On Christmas Eve, 1944, a mother and father lost a son. A sister lost her brother, and a wife lost her husband. SGT Richard A Claybrook went down when two torpedoes slammed into his troopship, the SS Leopoldville, 5 miles from Cherbourg, France. What happened to SGT Claybrook and the Leopoldville and close to 2,223 other service personnel would be hidden from the public for a long time.

Richard Atkinson Claybrook was born on August 19, 1913, to Allie Wingfield Harris and John Newtown Claybrook in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Allie would give birth to 5 children. Henry and one unnamed son were born before Richard in 1911 and 1912. Henry died within the year, and the unnamed son died at birth the following year. A sister named Mary Willoughby was born in 1917 and died within the year. In 1920, another sister, Mary Carter, was born, and survived dying in 1997,

John and Allie Claybrook were originally from Virginia. John, who had ancestors who fought for the Confederacy, was the manager of a flour mill. Allie kept the house; the family lived on East 6th Street, Philadelphia. By 1930, the family had moved to Plainfield, New Jersey, where Allie and John bought their home. John was doing well enough to own a $40,000 home; he was now a flour broker on the commodities market. Both Richard and Mary were in school.

Richard attended the Wardlaw School, graduated from Lawrenceville Academy in 1931, and Princeton University in 1935, where he received his BS degree. He was employed with the brokerage firm Laidlaw and Company in New York City for two years and later with the US Gypsum Company in New York City. He led a good life, did the country club scene, and was an excellent golfer.

The 1940s brought the Selective Service Act when America instituted its Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, which required all men between the ages of 21 and 45 to register for the draft. The Selective Service Act was the first peacetime draft in United States history. Richard registered for the draft; he was an even 6 foot tall and weighed 150 pounds.

On March 30, 1943, Richard met and married Virginia Ten Eyck Beadsley at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in New York City. Virginia was a direct descendent of Conrad Ten Eyck, an early Dutch settler in New York City. The next day, he was inducted into the Army at Newark, NJ.

Richard A Claybrook was 29 years old when he entered basic training; he then would have gone on to a specialty school, depending on his aptitude scores. Claybrook was sent to Camp Rucker, Alabama, before going overseas that November. He was a Sergeant in the infantry assigned to Co. H, 262nd Regiment, 66th Division. The Division left Alabama for transport to the European Theatre of Operations. They arrived in England on December 12, 1944, and trained until December 24, 1944, when they were ordered as replacements for the Battle of the Bulge. They boarded two Belgian steamships, the SS Chesire and the Leopoldville.

Sergeant Richard Atkinson and the Leopoldville sailed from Southampton, England, to Cherbourg, France, as part of the WEP-3 convoy. The loading of the 2,223 reinforcements from the 262nd and 264th Regiments was chaotic. The troopships were not loaded by regiment, and many officers were absent. The instructions for abandoning the ship with insufficient lifesavers and supervised lifeboat drills were minimal. The ship's captain, Captain Charles Limbors, did not speak English. The abandon ship order was given in Flemish rather than English.

Sgt Atkinson was aboard the troopship SS Leopoldville when it was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel on Christmas Day, December 25, 1944. Before the conflict, the SS Leopoldville was a Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo passenger liner. The German submarine U-486, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See der Reserve Gerhard Meyer, was credited with the sinking. As a result, 763 soldiers died, and 56 of Leopoldville's crew.

The original explosion was in Cargo Hold 4, which flooded E-4, F-4, and G-4 compartments. An estimated 300 men were killed by the blast and flooded holds. The English Channel was experiencing swells of 8 feet to 12 feet in height, hampered HMS Brilliant's attempts to rescue soldiers on the ship and in the 48-degree water; in a water temperature of 40 to 50 degrees, death may occur in 1 - 3 hours.493 bodies of the 763 casualties, including SGT Atkinson, were never recovered from the 48-degree water of the Channel.

The tragedy of the Leopoldville was kept secret for fear of its effect on morale. Telegrams went out to families informing them that their sons were killed in the line of duty but without specific details. Family members' questions remained unanswered until the early 21st Century.

SGT Richard A Claybrook's name is on the Tablets of the Missing in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. The US WWII Hospital Admission Card stated that he died in the line of duty. SGT Claybrook was 31 years old and a recipient of the Purple Heart.

Note: Oberleutnant zur See der Reserve Gerhard Meyer and the crew of U486 were Sunk on April 12, 1945, in the North Sea northwest of Bergen, Norway. All hands were lost.

SBTS: Plainfield, Essex, NJ

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56643279/richar d-atkinson-claybrook

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As part of the Stories Behind the Stars Project, this story documents the life of an American hero of World War II. SBTS is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3. https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/ Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible at any war memorial or cemetery via a smartphone app. If you notice any information in this profile that is erroneous or you have additional information to contribute, please get in touch with me at thomaslapadula@gmail.com. Stories Behind the Stars contributing writer: Thomas La Padula.