of 72 Marines aboard, only 17 were rescued. Some of their stories can be read here:
http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cacunithistories/hr_mallory_stories.htm

Of the men listed here, only Hobbins, Bennett, and Miller are listed as having died in the sinking on February 7, 1943; the rest were listed as missing until declared dead on February 8, 1944. It seems likely that these three were rescued and died while receiving treatment. The bodies of the rest were never found.

1Lt Paul Wilson Wolfe.
O-011674
Marshalltown, IA

2Lt Harry M. Hobbins Jr.
O-011487
IL

Sgt George Andrew Yanek
260175
Youngstown, OH

Cpl Floyd W. Jerkins
302333
GA

PFC Willie E. Jenkins
427772
Birmingham, AL

Pvt Joseph Ahart
502053
Paterson, NJ

Pvt Roscoe Harrison Albaugh
487405
Akron, OH
March 13, 1924 - February 7, 1943

Pvt Arthur A. Bennett
325361
TX

Pvt Joseph Alfred Buono
502019
Brooklyn, NY

September 30, 1924 - February 7, 1943
Buono worked as a stevedore and survived the sinking of the Normandie in 1942. He had just completed boot camp; his first assignment was shipping out on the Mallory.

Pvt Edward Charles Cobb
431927
Cincinnati, OH
April 27, 1924 - February 7, 1943

Pvt George Donald Dunfee
445788
Belmont, OH

Pvt Melville Bates Eaton
390960
Boston, MA

Pvt Lawrence W. Famularo
464352
Oswego, NY

1925-1943

Pvt Martin Charles Finn
429531
Newfane, NY


Pvt Elmer Munice Frye
470829
Greensboro, NC

Pvt Harry Eugene Gehret
376443
Philadelphia, PA

Pvt Boyd W. Heckathorn
487406
Findlay, OH

Pvt Edwin Lester Hunt
345006
Kingston, OH

Pvt James R. Jennings
363944
TN

Pvt Robert David King
353670
Kalamazoo, MI

Pvt Alvin Laibman
479151
Pittsburgh, PA

Pvt Lawrence Allen Lott
244179
McKeesport, PA

Pvt Joseph Henry Maujer
473313
Brooklyn, NY

Pvt John W. Miller Jr
489465
Highland Park, PA

Pvt William R. Potts
311934
Bridgton, ME

Pvt William R. Roach
432772
Pittsburgh, PA

Pvt Harry John Rogowski
482266
Buffalo, NY

Pvt John Frederick Sopp
347117
NY

Pvt Stephen A. Surina
411866
Jamesville, NY

Pvt David McClain Weaver
479153
South Fork, PA

Web Updates

In the ongoing effort to expand the site to contain the experiences of all of First Battalion, I've been working on some new daily narratives of the battles. Baker Company now has a full set of entries for the battles of Namur and Saipan, which may be accessed here:

http://ablecompany24.com/CAMPAIGNS/CAMPAIGN%20HOME.html

Also, while working on these updates, I came across some very exciting news. Despite the proliferation of cameramen attached to the various combat arms, it is usually nearly impossible to identify individual people. I've thought many times that I could see someone from Company A in an action photo taken on Saipan or Iwo Jima, but often that's just wishful thinking. However, one Baker Company marine caught the eye of a LIFE Magazine photographer on July 8, 1944, and became one of the iconic faces of the war. His name was Thomas Ellis Underwood, a twenty-two year old fire team leader from St. Petersburg, Florida.


Here he is in two more recognizable shots. The first one was recently made into a stamp:

http://www.life.com/image/50693676
http://www.life.com/image/50585247

Interestingly, some doubt has been cast on the identity of the man in the picture. The family of Army Special Forces Sergeant Angelo Klonis believes he is the man pictured; they have spent several years attempting to prove their case. It is an interesting story, recorded here:
http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0510/swanson.html

I am of the opinion that the original caption is correct. In his notes, famed photographer W. Eugene Smith wrote that "I believe that the images 6-8 on Roll 10 on July 8, final days of Saipan Invasion, were 4th Division Marine PFC T. E. Underwood (24th Bat.) of St. Petersburg, Florida. A portrait of a weary warrior who has been through one of the toughest days of his life. And still at the moment the picture was taken under fire." Despite the error of substituting "Battalion" for "Regiment," the rest of the information is correct. Further, the caption below the first photograph cites that the image was taken on July 8, while fighting for the beaches "below Saipan's Mt. Marpi." Baker Company was heavily engaged on those beaches on that date; the battalion took some of their heaviest casualties of the campaign while there. Finally, the man in the photograph is wearing Marine HBTs, a camouflaged helmet cover (a unique Marine trait) and appears to have a Globe & Anchor stenciled on the helmet. Unfortunately his pack covers the pocket where the USMC emblem would be stenciled on his blouse. While it is possible that an Army special ops unit would have worn other uniform pieces, it does not explain why they would have been attached to a Marine unit on a routine advance. Furthermore, no documentation of Louvris' service has been located that proves his deployment to Saipan.

"Ellis" Underwood was promoted to corporal ten days after this photograph was taken; he died on March 4, 1945, while fighting for Iwo Jima. Charles Butler, a volunteer from FindAGrave.com took a picture of his headstone in St. Petersburg's Sunnyside Cemetery and reported on other family graves nearby - his older brother George had been in the Army and died in 1957; his mother Cora died in 1946; father George is also buried nearby, having died in 1959. The last of Ellis' many siblings died in 2000, possibly never knowing of their brother's prominence.

It's easy to imagine that they did not recognize him. Ellis sat for the left-side picture in 1943, before months of hardship and combat took their toll.