First Lieutenant William Bradford Turner (February 28, 1892 – September 27, 1918) was a distinguished officer in the U.S. Army during World War I, renowned for his extraordinary bravery during combat.
He was born in Boston and grew up in Garden City, New York.
Turner attended St. Paul’s School in Garden City for one year and then transferred to Trinity-Pawling School in 1907. He graduated from Williams College in 1914 and was active in football, basketball, and baseball.
Turner joined the New York National Guard in 1915, serving in Machine Gun Troop, A Squadron and was mobilized in 1916 serving as a private during the Texas-Mexico border duty.
After the U.S. entered the First World War, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 12th New York Cavalry, later redesignated as the 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Division.
On September 27, 1918, near Ronssoy, France, Turner led a small group under intense artillery and machine-gun fire. He was wounded three times, yet he singlehandedly charged and neutralised enemy machine-gun positions. He then led his men through three lines of hostile trenches. They captured a fourth trench, but Turner was killed in a counterattack.
Turner was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1919 for his valour. He is interred at the Somme American Cemetery and Memorial in France. Turner was a descendant of early New England settlers, including Massachusetts Governor William Bradford.
“The Story of the 27th Division”
by John F. O’Ryan pp 233, 497, 503
New York State Military Museum’s Unit History of the 105th Infantry Regiment
https://museum.dmna.ny.gov/unit-history/conflict/world-war-1-1914-1918/27th-infantry-division/story-27th-division-john-f-oryan-table-contents
Pictorial Record of the 27th Division
https://www.libraryweb.org/~digitized/books/Pictorial_record_of_the_27th_Division.pdf
Williams College in The World War
The President and Trustees of Williams College 1926, pp 123, 254, 257
https://archive.org/stream/williamscollegei00will/williamscollegei00will_djvu.txt
https://archive.org/details/williamscollegei00will
Meandering through the Prologue
SOMME ABMC CEMETERY – AMERICANS FIGHT WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR
Posted on January 2, 2021
https://meaderingthroughtheprologue.com/somme-abmc-cemetery-america-returns-to-the-mother-country-for-the-great-war/
meaderingthroughtheprologue.com
New York Times, November 3, 1918 pp 18
