Charles William Ellis was born on 3 May 1920 in Texas to Edwin E Ellis and Rachael Ellis (nee Lee). Edwin was a Regular Army soldier that have served in the Ambulance Service in France during WW I. Charles had two younger brothers Robert and Sidney (aka Ted). The family lived in California and Edwin was stationed at March Army Airfield. Rachael died at the young age of 25. Charles had a limited education up to 5th grade.

Charles enlisted in the Regular US Army before 1940 most likely in the 30th Infantry stationed in California. By 1943 Charles had been promoted to Corporal (CPL) and was an assistant Squad Leader in B Company 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry, 7th Infantry Division. The 7th ID was training in the Mojave Desert in 1942 in preparation for combat as a Motorized Infantry Division to deploy to North Africa. The 7th ID was tasked in March 1943 to be the assault element to retake Attu Island, Alaska from the Japanese Army.

Attu and Kiska Islands are part of the Aleutian Chain in Alaska and had been seized by Imperial Japanese Forces on 6 June 1942 as part of large Japanese Naval Offensive. There was no opposition to either landing. A small US Navy Weather Reporting Station on Kiska consisting of 10 personnel was captured and the US Navy sailors were sent to Japan as prisoners of war. The Island of Attu was captured by a Japanese Army Infantry battalion. Attu village at the time consisted of 43 Aleuts (Unanagin) and a female schoolteacher and her husband. The Japanese later transported the Aleuts as prisoners to Japan. The schoolteacher Etta Jones was also transported to Japan as a prisoner. Etta’s husband Foster Jones was executed by the Japanese on 6 June 1942 and buried by the Attu Villagers at the Russian Orthodox Church graveyard. At the end of the war 25 of the original 43 Aleuts from Attu were repatriated to the US. The remaining 18 died of disease and malnutrition in Japan.

On 11 May 1943 the 7th ID made three landings on Attu the main effort at Massacre Bay, a supporting effort at Red Beach north of Holtz Bay and another supporting effort at Austin Cove by the 7th ID Provisional Scout Company. CPL Ellis landed on Red Beach north of Holtz Bay with B Co 1-17 IN on 11 May 1943 under the command of MAJ Albert Hartl. 1-17 IN initial objective after landing was a hill complex designated HILL X which overlooked Holtz Bay the main Japanese Base on Attu. Due to fog and poor maps 1-17 IN did not seize HILL X on 11 May 1943 as planned. 1-17 IN seized HILL X on the afternoon of 12 My 1943 after a deliberate attack supported by 105 mm artillery, Naval gunfire, and close air support from F4F- 4s, from the USS Nassau, dropping 100-pound Daisey Cutter bombs and conducting strafing runs. 1-17 IN along with the 3rd BN 32nd Infantry (3-32 IN) conducted follow operations into Holtz Bay from 13 May to 18 May 1943 clearing enemy positions. CPL Ellis date of death indicates he took part in the actions to capture HILL X and the offensive operations into Hotlz Bay. The battle of Attu lasted from 11 May to 29 May 1943. The original plan called for a three to four-day operation. The battle took 18 days and was ended in a climatic banzai charge led by the Japanese Commander COL Yamazaki out of Chicagof Harbor/ Attu Village area.

Corporal Charles William Ellis was killed in action or died from wound on 20 May 1943. He was 23 years old when he was killed. CPL Ellis was unmarried and had no children. CPL Ellis unit B 1-17 IN was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for actions on Hill X.

CPL Ellis is buried at Olivewood Cemetery, Riverside, California. CPL Ellis was originally interned at the Holtz Bay Cemetery on Attu in May of 1943 and was later disinterred with all the other US Military and known Japanese WW II casualties. CPL Ellis was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal. CPL Ellis qualifies for the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Ribbon with Star and Arrowhead, the WW II Victory Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) for his actions on Attu.

Author’s Note:

The Battle of Attu was one the toughest fights the US Army has ever been committed in. Due to Attu’s location, weather, and terrain the fight was one the costliest considering the number engaged. The summation of the Battle Attu by the US Army Center for Military History states:

“Out of a force that totaled more than 15,000 men before the campaign ended, 549 Americans had given their lives on Attu, 1,148 had been wounded, and about 2,100 had been taken out of action by disease and nonbattle injuries. Most of the nonbattle casualties were exposure cases, victims of the climate and weather and of inadequate clothing. Trench foot was the most common affliction. The Japanese lost their entire force: approximately 2,350 enemy dead were counted and 29 taken prisoner. The price of victory was high. In terms of numbers engaged, Attu ranks as one of the most costly assaults in the Pacific. In terms of Japanese destroyed, the cost of taking Attu was second only to Iwo Jima: for every hundred of the enemy on the island, about seventy-one Americans were killed or wounded.”

At the end of the war 25 of the original 43 Aleuts from Attu were repatriated to the US. The remaining 18 died of disease and malnutrition in Japan. Most of the geographic names on the Eastern Side of Attu are named for Soldiers of 7th ID (often leaders) killed in action during the battle. Massacre Bay and Valley are named for a massacre of Aleuts by the Russians in the 18th Century. Attu was never resettled and was used for military purposes and later had a remote US Coast Guard presence until the 1990s. Today it is uninhabited.

This story was written by Dennis V. Dupras of Alaska, former Paratrooper (Airborne Infantryman of the 1st BN 325th AIR, 82nd ABN DIV), Infantry Officer of 1st BN 17th Infantry, and graduate of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Class of 1990. This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

SOURCES:

Attu, WWII KIA (hlswilliwaw.com)

AncestryInstitution.com - U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1970

Charles William “Chuck” Ellis (1920-1943) - Find A Grave Memorial

Charles (Chuck) William Ellis - Facts (ancestryinstitution.com)

Racheal Rosetta Lee Ellis (1901-1925) - Find A Grave Memorial

AncestryInstitution.com - U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1970

Prewar portrait photo Find a Grave.com

Charles W Ellis