Serving as a soldier in the U.S. Army, First Lieutenant William Bradford Turner was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions on September 27, 1918 near Ronssoy, France during World War I. At the time he was serving with Company M, 105th Infantry, 27th Division. Turner was about 26 years old.
Turner was killed in the action for which his medal was awarded. 2 other service members also received the Medal of Honor for actions on the same day.
Turner was born in 1892 in Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. His Medal of Honor is credited to Garden City, Nassau County, New York. He is buried at Somme Cemetery in Bony Aisne, France.
Turner is one of 132 Medal of Honor recipients from World War I and one of 678 credited to New York.
Official Medal of Honor citation
He led a small group of men to the attack, under terrific artillery and machine-gun fire, after they had become separated from the rest of the company in the darkness. Singlehandedly he rushed an enemy machine gun which had suddenly opened fire on his group and killed the crew with his pistol. He then pressed forward to another machine-gun post 25 yards away and had killed one gunner himself by the time the remainder of his detachment arrived and put the gun out of action. With the utmost bravery he continued to lead his men over three lines of hostile trenches, cleaning up each one as they advanced, regardless of the fact that he had been wounded three times, and killed several of the enemy in hand-to-hand encounters. After his pistol ammunition was exhausted, this gallant officer seized the rifle of a dead soldier, bayoneted several members of a machine-gun crew, and shot the other. Upon reaching the fourth-line trench, which was his objective, 1st Lt. Turner captured it with the nine men remaining in his group and resisted a hostile counterattack until he was finally surrounded and killed.
Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.
Wounds and death in action
What the citation records about his wounds:
With the utmost bravery he continued to lead his men over three lines of hostile trenches, cleaning up each one as they advanced, regardless of the fact that he had been wounded three times, and killed several of the enemy in hand-to-hand encounters.
- Killed in action during the act for which the medal was awarded (September 27, 1918).
- Age at death: about 26
- Resting place: Somme Cemetery
Battles and campaigns
Also served in: World War I.
Life beyond the battlefield
- Education: Williams College, Trinity-Pawling School
Source: Wikidata.
Places
Veteran resources, cemeteries and meeting places in New York →
Timeline
- 1892Born in Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
- September 27, 1918Act of valor — near Ronssoy, FranceAge about 26. Company M, 105th Infantry, 27th Division Killed in action.
- Resting placeSomme CemeteryBony Aisne
Biography
William Bradford Turner (February 28, 1892 – September 27, 1918) was a United States Army officer who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in World War I. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Turner lived in Garden City, New York, and attended St. Paul's School there for one year. In 1907 he transferred to Trinity-Pawling School, which was founded by the former headmaster of St. Paul's, Dr. Frederick Luther Gamage. He was a graduate of Williams College, class of 1914, where he played football, basketball, and baseball.
From the Wikipedia article “William B. Turner”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full article →
