191 tank battalion

My great-uncle was in the 191st, and was KIA in Italy on Jan. 2, 1944. Any info about his service, or the battle in which he died would be greatly appreciated.

 

What was his name?

I have two men on my list who died 2 January 1944:

T/5 Joseph R. Bailey

CPL Tyes Boven

Unfortunately, I don't have Company info. for either.


Dave

 

The January AAR states that the Bn "moved into the Naples
staging area on January 10, 1944...An all too brief period of
training had been completed near Piedimonte D'Alife on January 6."

He may have been killed in a training accident.

Have you considered requesting his IDPF?

See this thread:

Yahoo! Groups


Dave

 

Dave, Sorry, I forgot to say that it was Tyes Boven. We ( the family) were told that he died when his tank swerved to miss a child in the road. he is buried in Nettuno, Italy. and his service # is 16065590. My email is stanley.boven@trw.com. thank you.

 

I don't know what an IDPF is.

 

I understand that alot of records were lost in a fire in St. Louis. Don't know if they would have the circumstances of his death.

 

I followed your link, and will send a request and see what happens.

 

Thank you very much. I'm a Navy Vet, USS Iowa, from the late 80's, and am very proud of my families military tradition. Both of my Grandfathers were in WW2, along with 5 great-uncles. We lost the one above, and have started to try to find out what I can about his death.

 

Stanley,

I will send you all of the 191st AARs through January 1944.

They will be quite interesting I think.

By the way, your great-uncle is not listed on the Bn KIA list,
suggesting that the story of the accident may be true.

The IDPF may identify the cause of death and the circumstances.


Dave

 

Dave, I sent away today for the IDPF, and will update you whenever it does get here. Is T/5 and officer rank? Maybe the other man who died that day was with Uncle Tyes. I hope his records shed some light on this. Again, thanks for all your help.

 

This is my great uncle Tyes with his tank at some point during the war. View attachment 15541

 

I found the casualty listing for Saint Clair County, Michigan here. Your great uncle is listed in the far right column and 14th from the top. It shows him as DNB (Died Non-Combat). I know this doesn't really answer your questions, but it does confirm it was a non-combat related incident. Hopefully, the IDPF will shed a bit more light on the circumstances. I requested one recently and it took 4 months. FYI.


View attachment 15553

 

Thanks for the listing. I will post what I recieve whenever it comes.

 

You're very welcome, Brakemaker. I look forward to the update. I can tell you from personal experience that IDPF's may provide the answers you seek, but they can also generate more questions or tell you something completely unexpected.

 

Gentlemen, a little update about my research. With your help, I have recieved the S-3 journal page that covers my great-uncles death. Going to try to post it without messing it up. ( Probably have more luck if I get one of my boys to help!) I have also sent away for his personnal file, which they have told me that it will take a min. 20 weeks. Our beloved gov. at work.
Also attached is the letter the family recieved from the Army about his final internment, the information I found describing where his grave is in Italy, and another picture.

 

Thanks for the update, Jamie.

I have included that info on my 191st Casualty list.



By the way, you received the S-3 Journal from College Park in amazingly short time.


Dave

 

Thanks for sharing your great uncle's story, Jamie. I have to agree with Dave. That has to be some sort of record.