William B. Turner
We continue right on through WW1 with a vengeance this week, and will carry on through February with it as well, as we compare the actions of some well known heroes with those less so but who did things just as spectacular. This week however, we are featuring a single officer of the 27th Division. The 27th was one of two US divisions with the British during the war, and our fellow here shows exactly what the American fighting man was capable of in 1918.
Making a difference… sometimes it involves the last of what you have to give.
Make the most of your day!
RJL
TURNER, WILLIAM B.
Rank and Organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army 105th Infantry, 27th Division. Place and Date: Near Ronssoy, France, 27 September 1918. Entered Service At: Garden City, N.Y. Birth: Boston, Mass. G. O. No.: 81, W.D., 1919.
Citation:
He led a small group of men to the attack, under terrific artillery and machinegun fire, after they had become separated from the rest of the company in the darkness. Single-handed he rushed an enemy machinegun which had suddenly opened fire on his group and killed the crew with his pistol. He then pressed forward to another machinegun post 25 yards away and had killed 1 gunner himself by the time the remainder of his detachment arrived and put the gun out of action. With the utmost bravery he continued to lead his men over 3 lines of hostile trenches, cleaning up each one as they advanced, regardless of the fact that he had been wounded 3 times, and killed several of the enemy in hand-to-hand encounters. After his pistol ammunition was exhausted, this gallant officer seized the rifle of a dead soldier, bayoneted several members of a machinegun crew, and shot the other. Upon reaching the fourth-line trench, which was his objective, 1st Lt. Turner captured it with the 9 men remaining in his group and resisted a hostile counterattack until he was finally surrounded and killed.
