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Basgall Edwin Alois

Name:
Edwin Alois Basgall
Rank:
Private First Class
Serial Number:
37338433
Unit:
3206th Quartermaster Service Company
Date of Death:
1944-04-28
State:
Kansas
Cemetery:
Sharon Springs Cemetery, Kansas
Plot:
Tablets of the Missing
Row:
Grave:
Decoration:
Purple Heart
Comments:

Edwin Alois Basgall was born on March 5, 1922 in Loretta, Rush County, Kansas. He was the son of Alexander Basgall and Anna Maria Urban Basgall. He was killed during the Exercise Tiger--one of the large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. This took place in April 1944 in Slapton Sands, Devon in the UK. An Allied naval convoy involved in the exercise was attacked by German submarines, and coordination and communication problems resulted in friendly fire deaths. At least 749 American servicemen were killed. Because of the impending invasion of Normandy, the incident was highly classified and the full story did not come out until years later after the war. He was declared "Missing in Action" on April 28, 1944 and is commemorated on Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom. He also has a cenotaph located in Sharon Springs Cemetery, Sharon Springs, Wallace County, Kansas, USA.