Orville HATTON 

Source : Historian Leopoldville

Source : F Lavernhe

NORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY from Colleville

Map Normandy American Cemetery

 I. Early Life

Orville Hatton grew up in Eastern Kentucky. He was born on April 15, 1926 in Campton (Wolfe County, Kentucky) to James Monroe Hatton, a World War 1 veteran, and his second wife Etta Mae Taulbee Hatton.
His father was a farmer. In 1940, the family lived on the Boone Fork of Frozen Creek in Breathitt County, a community stricken by devastating flash floods the previous year. At the time of the 1940 census, Orville Hatton stayed with his parents, his brother Porter (b. 1925) and his sisters, Mary Belle (1932), Gertrude (1934), Miranda (1936) and Wanda.
Ten years before the family was found residing in Wolfe County on Chambers Fork Road in Stillwater, Wolfe, Kentucky, where James Hatton rented Farming land. Another brother, Dorsey is listed (born ab. 1925)
In 1910, James Hatton, lived on a farm he owned (mortgage free) with his first wife Sarah Brewer and three of Orville’s half siblings: sister Emma B, (ab. 1903, possibly Annie Bell), brothers Raymond (ab. 1905) and Arlie (about 1909) in Holly Creek, Wolfe, Kentucky, USA.
Before Orville Hatton was born his half-sister Annie Belle died of a gunshot wound at age 14. Less than three months after the dramatic death, James Hatton enlisted on Sep 12, 1918. By 1920, his first marriage had fallen apart and his first wife lived with her new husband Tom Combs in Holly Creek.

 II. Education, Career, Personal Life

Orville Hatton completed grammar school and worked on farms like (and maybe with) his father. By 1943, he had made his way to Lexington where he was working at Elmendorf, Joseph Wiedener’s thoroughbred farm. On his 17th birthday, he signed a registration card, later rejected with a mention penned in red ink ““cancelled account (a/c) underage never recorded”.
Hatton came back on his 18th birthday. By then, Hatton had left the farm and was working for the Lexington Grocery Company. On both occasions, the young draftee was described as 5’9, with brown hair and brown eyes. He had a scar on the left side of his lower back. His enlistment papers processed on May 10, 1944, state he was single with no dependents and classify his civilian occupation as farm hand. Both draft cards listed his father J.M. Hatton as his contact, with a change of address. Vortex in Wolfe County was the location given in 1943, it was changed to Lee City in Morgan County the following year. Nowadays, Lee City, though close to Morgan County, is in Wolfe County.

Source : Fanny Hubart-Salmon

Source : Fanny Hubart-Salmon

III. Military Career

Private Hatton was assigned to Company H of the 262nd Infantry regiment in the 66th division, known as the Black Panthers.
The regiment and the division had been created at Camp Blanding, Florida in 1943, before Private Hatton was incorporated. It is possible that Hatton joined the regiment in camp Rucker Alabama, for further training before the 66th division shipped Camp Shanks, New-York, their last stop before Europe.
The 66th division sailed from New York harbor on Nov. 15, 1944 and arrived in England on Nov 26, 1944. The infantry men stayed in Blandford Camp, in Dorset County, where they awaited transport across the English Channel. The plan was for them to join the battle of the Bulge as reinforcement. On December 23, as the men were preparing to enjoy an early Christmas dinner, they received the order to embark.

IV. Death

A major part of the 262nd infantry regiment men started boarding the Leopoldville, a Belgian ship converted to transport troops around 2am on December 24. One survivor later commented he had never experienced such despicable conditions and horrid stench as what he discovered stepping onboard. Sailing in a convoy also composed of the USS Cheshire, the HMS Brilliant, HMS Anthony, HMS Hotham, and the Free French frigate Croix de Lorraine, the Leopoldville was approaching its final destination of Cherbourg when “at 1754 hrs a torpedo wake was sighted from the troop ship's deck.” Tonya Allen relates the following series of events. “The torpedo struck the Leopoldville on the starboard side aft and exploded in Number Four Hold”, only “a few of the three hundred men in those compartments managed to escape to higher decks.”
It appears Private Hatton’s Company H was right there. “These compartments were occupied by F and H Companies and the weapons platoon of E Company of the 262nd Regiment” documents “Voices of My Comrades: America's Reserve Officers remember WW2”, *edited by Carol Adele Kelly. “*F and H companies were almost completely decimated.”
Orville Hatton most likely died in the explosion or shortly after.

Source : Fanny Hubart-Salmon

Source : Fanny Hubart-Salmon

V. Post Death Events

On February 25, 1944, two months after the tragic sinking, Captain Stephen A. Ward wrote a letter to James M. Hatton. The letter followed a prior notice by the War Department that Private Hatton had been killed in action in the English Channel on December 25, 1944.
“Your son died in the service of his country,” wrote Capt. Ward, “A sacrifice who makes those who knew him deeply humble. We, who were so closely associated with him, share your intense sorrow. (…) I regret that, in so much as a complete and thorough search has failed to recover his body, no burial service could be held. I realize there is little anyone can say or do to alleviate your great sorrow. However, on behalf of your son’s unit, I want to extend to you our most sincere and heartfelt sympathy.”
Private Orville Hatton is remembered on the Wall of the Missing of the Normandy American Cemetery.

He was one of 493 infantrymen whose bodies were never recovered from the Leopoldville. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Citation
About 1400 men were saved, but hundreds more died that fateful Christmas night in failed rescue attempts. The ship sank at approximately 8:30pm on Christmas Eve with over a thousand still on board, some trapped, others thrown off or jumping into the choppy and frigid sea.

Source : Fanny Hubart-Salmon

66^th  INFANTRY DIVISION - BLACK PANTHER  

Activated/Activé	Normandy/Normandie
15 Apr 1943	Days of Combat/Jour de Combat  91
	Casualties/Victimes 1 452
Entered Combat/Entré au combat
1 Jan 1945
Commanding Generals/Commandants généraux Maj. Gen. Herman F. Kramer (Apr 43 - Aug 45) Maj. Gen. Walter F. Lauer (Aug 45 - inactivation) 5)	Campaigns/Campagnes Northern France (25 Jul 44 - 14 Sep 44)
PLAN DE ROUTE DE LA CAMPAGNE - CAMPAIGN ROUTE MAP
DIVISION CHRONICLE The three regiments of the 66th Infantry Division arrived in England, 26 November 1944, and the remainder of the Division, 12 December 1944, training until 24 December 1944 when the Division crossed the English Channel to Cherbourg. A German torpedo ripped into the transport as it was crossing the Channel, and 14 officers and 748 enlisted men were lost. Attached to the 12th Army Group and designated the 12th Army Group Coastal Sector, with operational control of all French forces in the area, the 66th relieved the 94th Division in the BrittanyLoire area, 29 December 1944. Its mission of containing the enemy in the St. Nazaire and Lorient pockets was carried out by daily reconnaissance patrols, limited objective attacks, and the maintenance of harassing and interdictory fires on enemy installations. A heavy German attack near La Croix was repulsed, 16 April 1945, and several strongly emplaced enemy positions were taken, 19-29 April 1945. Enemy troops in the Lorient and St. Nazaire pockets surrendered to the Division upon the end of hostilities in Europe, 8 May 1945. The 66th moved to Germany on occupation duty, in the Koblenz subarea, 20 May 1945, and left for Marseille, 26 May 1945. It sailed for home 27 October 1945.	CHRONIQUE DE DIVISION Les trois régiments de la 66e division d'infanterie arrivent en Angleterre, le 26 novembre 1944, et le reste de la division, le 12 décembre 1944, s'entraînant jusqu'au 24 décembre 1944 lorsque la division traverse la Manche jusqu'à Cherbourg. Une torpille allemande s'est faufilée dans le convoi alors qu'elle traversait la Manche, et 14 officiers et 748 soldats ont été perdus. Attaché au 12ème Groupe d'Armée et désigné Secteur de la 12ème division du Groupe d'Armées, avec le contrôle opérationnel de toutes les forces françaises dans la région, le 66th a relevé la 94ème Division dans la région BrittanyLoire, le 29 décembre 1944. Sa mission Les poches de Nazaire et de Lorient ont été réalisées par des patrouilles de reconnaissance quotidiennes, des attaques objectives limitées et le maintien de feux de harcèlement et d'interception sur les installations ennemies. Une forte attaque allemande près de La Croix fut repoussée le 16 avril 1945 et plusieurs positions ennemies fortement implantées furent prises, du 19 au 29 avril 1945. Des troupes ennemies dans les poches de Lorient et de Saint-Nazaire se rendirent à la Division à la fin des hostilités en Europe , Le 8 mai 1945. Le 66ème émigra en Allemagne en service d'occupation, dans la sous-zone de Coblence, le 20 mai 1945, et partit pour Marseille, le 26 mai 1945. Il partit pour la maison le 27 octobre 1945.