Remembering World War II

Name: Robert Anthony Bonneville Rank: Staff Sergeant Service Number: 31275111 Service: Company A, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division, United States Army Awards: Purple Heart Date of Birth: October 21, 1918 Place of Birth: Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut Date of Enlistment: December 29, 1942 Place of Enlistment: Hartford, Connecticut Age at Enlistment: 24 Address at Enlistment: Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut Height: 5 feet, 8½ inches Complexion: Light Brown Hair color: Brown Eye color: Brown Occupation: Machine shop work Marital Status: Married Religion: Roman Catholic Date of Death: August 26, 1944 Age at Death: 25 Cemetery: Saint Mary Cemetery, Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut Robert Anthony Bonneville was the son of Eugene Hermadis Bonneville (1878- 1960) and Georgianna (MacIvor) Bonneville (1890-1976), and the brother of Barbara Bonneville, Viola Bonneville, Norman Joseph Bonneville (1915-1994) and Pauline Gertrude (Bonneville) Snelgrove (1916-2009). He was the husband of Rose Isabelle (Margolskee) Bonneville (1923-1980), and father of Rochelle Bonneville. Robert’s mother was born in Baddeck, Victoria County, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and his father was born in Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut. Robert was working as a shipping clerk in 1940. The 9th had transferred to Europe with the 2nd Infantry Division in October 1943. It left the port of New York for Belfast, Ireland on October 8, 1943, and arrived in Northern Ireland nine days later. It then moved into England where its soldiers begin their training for the invasion of France. Attached to the 1st American Army, the Division landed in Normandy on June 7, 1944, at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer on Omaha beach. Commanded by General Robertson, the division broke out from the Normandy beachhead, and freed the village of Trévières on June 10, 1944, the forest of Cerisy, and then seized and defended Hill 192, a pivotal strong point, which commanded the road to Saint-Lô. It crosses the Vire and then entered Brittany in August 1944 and participated in the Battle for Brest with VIII Corps. Staff Sergeant Robert A. Bonneville fought in Normandy and was killed in action in the Battle of Brest in France on August 26, 1944. A second soldier, Private Elmer John Groves of Truro, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, also served with the Company A of the 9th Infantry Regiment and died the same day, August 26, 1944. Sergeant Bonneville’s family chose to repatriate his remains rather than having him buried in an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery overseas and he was reinterred at the Saint Mary Cemetery in Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut.

Robert Anthony Bonneville

Sources: findagrave honorstates.org – Robert Anthony Bonneville Background image: National WWII Memorial Washington, DC.