Captain William H. Smith

Captain William H. Smith, 255^th Infantry Regiment, 63^rd Infantry Division

Captain William H. Smith was born on November 28, 1920, the youngest of three children to John Seward Smith and Eva Wilds Smith.[1] His father, John Seward, was born March 3, 1892 in Benton, Florida, and his mother, Eva Wilds, was born in June 1888 in Georgia.[2] Smith’s parents were married on December 23, 1913 and lived together in Duval County, where his father worked as a sergeant for the Jacksonville Police Department.[3] He had two older siblings: a brother named John Seward Smith II, born in 1914, and a sister named Edith Smith, born in 1916.[4]

The Smith family lived at 419 Smith Street in Jacksonville, Florida, which was built in 1915.[5] William H. Smith lived in the Jacksonville house until he was nineteen years old.[6] Three days before his twentieth birthday, Smith enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private from Jacksonville, Florida.[7] He became a member of the combat infantry of the 63rd Division, 255th Infantry Regiment, which was activated on June 15, 1943 at Camp Blanding, Florida.[8] The 63rd Division earned the special designation “Blood and Fire,” a slogan designed by General Louis E. Hibbs after Prime Minister Winston Churchill coined the phrase, saying that the Axis powers would “Bleed and Burn in expiation of their crimes against humanity.”[9] During its campaign, the Division, consisting of the 253rd, 254th, and 255th Infantry Regiments, moved from the south of France through heavy fighting along the Rhine to Alsace-Lorraine.[10] The Division advanced northward into Germany and was involved in capturing Nuremburg and Munich, as well as liberating several Nazi concentration camps that were part of the Kaufering camp complex.[11]

The 255th Infantry Regiment was part of Task Force Harris, the forward element of the 63rd Division, initially tasked with protecting the east flank of the Seventh Army as it advanced north along the Rhine.[12] Task Force Harris was disbanded in late December 1944, and the 255th Division was attached to the 100th Infantry Division stationed in Bitche, France, a town on the northwestern Franco-German border.[13] Capt. William H. Smith was killed in action on January 3, 1945, in the Ardennes region, repelling German forces during Operation Nordwind, the last German offensive of the war.[14] After his death, Capt. Smith was awarded the Combat Infantrymen Badge, effective January 2, 1945, as well as a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his sacrifice.[15]

Written by Ryan Callahan

[1] U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, E.D. No. 16-50, sheet 7A, Ancestry.com, http://interactive.ancestry.com/ (accessed October 10, 2016); Ancestry.com, Cameron Family Tree comp., http://person.ancestry.com/tree/18152385/person/330006391476/story (accessed October 24, 2016).

[2] United States, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Registration Card No. 315, Ancestry.com, http://interactive.ancestry.com/ (accessed October 24, 2016); United States 1900 Census, Twelfth Census of the United States, E.D. No. 37, sheet 8, Ancestry.com, http://interactive.ancestry.com/7602/004120038_00608/ 438756?backurl=http://person.ancestry.com/tree/18152385/person/619687476/facts/citation/2956864939/edit/record (accessed October 10, 2016).

[3] Ancestry.com, Cameron Family Tree comp., John Seward Smith, http://person.ancestry.com/tree/18152385/ person/ 29806052295/facts (accessed October 10, 2016); U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, E.D. No. 68-144 , sheet 8A (College Park, MD: National Archives and Record Administration) http://1940census.archives.gov/search/?search.result_type=image&search.state=FL&search. enumeration_district=68-144#filename=m-t0627-00627-00441.tif&name=68-144&type=image&state=FL&index =15&pages=26&bm_all_text=Bookmark (accessed October 10, 2016).

[4] U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States.

[5] U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, E.D. No. 68-144 , sheet 8A (College Park, MD: National Archives and Record Administration), http://1940census.archives.gov/ search/?search.result_type=image&search.state=FL&search.enumeration_district=68-144#filename=m-t0627-00627-00441.tif&name=68-144&type=image&state=FL&index=15&pages=26&bm_all_text=Bookmark (accessed October 10, 2016); Zillow.com, 419 Smith St, Jacksonville, FL 32204, http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/419-Smith-St-Jacksonville-FL-32204/44464757_zpid/ (accessed October 24, 2016).

[6] U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Sixteenth Census of the United States.

[7] Familyrelatives.com, United States of America – World War 2 – Enlistment, http://www.familyrelatives.com/ search/us_search/detail_usawwiienlistment.php?id=2295907&page=17&fn=William+H&ln=Smith&race=White%2C+citizen&grade=&dd=&dm=&dy=&resstate=42&placeenl=&branchcode=&source= (accessed October 24, 2016).

[8] Magnus L. Froberg, William J. Scott, and Michael Baymor, The 63rd Infantry Division Chronicles, June 1943 to September 1945, Fold3.com (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1991),https://www.fold3.com/image/291/ 296505187 (accessed October 14, 2016), II.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Center of Military History, United States Army, 63rd Infantry Division, http://www.history.army.mil/html/ forcestruc/cbtchron/cc/063id.htm (accessed October 16, 2016).

[11] United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The 63rd Infantry Division, https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/ article.php?ModuleId=10006156 (accessed October 24, 2016); Fold3.com, Contributed Military Group Records comp., 63rd Infantry Division, 255th Inf Reg, 1, https://www.fold3.com/ image/291/306360857 (accessed October 24, 2016).

[12] Center of Military History, United States Army, 63rd Infantry Division.

[13] Magnus L. Froberg, II.

[14] U.S. National Archives and Record Administration, “World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army, Army Air Forces Personnel from: Florida,” (College Park, MD: National Archives and Record Administration), http://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2 /army-casualties/florida.html (accessed October 10, 2016).

[15] Fold3.com, Award of Combat Infantrymen Badge to Former Members of This Command: History of the 255th Infantry, https://www.fold3.com/image/291/306361492 (accessed October 10, 2016); Find A Grave, Capt William H Smith, http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Smith&GSfn=William&GSiman=1&GScid= 1991677&GRid=56375612& (accessed October 10, 2016).