Remembering World War II

Name: Clayton Roy Kaulback (Kaulbach) Rank: Staff Sergeant Service Number: 31027249 Service: Company G, 2nd Battalion, 331st Infantry Regiment, 83rd Division, US Army Awards: Purple Heart Date of Birth: April 10, 1910 Place of Birth: Parkdale, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: March 15, 1941 Place of Enlistment: Portland, Cumberland County, Maine Address at Enlistment: Franklin County, Maine Age at Enlistment: 30 Height: 5 feet, 10 inches Occupation: Textile manufacturing Marital Status: Single at enlistment Next of Kin: Samuel Kaulbach (Father) Date of Death: April 15, 1945 Age: 35 Cemetery: Wyoming Cemetery, Melrose, Middlesex County, Massachusetts Clayton Roy (born Roy Clotar) Kaulback was the son of Samuel Kaulbach (1873–1959), and Cassandra Catherine (Joudrey) Kaulbach (1872–1972). The family’s surname is sometimes recorded as Kaulbach. Clayton had three siblings, Morton Daniel Kaulbach (1894–1967), Blanche Kaulbach (1900–1997), and Viola May (Kaulback) Zinck (1907–1997). After enlisting March of 1941, Clayton was recalled for active duty in WWII on January 5, 1942. Clayton married Anna Maria (LeClair) Restuccia (1909-2000) of Melrose, Mass. on November 20, 1943, in Calhoun, Alabama. Anna was born in Tignish, Prince Edward Island, and employed as a defense worker when the two were married. After induction in the US Army and basic training, Clayton found himself assigned to Company G of the 331st Infantry Regiment. The 331st served in Europe during WWII. The 331st departed New York on the USAT George Washington April 5, 1944, arriving in the UK April 19th. The regiment continued training in advance of D- Day. They boarded ships June 18, 1944, but were unable to land troops and supplies until June 23rd due to the weather and rough seas. The regiment say action in France in Normandy, St. Malo, the Dinard area, and the Loire defense sector, Luxembourg and Germany. The 331st Infantry Regiment established a bridgehead over the Elbe River in Germany on April 13, 1945. By the 15th, Kaulback’s Regiment was tasked with seizing Kameritz, and attacking and securing Hohenlepte. Kaulback’s Company G was tasked with attacking Hohenlepte on the morning of the April 15th, with additional reinforcements entering the town later in the day. Staff Sergeant Clayton Roy Kaulback was killed in action during the fighting in Hohenlepte on April 15, 1945. The 331st was now firmly established on the East bank of the Elbe. Kaulback, along with six other soldiers of the Regiment were killed April 15th. Staff Sergeant Clayton Roy Kaulback’s family chose to repatriate his remains, as opposed to burial overseas at an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery, and he was interred at the Wyoming Cemetery in Melrose, Middlesex County, Mass., in the 1960’s.

Clayton Roy Kaulback

Sources: findagrave The April 1945 After Action reports for the 331st Infantry Regiment