This memorial page is dedicated to John Gerard Carroll, one of more than 725 war victims connected to the municipality of Deurne documented by Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers. The municipality of Deurne and the surrounding villages of Liessel, Vlierden, Helenaveen, Neerkant and Zeilberg were liberated in the autumn of 1944 during heavy fighting. Victims fell on all sides: Allied soldiers from countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, and German soldiers.

But the archive covers more than just the combat victims on Deurne soil. Residents of Deurne who lost their lives elsewhere are also commemorated: civilians who were murdered in concentration camps, forced labourers who died in Germany, people who were executed or succumbed to the effects of persecution and oppression. In addition, residents of Deurne who entered German military service and were killed elsewhere are also included.

Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers has been documenting the story of all these people since 1995, without distinction of nationality, side or background. The goal is to give every person a name and a face, and to keep their memory alive.

 

John Gerard Carroll

Name: Carroll
First names: John Gerard
Nickname: Roddy
Date of birth: 2 May 1924
Place of birth: Yonkers, New York
Residence: 19 Amackassin Terrace, Yonkers, New York
Rank / Occupation: Staff Sergeant
Identity tag: 32806420
Unit: 23rd Infantry Battalion, 7th Armoured Division, Company C
Date of death: 19 October 1944
Place of death: Deurne, near the Deurne Canal
Cause of death: –
Cemetery: St Joseph’s Cemetery in Yonkers, New York (USA)
Memorial site: –

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Additional information

Grave location: St Thomas Section, Row 4, Plot 3

The residence of Dennis J. and Florence Ronan Carrol is at 19 Amackassin Terrace, Yonkers. His father was an inspector at the City Engineering Bureau. He had three brothers, William, Thomas and Dennis, all of whom served in the Second World War. He also had five sisters: Florence, Dorothea, Margaret, Mary Alice and Gertrude. The family lived at 29 Dudley Place and, prior to that, at 77 Waring Place. John, known to his friends as ‘Roddy’, was a pupil at the Sacred Heart School, Glenclyffe, in Garrison, New York; he enlisted in February 1942 whilst attending Gorton High School.
John Gerard Carroll received his training at Camp McCain in Mississippi and Fort Jackson in South Carolina. He rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant and landed in France in early September 1944 with an armoured infantry unit. He was the Squad Leader of Company C, 23rd Armoured Infantry Battalion of the 7th Armoured Division. On 19 October 1944, during fighting in the vicinity of the Deurne Canal, John Gerard Carroll was killed in action. He was 20 years old.

Carroll was initially buried in the Netherlands. His body was brought home to Yonkers in November 1947. His wake was held at Ball Funeral Home at 100 Lake Ave. A High Mass or requiem was celebrated at the Sacred Heart Convent Church, with members of the Catholic War Veterans acting as pallbearers. The burial took place at St Joseph’s Cemetery, with bugler Thomas Payne of VFW Post 1666 sounding the Last Post and the rifle squad from American Legion Post Seven firing a salute.

The Herald Statesman, Yonkers, N.Y., Monday 6 November 1944.

The Herald Statesman, Yonkers, N.Y. maandag 6 november 1944.

View all persons in the category: Allied soldiers killed in action