Albert W. Laurie

Rank: Private First Class, U.S. Army

Serial: 32073453

Unit: Company B, 63rd Armored Infantry Battalion, 11th Armored Division

Entered service from: New Jersey

Died: January 13, 1945, Belgium

Burial: Bethel Methodist Episcopal Cemetery, Delsea Drive, Hurffville, NJ

Awards: Purple Heart

Private First Class Albert W. Laurie was born in Magnolia, NJ in 1914. He was the son of Albert I. and Edna J. Myers Laurie. In 1920 the Laurie family was still living in Magnolia, on Lincoln Avenue, and included a sister Adelina. Albert I. Laurie worked as a machinist in a machine shop. The Lauries divorced during the 1920s. By April of 1930, Edna J. Myers had moved in with her mother Addie, who owned a home on the White Horse Pike near Evesham Avenue in Magnolia. Edna and her sister Iva, who also lived there, worked at a “Vitaphone” business. He attended the Camden County Vocational School in Pennsauken, NJ.

Albert Laurie had married and worked as a packer at the Eavenson & Levering Co. in Camden, NJ. He lived with his wife Doris at 1821 South 6th Street in Camden, NJ, not far from his place of employ. He had worked at Eavenson & Levering for five years when inducted into the Army on May 7, 1941. After basic training he was assigned to the 63rd Armored Infantry Battalion, 11th Armored Division.

After training with the 11th Armored Division at Camp Polk, LA, Camp Barkeley, TX, and Camp Cooke, CA, the division went overseas on September 29, 1944. The division arrived in England on October 11, and landed in France on December 17, 1944.

The 11th Armored was immediately moved to defend the Givet–Sedan sector in response to the German offensive in the Ardennes. Moved to the vicinity of Neufchâteau on December 29, the 11th Armored attacked towards Houffalize the next day, suffering heavy losses. Further assault took the division to the Bastogne Highway, which the 11th defended until the 13th of January. On January 13, the Combat Commands A and B of the 11th Armored attacked Bertogne. The town was enveloped in fierce combat. Private Laurie was killed in action during this action on January 13, 1945.

Private Laurie was survived by his widow, Doris Laurie; his father, Albert Laurie, of Oaklyn, NJ; his mother, Mrs. Edna Keenan; and his sister, Mrs. Adaline Lavner, both of Philadelphia, PA.

In the fall of 1948, Albert Laurie was brought home to New Jersey. After a memorial service at American Legion Memorial Post 274 at Broadway and Jefferson Streets in Camden, he was buried at Bethel Cemetery on Delsea Drive in Hurffville, NJ on December 18, 1948.