Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until November 2, 1944, 1 year and 1 day after he went missing as was the custom.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
William served as a Private First Class, 3rd Marine Division, U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
He resided in New York prior to the war.
William was declared "Missing In Action" on the first day of the Battle of Bougainville during the war.
He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 518139
William also has a "Cenotaph" in the Oak Hill Cemetery, Southington, Connecticut with his parents.
" Click Here " for that record.
Bio by:
Russell S. "Russ" Pickett
~~~~~~~~~~
BOUGAINVILLE 01 NOVEMBER 1943, CAPE TOROKINA LANDINGS (Blue Beach 1) – “…Having passed Puruata Island safely, boats of the 1st Battalion, 3d Marines approached their beaches on the western side of Cape Torokina, only to be taken once again under machine-gun and rifle fire, this time from positions on the Cape itself. These positions were in well concealed log and sand bunkers, many of which were joined by connecting trenches. On the northwest shoulder of the cape, on the Raider's beach, a 75mm Mountain gun was emplaced in a coconut log and sand bunker, protected by interconnected rife positions. The area to seaward from the Cape past Puruata Island and the channel to the north was covered. As the boats came into range, this gun began to fire at them, and succeeded in destroying about four and damaging ten others with 50 high explosive shells.
Typical of all these boats was No. 21, of the Adams. Embarked were Lieutenants Byron A. Kirk and Harris W. Shelton, with two squads of Kirk's 2d Platoon, Company C; a detachment of 1st Battalion Headquarters Company; and a demolition squad, Company C, 19th Marines. Less than 20 seconds before this boat was to reach the beach, three shells from the Japanese 75 hit the boat in rapid succession. The first shell killed the coxswain and put the boat out of control, while the second and third shells killed both lieutenants and 12 enlisted men, while wounding 14 others…Only four or five of the wounded survived. Source: Bougainville and the Northern Solomons, Historical Section, Headquarters United States Marine Corps (1948The Battery Press, Nashville TN), pages 26-27.
Private First Class William Upson Bailey was one of those killed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
William served as a Private First Class, 3rd Marine Division, U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
He resided in New York prior to the war.
William was declared "Missing In Action" on the first day of the Battle of Bougainville during the war.
He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 518139
William also has a "Cenotaph" in the Oak Hill Cemetery, Southington, Connecticut with his parents.
" Click Here " for that record.
Bio by:
Russell S. "Russ" Pickett
~~~~~~~~~~
BOUGAINVILLE 01 NOVEMBER 1943, CAPE TOROKINA LANDINGS (Blue Beach 1) – “…Having passed Puruata Island safely, boats of the 1st Battalion, 3d Marines approached their beaches on the western side of Cape Torokina, only to be taken once again under machine-gun and rifle fire, this time from positions on the Cape itself. These positions were in well concealed log and sand bunkers, many of which were joined by connecting trenches. On the northwest shoulder of the cape, on the Raider's beach, a 75mm Mountain gun was emplaced in a coconut log and sand bunker, protected by interconnected rife positions. The area to seaward from the Cape past Puruata Island and the channel to the north was covered. As the boats came into range, this gun began to fire at them, and succeeded in destroying about four and damaging ten others with 50 high explosive shells.
Typical of all these boats was No. 21, of the Adams. Embarked were Lieutenants Byron A. Kirk and Harris W. Shelton, with two squads of Kirk's 2d Platoon, Company C; a detachment of 1st Battalion Headquarters Company; and a demolition squad, Company C, 19th Marines. Less than 20 seconds before this boat was to reach the beach, three shells from the Japanese 75 hit the boat in rapid succession. The first shell killed the coxswain and put the boat out of control, while the second and third shells killed both lieutenants and 12 enlisted men, while wounding 14 others…Only four or five of the wounded survived. Source: Bougainville and the Northern Solomons, Historical Section, Headquarters United States Marine Corps (1948The Battery Press, Nashville TN), pages 26-27.
Private First Class William Upson Bailey was one of those killed.
Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until November 2, 1944, 1 year and 1 day after he went missing as was the custom.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
William served as a Private First Class, 3rd Marine Division, U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
He resided in New York prior to the war.
William was declared "Missing In Action" on the first day of the Battle of Bougainville during the war.
He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 518139
William also has a "Cenotaph" in the Oak Hill Cemetery, Southington, Connecticut with his parents.
" Click Here " for that record.
Bio by:
Russell S. "Russ" Pickett
~~~~~~~~~~
BOUGAINVILLE 01 NOVEMBER 1943, CAPE TOROKINA LANDINGS (Blue Beach 1) – “…Having passed Puruata Island safely, boats of the 1st Battalion, 3d Marines approached their beaches on the western side of Cape Torokina, only to be taken once again under machine-gun and rifle fire, this time from positions on the Cape itself. These positions were in well concealed log and sand bunkers, many of which were joined by connecting trenches. On the northwest shoulder of the cape, on the Raider's beach, a 75mm Mountain gun was emplaced in a coconut log and sand bunker, protected by interconnected rife positions. The area to seaward from the Cape past Puruata Island and the channel to the north was covered. As the boats came into range, this gun began to fire at them, and succeeded in destroying about four and damaging ten others with 50 high explosive shells.
Typical of all these boats was No. 21, of the Adams. Embarked were Lieutenants Byron A. Kirk and Harris W. Shelton, with two squads of Kirk's 2d Platoon, Company C; a detachment of 1st Battalion Headquarters Company; and a demolition squad, Company C, 19th Marines. Less than 20 seconds before this boat was to reach the beach, three shells from the Japanese 75 hit the boat in rapid succession. The first shell killed the coxswain and put the boat out of control, while the second and third shells killed both lieutenants and 12 enlisted men, while wounding 14 others…Only four or five of the wounded survived. Source: Bougainville and the Northern Solomons, Historical Section, Headquarters United States Marine Corps (1948The Battery Press, Nashville TN), pages 26-27.
Private First Class William Upson Bailey was one of those killed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
William served as a Private First Class, 3rd Marine Division, U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
He resided in New York prior to the war.
William was declared "Missing In Action" on the first day of the Battle of Bougainville during the war.
He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 518139
William also has a "Cenotaph" in the Oak Hill Cemetery, Southington, Connecticut with his parents.
" Click Here " for that record.
Bio by:
Russell S. "Russ" Pickett
~~~~~~~~~~
BOUGAINVILLE 01 NOVEMBER 1943, CAPE TOROKINA LANDINGS (Blue Beach 1) – “…Having passed Puruata Island safely, boats of the 1st Battalion, 3d Marines approached their beaches on the western side of Cape Torokina, only to be taken once again under machine-gun and rifle fire, this time from positions on the Cape itself. These positions were in well concealed log and sand bunkers, many of which were joined by connecting trenches. On the northwest shoulder of the cape, on the Raider's beach, a 75mm Mountain gun was emplaced in a coconut log and sand bunker, protected by interconnected rife positions. The area to seaward from the Cape past Puruata Island and the channel to the north was covered. As the boats came into range, this gun began to fire at them, and succeeded in destroying about four and damaging ten others with 50 high explosive shells.
Typical of all these boats was No. 21, of the Adams. Embarked were Lieutenants Byron A. Kirk and Harris W. Shelton, with two squads of Kirk's 2d Platoon, Company C; a detachment of 1st Battalion Headquarters Company; and a demolition squad, Company C, 19th Marines. Less than 20 seconds before this boat was to reach the beach, three shells from the Japanese 75 hit the boat in rapid succession. The first shell killed the coxswain and put the boat out of control, while the second and third shells killed both lieutenants and 12 enlisted men, while wounding 14 others…Only four or five of the wounded survived. Source: Bougainville and the Northern Solomons, Historical Section, Headquarters United States Marine Corps (1948The Battery Press, Nashville TN), pages 26-27.
Private First Class William Upson Bailey was one of those killed.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
