This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Edward Stack, MA1
to remember
Stack, William, PO2.
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Contact Info
Last Address New Orleans
Date of Passing Nov 06, 2007
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Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Upon his discharge from the Navy, Bill Stack continued his maritime career with the Merchant Marine. Bill served on vessels that sailed from many U. S. ports, and he enjoyed liberty in many foreign ports. In 1969, Bill began work at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and served aboard the research vessel Atlantis II. Bill considered his years at Woods Hole to be the best of his career. He retired in 1977, and was a resident of Willowbrook Manor Rest and Retirement Home, Millis, MA, until his death on November 6, 2007.
Other Comments:
Bill never married, and is survived by his three nephews, Edward M. Stack of Virginia Beach, VA, Robert M. Stack of Worcester, MA, and Michael J. Stack of Cavendish, VT.
World War II/European-African-Middle Eastern Theater
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
September / 1945
Description The European-Mediterranean-Middle East Theater was a major theater of operations during the Second World War (between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946). The vast size of Europe, Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected naval, land, and air campaigns fought for control of the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. The fighting in this theatre lasted from 10 June 1940, when Italy entered the war on the side of Germany, until 2 May 1945 when all Axis forces in Italy surrendered. However, fighting would continue in Greece – where British troops had been dispatched to aid the Greek government – during the early stages of the Greek Civil War.
The British referred to this theatre as the Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre (so called due to the location of the fighting and the name of the headquarters that controlled the initial fighting: Middle East Command) while the Americans called the theatre of operations the Mediterranean Theatre of War. The German official history of the fighting is dubbed 'The Mediterranean, South-East Europe, and North Africa 1939–1942'. Regardless of the size of the theatre, the various campaigns were not seen as neatly separated areas of operations but part of one vast theatre of war.
Fascist Italy aimed to carve out a new Roman Empire, while British forces aimed initially to retain the status quo. Italy launched various attacks around the Mediterranean, which were largely unsuccessful. With the introduction of German forces, Yugoslavia and Greece were overrun. Allied and Axis forces engaged in back and forth fighting across North Africa, with Axis interference in the Middle East causing fighting to spread there. With confidence high from early gains, German forces planned elaborate attacks to be launched to capture the Middle East and then to possibly attack the southern border of the Soviet Union. However, following three years of fighting, Axis forces were defeated in North Africa and their interference in the Middle East was halted. Allied forces then commenced an invasion of Southern Europe, resulting in the Italians switching sides and deposing Mussolini. A prolonged battle for Italy took place, and as the strategic situation changed in southeast Europe, British troops returned to Greece.
The theatre of war, the longest during the Second World War, resulted in the destruction of the Italian Empire and altered the strategic position of Germany resulting in numerous German divisions being deployed to Africa and Italy and total losses (including those captured upon final surrender) being over half a million. Italian losses, in the theatre, amount to around to 177,000 men with a further several hundred thousand captured during the process of the various campaigns. British losses amount to over 300,000 men killed, wounded, or captured, and total American losses in the region amounted to 130,000.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
September / 1945
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
People You Remember Captain of USS LARAMIE (AO-16) - Commander P. M. Money. Commander Money later received the Navy Cross for directing the saving of USS LARAMIE under extremely hazardous conditions.
Memories The Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence -During late August, the commander of Germany?s submarine forces, Admiral Karl Dönitz, deployed three U-boats off the Strait of Belle Isle where they could attack convoys that supported the construction of new American air base facilities at Goose Bay, Labrador, or convoys that were bound from Sydney to Greenland. Thus began the tag-team blitz of Paul Hartwig's U-517 and Eberhard Hoffman's U-165, which would inflict the greatest shipping losses of the Gulf of St. Lawrence campaign. On August 27, the pair launched their assault with a daylight attack on LN-6, a small Quebec-Goose Bay convoy, and SG-6, an American-escorted convoy bound from Sydney to Greenland. Just as the two convoys entered the Strait of Belle Isle, Hartwig torpedoed the US Army troop transport Chatham, which was carrying 562 passengers. The transport would become the first American troop ship lost during the Second World War. Lieutenant G.S. Hall, commanding the nearby convoy LN-6 escort HMCS Trail, broke away and joined the rescue effort that followed, helping to pluck sodden, oil-covered survivors from the icy waters. Only 13 people on the Chatham perished thanks to these courageous efforts and those of the US Coast Guard ships escorting convoy SG-6. The next day the U-boat duo struck at SG-6 again. U-165 torpedoed the merchant ship Laramie, while U-517 attacked the US-registered Arlyn. The Laramie survived to limp back to Sydney, Nova Scotia, but Arlyn and nine of her crew found their last resting places deep in the Strait of Belle Isle.
Personal Details
