William C. Cattell Jr.
Private • U.S. Army • Serial 32068260
310th Field Artillery Battalion, 79th Infantry Division
Entered service from New Jersey • Died August 8, 1944
Buried at Brittany American Cemetery, Plot K Row 3 Grave 16, St. James, France
Introduction
Private William C. Cattell Jr. was born in New Jersey in 1913, the youngest of three sons born to William and Mary Cattell. He grew up in Wenonah, NJ, where in 1930 his father, a civil engineer, was working as the county engineer for Gloucester County, NJ. The Cattell family lived at 200 West Mantua Avenue, and in 1930 the household included older brothers Albert R. and a paternal Aunt Belle Cattell. Another older brother, Joseph, had already moved on.
By the 1940s, William Cattell Jr. had married. He and his wife Lillian had taken up residence in Brooklawn, NJ, before moving back to 210 Chestnut Street in Wenonah, NJ. He was inducted into the Army shortly after the draft was re-instituted, in February of 1941. He was assigned to the 310th Field Artillery Battalion, 79th Infantry Division. The Army reactivated the division at Camp Pickett, Virginia, on June 15, 1942, and redesignated it as the 79th Infantry Division on August 1, 1942.
The 79th Infantry Division departed the Boston Port of Embarkation on April 7, 1944, arriving in England on April 16, 1944. After crossing the English Channel, the division landed across Utah Beach, France, and attacked toward Cherbourg, reaching the outer fortifications of the fortress-city by June 20, 1944. The division began its main assault on June 22, 1944, and captured Fort du Roule on June 26, 1944.
The division later pushed down the west coast of the Cotentin Peninsula, crossed the Ay River behind the 8th Infantry Division on July 26, 1944, and sped past Le Mans on August 8, 1944. Private Cattell died on August 8, 1944, from causes not relating to enemy action.
William C. Cattell Jr. was survived by his wife Lillian Y. Cattell, his father William C. Cattell Sr. of Wenonah, NJ, and his brothers, LTJG Albert R. and Joseph Cattell. His death was reported in the August 29, 1944 edition of the Camden Courier-Post. Funeral services were held at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Westville, NJ.