PVT Robert F. Britt
We honor and remember PVT Robert Francis Britt of Service Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division.
Private (PVT) Robert Francis Britt of Service Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 101st Airborne Division, was born in Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, to Michael J. and Sarah (Belson) Britt on April 15, 1922. Robert was part of a good-sized family with four boys and five girls. Robert’s brothers were Joseph M., Edward L., and James M. Britt, and his sisters were Mary E., Mabel F., Madeline, Doris C., and Helen Britt.
Robert signed up for the draft in Waltham, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, on June 30, 1942. He was employed by Greenough Bros., a local construction company in Waltham, when he signed up.
He married Dorothy Elaine Bond at an unknown date that same year, and their marriage was blessed with a girl, Nancy, who was born on June 28, 1943.
A couple of months earlier, on March 10, 1943, Robert enlisted in the U.S. Army in Boston. He was initially assigned to the Headquarters Company, 423rd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division, stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where he rose to the rank of Technician (TEC) Fourth Grade. He was promoted from TEC 5 to TEC 4 on December 24, 1943.
Robert volunteered for paratrooper duty, and almost a week after his promotion, he was sent on detached service to the HQ First Student Training Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia, on December 20, 1943. Due to his transfer, he was demoted to the rank of private on February 13, 1944.
On March 5, 1944, he was assigned to Co C, 31st Battalion, of the 8th Replacement Infantry Regiment at Fort George Meade, Maryland. At the beginning of June, he was sent overseas, and after his arrival, transferred from the 225th Replacement Company to the 15th Replacement Depot at Yeovil, South Somerset, England, on July 2, 1944. Then, on July 7, he reached his final destination, being assigned to Service Company, 506th PIR. A couple of days later, the remnants of the 506th returned to England after their baptism of fire in Normandy when they jumped into France on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Robert made his first combat jump with Service Company into the Netherlands at the start of Market Garden, on September 17, 1944. He survived the initial actions of the 506th around Eindhoven and Hell’s Highway, but died during the defense of the 506th at Opheusden on The Island at the beginning of October, when the Germans ferociously attacked the town.
Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅
PVT Robert Britt died at the age of 22 on October 6, 1944. The Weekly Report of Burials (No. 109), made up by the Quartermaster Company of the Grave Registration, lists Robert with the 426th Airborne Quartermaster Company when he was buried at Block G, Row 1, grave 5 of the temporary American Military Cemetery at Molenhoek, on October 6, 1944. None of the available morning reports of the time that he served with the 506th Service Company indicates, though, that Robert was transferred to the 426th Airborne Quartermaster Company.
Robert was later reburied in the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial of Margraten, the Netherlands, where he rests eternally at Plot G, Row 2, Grave 24. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal.
May he rest in peace.
Happy Birthday in Heaven, Robert.
Lest we forget. 🇺🇸
Sources:
Family Search
NARA
Deliver Us from Darkness by Ian Gardner
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