Remembering World War II

Douglas Arnold Lambert

Name: Douglas Arnold Lambert Rank: Private 1st Class Service Number: 32369663 Service: 339th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, US Army Awards: Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster Date of Birth: January 12, 1918 Place of Birth: Springhill, Cumberland Co., NS Date of Enlistment: May 21, 1942 Place of Enlistment: Utica, New York Address at Enlistment: Boonville, Oneida Co., New York Age at Enlistment: 24 Height: 5 feet, 11 inches Complexion: Light Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue Trade: Apprentice Marital Status: Single Date of Death: March 11, 1945 Age: 27 Cemetery: Florence American Cemetery, Italy Grave Reference: Plot H, Row 13, Grave 21 Douglas Arnold Lambert was the son of Dudley Avera Lambert (1888-1972), and Esther Lewis (Dyas) Lambert (1892-1971). His father was born in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania and his mother was born in Brookdale, Cumberland Co., NS. He had three brothers, Hugh Vincent (1915-1973), Dudley Avera, Jr. (1929- 2008), and Robert D (1935-1957). He also had one sister Margaret J. (1925-). Douglas’ father served Canada in the First World War. First with the with the Detaining Force at Amherst, NS as of September 18, 1915, and then enlisting with the 246th Reserve Battalion (NS Highlanders) on January 13, 1917, in Halifax, NS (Service No. 1060315). He then served with the No. 6th Special Service Company, (rank of Sergeant) in Canada and was discharged Dec. 6, 1918. Douglas and his family moved to the US when he was 7 in September of 1925. They lived in Boonville, Oneida Co., NY. He completed four years of secondary school at Boonville High School, and registered for the US Draft on October 16, 1940, in Boonville. PFC Lambert enlisted in June of 1942. The 339th Infantry Regiment transferred from the US to Casablanca, North Africa aboard the USS General Alexander E. Anderson in December 1943, and from North Africa to Naples, Italy on March 10, 1944, aboard the HMS Letitia. He was killed in action while serving in Italy on March 11, 1945, during the Northern Apennines Campaign. The chaplain states that PFC Lambert was struck by heavy mortar fire while in a foxhole in the front lines, and was killed instantly. The 339th Infantry Regiment was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Palm, for their service in central Italy. Private 1st Class Douglas Arnold Lambert was interred at the Pietramala Cemetery, in Mount Beni, Italy (Temporary Cemetery 5267) in Plot K, Row 22, Grave 1408, and reinterred with grave consolidation at the Florence American Cemetery. The Florence American Cemetery is just outside of Florence, Italy, framed by the hills of Tuscany. Nearly 4400 are buried there. Most died in the heard fought campaigns against Nazi Germany in Northern Italy in the war’s final year. The statue of an American soldier stands watch over his fallen comrades as the Tuscan sun rises and falls over the cemetery.

Sources: American Battle Monuments Commission – Douglas Arnold Lambert American Battle Monuments Commission – Florence American Cemetery and Memorial David Allen Lambert, twitter @DLGenealogist Chief Genealogist of New England Historic Genealogical Society Boston, MA since 1993. News Co-host of Extreme Genes Radio & Podcast, and at Virtual Historians.