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NAME Gerald Meaden Butland a.k.a. Gerard M. Butland |
NICKNAME — |
SERVICE NUMBER 351363 |
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| UNIT Company A First Battalion 7th Marines |
HOME OF RECORD 13 Eighmie Terrace, Poughkeepsie, NY |
NEXT OF KIN Mother, Mrs. Louise Butland |
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| DATE OF BIRTH October 24, 1920 |
ENTERED SERVICE January 6, 1942 |
DATE OF LOSS September 27, 1942 |
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| REGION Solomon Islands |
CAMPAIGN / AREA Guadalcanal |
CASUALTY TYPE Killed In Action |
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| CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS Private Gerald M. Butland served with A/1/7th Marines during the battle of Guadalcanal. On 27 September 1942, a detachment of 1/7 under the command of Major Otho Rogers made an amphibious landing at Point Cruz, behind Japanese defensive positions along Guadalcanal’s Matanikau River. Surrounded by fast moving enemy troops, they established a defensive perimeter around the summit of Hill 84 and suffered heavy casualties before fighting their way back to the beach. The survivors were rescued by landing craft; the battle was derisively nicknamed “Little Dunkirk.” Private Butland was one of thirteen Marines from A/1/7 to lose his life in the failed attack. His remains were not recovered from the battlefield |
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| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK Private |
STATUS OF REMAINS Not recovered |
MEMORIALS Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, Dutchess County, NY Manila American Cemetery |
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Biography:
Coming soon. Contact the webmaster for more information about this Marine.
Articles & Records:
Excerpt from the muster roll of A/1/7, September 1942.
The Poughkeepsie Journal, 22 October 1942.
A map overlay included with Butland’s service record detailed the spot where he was last seen.
A Google Maps view of the same area today – now downtown Honiara.
The 1923 sailing roster mentioned has a “last residence” of Brickets (place of birth isnt recorded, only nationality). I believe this is a misspelling of Brigus, Newfoundland, which also appears to be the birthplace of both his parents. George Duncan Butland, his father seemed to have travelled between Canada and the US often over the years and became a naturalised US citizen in 1905, which may be part of the reason for the apparent inconsistencies in nationality and immigration dates quoted. George was also blind at the time of his death in 1941, and had been for “some years” according to his obit in the NY Times. Blindness can be a result of ocular tuberculosis, so the suggestion the family was suffering from TB in 1930 seems quite possible.
Great research, D. Butland! Thank you for sharing.
I am his niece. Please contact me D. Butland. From M. Butland