William B. Higgins

  • ASN:
    O-338846
  • DATE OF BIRTH
    Sept 30, 1914
  • DATE OF DEATH
    Feb 11, 1945
FULL NAME:

William B. Higgins

ARMY SERIAL NUMBER (ASN):

O-338846

  • DATE OF BIRTH: Sept 30, 1914
  • DATE OF DEATH: Feb 11, 1945
RESIDENCE (DURING WWII):

Whittemore, Kossuth, Iowa

DATE / PLACE OF ENLISTMENT:
  • DATE OF ENLISTMENT:
    Mar 23, 1942
  • PLACE OF ENLISTMENT:
    Iowa
ORGANIZATION:
  • MAIN UNIT:
    9th Infantry Regiment
  • SUBUNIT:
    Company H, 2nd Battalion
RANK / POSITION IN UNIT (LAST KNOWN):
  • RANK:
    Captain (Cpt.)
  • POSITION IN UNIT:
    Company Commander
BATTLES AND CAMPAIGNS:

✭ Normandy Campaign (6 June – 24 July 1944), ✭ Northern France Campaign (25 July – 14 September 1944), ✭ Ardennes-Alsace Campaign (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945), ✭ Rhineland Campaign (15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945)

DECORATIONS AND CITATIONS (AWARDS):

🎖Purple Heart, 🎖European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, 🎖Combat Infantry Badge

SUMMARY OF HIS SERVICE:

"On this morning, February 11, 1945, about 10:55, two shells went over the house, landing to our rear. The captain was changing his socks at the time, and the 1st sergeant was sitting at his desk in the same room. The phone rang, and it was the colonel seeking information regarding the shells. The 1st sergeant got up, went into a rear room, and looked out the window to see where the shells were bursting. While the 1st sergeant was standing there, a fatal shell came in, hitting the side of the house and bursting right into the Command Post room, throwing steel and dirt all over the room. Capt. Higgins died instantly, and the 1st sergeant received many slight wounds when steel flew through the open door towards him.” An unknown member of Company H in his letter addressed to the Higgins family.

STATUS:
  • CATEGORY:
    Killed in action (KIA)
  • DATE:
    Feb 11, 1945
  • LOCATION:
    Bronsfeld, Germany
  • NOTES:
    Killed by shrapnel from German artillery shell.
HONORED BY:

Men of the 2nd Infantry Division

NARA - Display Full Records

File Unit: Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946 (Enlistment Records)
in the Series: World War II Army Enlistment Records, created 6/1/2002 - 9/30/2002, documenting the period ca. 1938 - 1946. - Record Group 64 (info)

Brief Scope: This series contains records of approximately nine million men and women who enlisted in the United States Army, including the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.

Source: aad.archives.gov/aad/
NOTICE
NARA RECORDS ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THIS SOLDIER
ARTICLES

Capt. William B. Higgins – KIA Feb 11, 1945

On February 11, 1945 men of Company H, 9th Infantry Regiment, were affected by tragic loss of their highly respected commander, Capt. William B. Higgins. He was 30 years old. “We were near Schleiden, Germany, at the time of his death, and we had our Company Command Post set up in a house. We had not been receiving much enemy fire up to the 11th of February. On this morning, about 10:55, two shells went over the house, landing to our rear. The captain was changing his socks at the time, and the 1st sergeant was sitting at his desk in the same room. The phone rang, and it was the colonel seeking information regarding the shells. The 1st sergeant got up, went into a rear room, and looked out the window to see where the shells were bursting. While the 1st sergeant was standing there, a fatal shell came in, hitting the side of the house and bursting right…

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