This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Shaun Thomas (Underdog), OSC
to remember
Ives, Norman Seaton, CAPT.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Galesburg
Last Address 30 Georges Terrace, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Casualty Date Aug 02, 1944
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Gun, Small Arms Fire
Location France
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
I was one of approximately 60 U.S. Navy men in a reconnaissance party under the command of Capt. Norman S. Ives. We left Cherbourg, France, on Aug. 1, 1944, and spent the night in Granville. We were en route to St. Malo, a port reportedly captured from the Germans by U.S. armed forces.
Leaving Granville on the morning of Aug. 2, we were soon passing elements of Gen. Patton’s armored units. Later in the morning we encountered German units near the small town of Dol-en-Bretagne. In the course of a two-hour firefight, before the army came to rescue us, we lost about 20 killed and wounded, including Capt. Ives. Among the army rescuers was a Sherman tank named “Dingbat II.” Never were we so happy to see the army!
All our dozen or so vehicles were lost to the Germans for several days before the army recaptured them and returned them to us in Cherbourg. We then learned we had been 17 miles in front of the army!
I would be interested in hearing from any members of this navy group. My address is 1508 Hinman Ave, #6D, Evanston, IL 60201, and my e-mail is Walcat@core.com.
Evanston, Ill.
Walter N. Dreyfus
Comments/Citation:
Circumstances Killed when the car in which he was traveling was ambushed by Germans.
Remarks Norman was born in Galesburg, Illinois. He was formerly the Commander of Submarine Squadron Fifty in Scotland.
