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Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
Remembering World War II
Name:
Thomas E Thompson
Rank:
Private 1st Class
Service Number:
31320923
Service:
72nd Engineer Company (Light Ponton), US Army
Date of Birth:
August 5, 1923
Place of Birth:
Charleston, Queens Co., Nova Scotia
Date of Enlistment:
March 23, 1943
Age at Enlistment:
19
Place of Enlistment:
Portland, Maine
Address at Enlistment:
Cumberland, Maine
Trade:
Driver
Marital Status:
Single (at enlistment)
Religion:
Protestant
Next of Kin:
Mother
Date of Death:
April 27, 1945
Age:
21
Cemetery:
Forest City Cemetery, South Portland, Maine
Thomas E Thompson was the son of John Edwin Thompson (1901-1940) and Maude Thelma (Baker) Thompson
(1902-1957). His father was born in River Head, Nova Scotia; his mother – in Charleston, Queens County, NS.
His parents married December 21, 1921 in Liverpool, NS.
The family moved to Maine during the 1920’s. Thomas’ father died sometime in 1940 and her mother re-
married Austin Winston Davis of Machias, Maine.
Thomas enlisted March 23, 1943 in Portland, Maine. Less than 7 months later, his step-father enlisted also
enlisted in Portland on October 11, 1943. Thomas married Billie D. Stevens while on furlough on December
16, 1943.
Thomas’ unit the 72nd Engineer Company, was redesignated the 72d Engineer Light Ponton Company, or
‘72nd Engineer Company (Light Ponton)’ on April 1, 1942 until after the war. It was a combat engineer
company of the US Army; primarily a highly mobile pontoon bridge construction unit, though it also provided
both M2 assault boats and a selection of infantry support bridging, ferries, and rafts.
Private 1st Class Thomas E. Thompson died in Germany on April 27, 1945.
Thomas’s body was repatriated to the United States and he was laid to rest in the Forest City Cemetery in
South Portland, Maine. Of the approximate 280000 American WWII dead, over 170000 were repatriated
under the “Return of the Dead” Program (Families could leave remains abroad in a permanent overseas
cemetery maintained in perpetuity by the American Battle Monuments Commission, have them returned
home at the government’s expense for burial in a private or national cemetery, or have them sent to a
foreign country for burial if it was the homeland of the deceased or family).
Thomas’ step-father, Private Austin Winston Davis, was killed in Action
September 20, 1944, during the Second World War serving with the
313th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division, United States Army.
The 313th was crossing the Meurthe River into Lunéville and Moncel
(Moncel-les-Luneville), France on September 20, 1944.
Austin Davis is buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery in France
(Plot J, Row 22, Grave 11). The 313th was crossing the Meurthe River
into Lunéville and Moncel (Moncel-les-Luneville), France on September
20, 1944.
Thomas E Thompson