Merl H. Reagle

Private, U.S. Army
Serial: 32487247
853rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation

Entered the Service from: New Jersey
Died: November 27, 1943
Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at North Africa American Cemetery
Carthage, Tunisia

Awards: Purple Heart

Merl H. Reagle was born to Edward Fisher Reagle and his wife Nettie in June of 1922. He was the sixth of eight children, five of them boys. At the time of his birth, the Reagle family was living in Marlton, New Jersey. Edward Reagle engaged in farming in the area around Kresson Lake, and the family moved several times in the 1920s and early 1930s, with stops on Berlin Road in Lindenwold and in Laurel Springs, New Jersey. The family then moved to the 200 block of East Maple Avenue in Lindenwold, where they occupied a home in the middle of the block, before moving to the house next door, on the corner of East Maple and Walnut.

Merl’s father continued in farming, and operated fish and farm markets at locations on the White Horse Pike and on Stone Road in Laurel Springs. Merl attended Haddon Heights High School, and also played baseball and football for local sports teams.

Merl was drafted in January 1943, and was assigned along with many other area men to the 853rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation, where he trained in the South in the construction of airbases.

In November 1943, Merl Reagle and his comrades shipped out to North Africa, where they were to continue on through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal to India, where they were to construct airbases to support the war effort in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations.

On November 26, 1943, Merl Reagle and the 853rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation sailed out of Oran, Algeria on the British-owned and operated transport ship, HMTS Rohna. Later that day, the convoy was attacked by German aircraft. After initially beating off the attack, another German plane approached the convoy and launched a new weapon — a radio-controlled glider bomb, in essence the world’s first guided missile.

The Rohna was struck by the missile, which blew a hole through both sides of the ship, killing 300 Americans immediately, many of them members of the 853rd Engineers. Merl Reagle most likely met his fate there. The ship quickly sank, and over 1,000 Americans were lost in the ensuing hours.

The sinking of the Rohna was kept secret from the public during the war for reasons of wartime security. Sadly, the government waited over 50 years before declassifying the story, and the families of those lost on the Rohna were never told the truth of their loved ones’ fate. Only in the 1990s, due to efforts of survivors of the sinking, was any official acknowledgement made.

Twelve men from Camden County, New Jersey were lost on the Rohna, along with many others from the area. To learn more about the tragedy, visit the Camden County NJ Internet HMTS Rohna Memorial.

Former Camden Resident, Holder of Six Awards, Among New Casualties

Shiloh Flier Listed Downed in Europe

Fifteen South Jersey men were among the 1,511 reported by the War Department today as killed in action on the six fighting fronts. Two others from this area are reported missing.

Killed:
Staff Sergeant Ronald J. Pearce, of 330 Delancey Street, Philadelphia, formerly of 3404 Federal Street, Camden.
Private First Class Charles La Porta, of 142 Chestnut Street, Williamstown.
Private Frank Ballerino, of 2004 South 10th Street, Camden.
Sergeant Elmer F. Day, of 521 Lexington Avenue, Merchantville.
Corporal William T. Eastlack, of 142 I Street, Carney’s Point.
Private Clarence T. Jaggers, of Columbia Road and St. James Walk, National Park.
Sergeant Carl E. Johanson, of 5019 Jefferson Avenue, Pennsauken.
Corporal Steven V. Koscianski, of 966 Bulson Street, Camden.
Private First Class William R. McKeon, of Pine Avenue, Blackwood.
Sergeant Andrew W. Olsen, of Dorothy.
Corporal Aldo Steffanice, of 74 Norman Avenue, Pennsgrove.
Private First Class John A. Landicina, of 402 Southeast Avenue, Vineland.
Michael Carr, of 1059 Everett Street, Camden.
Captain Carlton P. Hogan, of 207 East Union Street, Burlington.
Corporal Millard E. Buckingham, of 38 Grant Street, Deepwater.

Missing:
Lt. Robert Probasco, of Shiloh.
Lt. John Ruggiero, of Bridgeboro Road, Beverly.

3 On Troopship Lost

Ballerino, Koscianski, and Carr are believed to have met their fates on the same transport. War Department telegrams to families of all three men reveal that each was a passenger on a troopship that was lost due to enemy action in the Mediterranean on Nov. 27, 1943. All have been awarded Purple Hearts.

This was the closest that the general public got to the truth of the matter. As a matter of fact, 12 of the fifteen men listed above were on that transport, the HMTS Rohna. Five other Rohna victims were also on the War Department casualty lists for that day.

The following reported as dead in today’s official casualty list were previously reported as missing: Sergeant Day, Private Jaggers, Corporal Koscianski, Private McKeon, and Private Steffanice.

Also listed as dead in today’s official casualty list but previously reported in these columns are: Private Michael Yachus, 679 Ferry Avenue, Camden; Joseph H. Johnson, 1273 South Merrimac Road, Camden; Private Harry V. Taylor, 3 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield; Private Merl H. Reagle, Maple Avenue, Lindenwold; Private Jacob K. Jenkins, Marne Highway, Mt. Holly, formerly of Pennsauken; Private Harry E. Harker, 6 Beach Avenue, Blackwood; PFC Jack S. Dubois, Church Street, Williamstown; and Charles R. Stewart Jr., 319 Linden Street, Camden.