Alton Davis

ASN:34810958

PVT Alton Davis

Alton Davis registered for the draft on June 30, 1942. Born April 11, 1924, he was from Baileyton, Alabama and was employed by Dwight Manufacturing Company at the time of registration.  

Enlisting in the US Army on July 1, 1943 at Fort McClellan, Alabama this eighteen-year-old was 5-11, 147 pounds with a light complexion, blue eyes, and blonde hair and had no obvious physical characteristics listed that would aid in identification.

Alton Davis - Ft. Sill, Oklahoma - 1943. (photo courtesy of Martha Priest)

Private Davis trained at Fort Sill, Oklahoma then assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina before he was shipped to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in early 1944 with the 456th Parachute Field Artillery.

He then transferred to the 319th Glider Field Artillery, A-Battery of the 82nd Airborne Division on March 23, 1944.

The 319th was stationed at Papillon Hall, Market Harborough, England, and trained for the upcoming Normandy invasion of France.

Papillon Hall itself was a large structure, first built in 1903, that was requisitioned by the US Army during World War II. It was used as a billet for the 319th Glidermen and the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. The building itself was set-out in a butterfly pattern (Papillon means butterfly in French) with four distinct wings.

Company Morning Reports

Company Morning Reports were produced every morning by the individual Army units to record personnel matters. The following events (see below) for Private Davis were reported:

  • March 23, 1944, assigned and joined A-Battery, 319th Glider Field Artillery from the 456 Parachute Field Artillery, at 1400. MOS 521. (Army basic soldier)

  • June 7, 1944, reported Killed in Action, about 2 miles east of Ste. Mere Eglise, France.

On May 29, 1944, the the 319th moved by motor convoy and rail to a secure base near the RAF Membury Airdome, located 60 miles west of London, England.

The evening of June 6, 1944, Private Alton Davis and the 319th Glider Field Artillery glided into Normandy, France, landing near the town of Ste Mere Eglise.

The following day Private Davis was killed in action during an assault just outside Ste. Mere Eglise near the town Chef Du Pont. The battalion chaplain later wrote, “Captain Connelly and I arrived at the scene of a furious battle which had just been fought. Bodies and equipment were all over the lane. I counted bodies of 21 enemy dead and 3 Americans; Alton Davis, John Brewer and Lloyd Olson. We took the 3 bodies to to a small cemetery established by the 319th. Gliders and parachutes were flopping and blowing from the trees everywhere.”

For his service Alton Davis was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, Distinguished Merit Badge, European/African Middle Eastern Theatre Ribbon with one Battle Star, one bronze service arrowhead, and the Purple Heart.

Alton Davis is buried at the Welcome Cemetery, Baileyton, Alabama.

God bless this hero.