William Crawford Lally
PFC William C. Lally served with Headquarters Company, 4th Marine Raider Battalion.
He was killed in action at Vangunu Island, New Georgia, on 1 July 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 423553
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
September 14, 1914
at Fall River, MA
Parents
Patrick Henry Lally
Ella S. (Harper) Lally
Education
High school graduate
Occupation & Employer
Shipping Clerk
Clark-Cutler-McDermott Company
Service Life
Entered Service
April 8, 1942
at Boston, MA
Home Of Record
177 West Street
Wrentham, MA
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Ella Lally
Military Specialty
Demolitions
Primary Unit
HQ/4th Raider Battalion
Campaigns Served
New Georgia / Vangunu
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
PFC William Lally served with Headquarters Company, 4th Raider Battalion during the opening stages of the New Georgia campaign. He was an explosives expert assigned to duty with the demolitions platoon.
On 30 June 1943, two Raider companies (N and Q, with HQ elements attached) landed at Olana Bay, Vangunu, under cover of darkness. Heavy seas and poor visibility fouled the operation; Raiders landed at scattered points along seven miles of coastline and had to race to catch up with 2/103rd Infantry, their partners for the operation. A tough march over rain-sodden trails and flooded streams brought the Americans to the banks of the Kaeruka River; here, they would pivot to the right and sweep towards the coast, trapping the resident Japanese garrison with their backs against the sea.
The attack jumped off at 1405 hours and met no opposition for about fifteen minutes. As Company Q reached a bend in the river, they began taking fire from Japanese soldiers hidden in trees and spider holes.
It was like a battle under water, with all the sounds muffled by the damp air, rotting trees, and squashy earth. In the green-colored light, objects were first dimmed, then bloated. Bullets whistled wetly through the air or buried themselves with hardly a sound in the porridge-like earth or in wood so rotten that men, clawing at it to pull themselves along, found it coming away in their hands like fungus. Explosions made plopping noises as the rain fell, sometimes dripping, sometimes pelting, with whispery sounds of water splashing into water. The only visible movement of animal life was the red-wattled, unwieldy carrion birds that came cautiously to the scene and fluttered away nervously from the burst of gunfire, but remained within sight of what they could claim as their harvest.
The Raiders found themselves under fire from the west bank of the Kaeruka, crossed the river with some difficulty, and became mired in a close-quarters battle against small groups of Japanese soldiers in well-camouflaged defenses. Three hours of fighting left both sides tired and bloodied. With darkness setting in, the Americans consolidated their positions for a nighttime defense. Fortunately, they were able to anchor their positions on the beach and formed a semicircle around their command post. PFC Lally’s demolitions platoon joined a Company Q platoon in defending the beach; to their left were soldiers of the 103rd Infantry.
Night clamped down and for a few hours, all was quiet. The Americans would soon be glad of the prudently placed beach defenses.
About two hours past midnight, however, the subliminal background of now familiar, identifiable noises was rent by a dissonance, as the distant, but unmistakable, “chug, chug, chug” of marine diesels suddenly impinged on the awareness of the sharp-eared sentinels. Quickly the word was passed along the line, and all hands prepared for they knew not what….
At a few minutes past 0200, three Japanese barges loomed out of the darkness opposite the junction of Company “G” [103rd Infantry] and the [Raider] Demolitions Platoon, and everybody commenced firing. Machine guns, automatic rifles, rifles, submachine guns, pistols, and hand grenades were brought to bear on the three barges by the units positioned on the beach, while [Raider] Company “Q” fired rifle grenades from its position along the Kaeruka River.
At first, the Japanese seem to have believed they were being fired on by “friendly” forces and responded only with anguished shouts. When they finally realized the true nature of the situation and began to return fire, the barges were out of control, their exposed coxswains apparently having been killed almost immediately, and the counterfire was largely ineffective. A few enemy soldiers jumped overboard and splashed ashore but were quickly dispatched by a barrage of hand grenades and demolition bombs….
As the barges floated around aimlessly, the Raiders and infantrymen continued to pour a stream of fire and steel into them until one sank a few yards off the beach and the others broached in the surf. When the firing finally stopped and the smoke cleared from the battlefield, a headcount revealed that one soldier and one Raider had been killed in the engagement. The dead Raider was Private First Class William C. Lally of the Demolitions Platoon.
Lally suffered multiple bullet wounds in his legs. At 28 years of age, he was the oldest Raider killed in the battle for Wickham Anchorage.
Burial Information or Disposition
The next morning, Marine and Army forces completed the capture of Kaeruka, Vura, and Wickham Anchorage. Taking this ground cost the lives of twelve Marine Raiders and ten soldiers of the 103rd Infantry. One hundred and twenty Japanese bodies were counted in the area.
With the enemy threat neutralized, the Americans turned their attention to burying the dead. Casualty records for the twelve fallen Marines include the same notation: “buried at Wickham Anchorage, Vangunu Island, Solomon Islands.” It is not clear if a temporary cemetery was established, or if men were buried in individual graves where they fell.
In early 1945, Graves Registration personnel visited Wickham Anchorage to look for field burials. At least six Marines and nine soldiers were relocated to the New Georgia Cemetery in March; later that year, they were moved again to Cemeteries #4 and #5 at Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea.
PFC Lally may be among the dozens of Finschhafen remains still awaiting identification – or he may still lie on Vangunu in an isolated grave.
In March 2016, the Boston Globe ran an article titled “73 Years Later, Fallen Wrentham Marine May Be Coming Home.” Lally’s nephew (William Crawford Lally III) was asked to submit a DNA sample for testing against a set of unknown remains. Unfortunately, the test seems to have been in vain: Lally is still officially unaccounted for.
Next Of Kin Address
Pre-war address of mother, Mrs. Helen Burkholder.
Location Of Loss
Area of the 30 June – 1 July battle for Wickham Anchorage.
Gallery
Related Profiles
Buried at Wickham Anchorage, but not accounted for.
Private Andrew H. Watson, 103rd Infantry, is also unaccounted for.