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Early Life

Woodrow Wilson Gravenor was born on January 4, 1918 in Newark, Delaware, the son of Sewell and Florence Evelyn Gravenor (née Payne). As of April 5, 1930, when Gravenor was recorded on the census, he was living at 106 Wilbur Street with his parents, two sisters, and two brothers. A January 6, 1949 article in The Newark Post stated that “he attended Newark High School” but his enlistment data indicates that he dropped out after two years.

When he was recorded on the census on April 12, 1940, Gravenor was living with his family at 109 East Cleveland Avenue; his occupation was listed as assistant manager at a “retail [novelty?] store”. A January 7, 1949 article in the Wilmington Morning News stated that he “was employed in the A. and P. Store in Newark before entering the service.” It’s not clear if he changed jobs that year (or whether he had two jobs at the same time), but by October he was working as a projectionist at the State Theater on East Main Street. When Gravenor registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, he was described as standing 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing 147 lbs., with red hair and gray eyes.

Military Career

Gravenor was drafted before the U.S. entered World War II and was inducted into the U.S. Army in Trenton, New Jersey on August 8, 1941. The January 6, 1949 article in The Newark Post stated that “He was stationed first at Camp Croft, South Carolina, in 1941”; a June 11, 1942 article in same paper stated that “Familiarly known as ‘Pinky’ to his friends, before being inducted into the army eleven months ago, Corporal Gravenor is now stationed at Camp Sewell, Alabama.” A September 10, 1942 article in The Newark Post reported: “Corporal Woodrow Gravenor, 6th Bn., Co. D., 2nd Reg., Fort McClellan, Alabama, has returned to camp after a ten-day furlough spent with his parents”. (It would appear that was a training unit, not the 2nd Infantry Regiment, which was already overseas.) Most of his military history is unclear, although he had been promoted to sergeant by December 1944.

According to a December 24, 1944 company morning report, Sergeant Gravenor was one of 43 enlisted men who joined Company “L,” 3rd Battalion, 137th Infantry Regiment on December 21, 1944 from the 14th Replacement Battalion. His military occupational specialty was listed as 745 (rifleman or rifle noncommissioned officer). Based on Table of Organization and Equipment No. 7-17 (Infantry Rifle Company), taking his M.O.S. and grade into account, he was likely an assistant squad leader. With the Battle of the Bulge underway, Sergeant Gravenor didn’t have very much time to get acquainted with his new unit. The 137th Infantry Regiment departed the vicinity of Metz, France on December 26, 1944 and entered combat in nearby Belgium.

On December 28, 1944, Sergeant Gravenor was severely wounded by an artillery shell in the vicinity of Livarchamps, Belgium. The 137th Regiment after action report for that date stated: “3rd Bn was pushing northeast toward Livarchamps. At 0620 the companies began to move into the woods and the 3rd Bn hit Livarchamps at 0715 and sent companies ‘I’ and ‘K’ 500 yards past the town. Co ‘L’ had a strong patrol on the road. At 0845 the 3rd Bn was receiving heavy small arms, rocket and artillery fire from Villers-la Bonne-Eau. Two hours later the fire had increased, and the enemy was delivering machine gun fire and direct fire from self-propelled 88s on the 3rd Bn positions. […] The 3rd Bn launched its attack at 1230 with the mission of getting into Villers-la-Bonne-Eau. […] At 1745 the 3rd Bn, after a bitter battle, was in the town of Villers-la Bonne-Eau.”

Sergeant Gravenor was initially treated at the 110th Medical Battalion’s clearing station and transferred to the 16th Field Hospital in France that same day. According to Sergeant Gravenor’s hospital admission card, he suffered injuries to his chest, leading to a hemothorax. Surgeons performed a thoracotomy to drain the blood from his pleural cavity, but Sergeant Gravenor died of his wounds on December 29, 1944. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge (the latter per General Order No. 1, Headquarters 137th Infantry, dated January 1, 1945).

After the war, Sergeant Gravenor’s body was returned to the United States. He was buried at the Newark Cemetery in January 1949. It is likely that Gravenor Lane in Newark was named after him, but that is unconfirmed at this time.

Special thanks to Roberta Russo (Webmaster, 134th Infantry Regiment Website and Historian, 35th Infantry Division Association) for the use of records which were vital in telling Sergeant Gravenor's story, as well as to the Delaware Public Archives and The Newark Post for their photographs.

Additional tributes by the author can be viewed here.

Bibliography

137th Infantry Regiment Company Morning Reports - Company L entry Gravenor,Woodrow,W,Sgt,32167367. 134th Infantry Regiment Website. http://www.coulthart.com/134/mr-137-l-company/mr-137-l-1944-12-24.pdf, http://www.coulthart.com/134/mr-137-l-company/mr-137-l-1944-12-28.pdf

Admission and Disposition Report, Clearing Station, 110th Medical Battalion, 28 December 1944. 134th Infantry Regiment Website. http://www.coulthart.com/134/110ad-44-12-28.pdf

After Action Report, 137th Infantry Regiment. 35th Infantry Division Memory. https://35thinfantrydivision-memory.com/site/view_content.php?lang=en&page=44

Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941. Microfilm publication M1916, 134 rolls. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92. National Archives at Washington, D.C. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2375/images/40050_520307095_0381-01423

Combat History of the 137th Infantry Regiment World War II. http://www.coulthart.com/134/137chapter-4.htm

General Order No. 1, Headquarters 137th Infantry, January 1, 1945. 134th Infantry Regiment Website. http://www.coulthart.com/134/go-137-ir/go-137-45-1.pdf

“Military Services For Sgt. Woodrow Gravenor To Be Held Saturday.” The Newark Post, January 6, 1949. https://udspace.udel.edu/bitstream/handle/19716/19178/np_039_41.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

“News About Local Boys in Service.” The Newark Post, September 10, 1942. https://udspace.udel.edu/bitstream/handle/19716/18840/np_033_34.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

“Pfc W. W. Gravenor.” Wilmington Morning News, January 7, 1949.

“Serving Uncle Sam Corporal Woodrow W. Gravenor.” The Newark Post, June 11, 1942. https://udspace.udel.edu/bitstream/handle/19716/18827/np_033_21.pdf

Table of Organization and Equipment No. 7-17 (Infantry Rifle Company). War Department, Washington, D.C., dated February 26, 1944. Military Research Service. http://www.militaryresearch.org/7-17%2026Feb44.pdf

United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4531890_00838

United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2442/images/m-t0627-00546-00193

Woodrow W. Gravenor entry in RG 1325-003-053 Record of Delawareans Who Died in World War II, Delaware Public Archives. https://cdm16397.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15323coll6/id/18891/rec/2

WWII Draft Registration Cards for Delaware, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147, Box 27. The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2238/images/44003_09_00004-01339

Hospital Admission Card Files, ca. 1970 - ca. 1970. Records of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army), 1775 - 1994. Record Group 12. The National Archives at College Park, MD. USA. https://www.fold3.com/record/704709460-gravenor-woodrow-w

World War II Army Enlistment Records; Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64; National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, U.S.A. https://www.fold3.com/record/86038276-woodrow-w-gravenor

Article last updated August 26, 2020