CHARLES KENNETH BRIGGS

Sergeant, United States Army

Service # 31398207

Charles Briggs, born on 16 Apr 1916 in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine, was the middle son of Elsie Francis Bowser (1891-1971), of Peabody, MA and Charles Sumner Briggs (1880-1941) of ME. The couple married on 2 Oct 1912 and settled in Portland, where they raised their three sons: Raymond, Charles and Harold in their home on Cumberland Street. Both parents were educated: Elsie had graduated from Oxford High School and Gray’s Portland Business School; Charles from Portland High School. He was employed as a clerk in the auditing department for the Maine Central Railroad, where he was also manager of the baseball team.

The younger Charles attended local schools in the city and was graduated from Portland High School. On Saturday, 15 Mar 1941, at the Lawrence Congregational Church, Charles married Doris-Gene Furbush, who had been born in Akron, OH. Following a reception at the home of her parents, the couple went on a motor trip and returned to live in the city. By then, Charles had followed in his father’s footsteps and was working as an auditor and passenger receipts clerk for the Boston and Maine Railroad. Doris had graduated from Portland High School and Northeastern Business College. They had one daughter, Polly Ann. In the year they married, 1941, Charles’ father passed away.

On 2 Aug 1943 Charles enlisted in the US Army at Portland. He was assigned to the 45th Infantry Division. On 16 Sep 1940, the 45th Infantry Division had been federalized from state control. Its men immediately began basic combat training at Fort Sill, OK. In Aug 1941, the 45th Infantry Division took part in the Louisiana Maneuvers. Throughout 1942, it continued this training at Camp Barkeley, TX before moving to Fort Devens, MA to undergo amphibious assault training in preparation for an invasion of Italy. In Jan 1943 it moved to Fort Pickett, VA for its final training before moving to the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation’s Camp Patrick Henry to await combat loading on the transports.

Once overseas, the 45th saw action during 1943 in Sicily, Salerno and Anzio. In Jan 1944, Charles Briggs was wounded in the elbow, buttocks and hip by artillery shell fragments and returned to duty. By mid-1944, back with his regiment, he participated in “Operation Dragoon” as the units moved north to meet up with other divisions. By Sep 1944 they crossed the Moselle River and entered the Vosages. On 25 Nov, they attacked the forts north of Mutzig that blocked access to the plain of Alsace and pushed through the Maginot Line defenses. From 2 Jan 1945, the division fought defensively along the German border, withdrawing to the Moder River before the final push into German territory. The 45th moved north to the Sarreguemines area and smashed through the Siegfried Line, on 17 Mar 1945. They took Homburg on the 21st and crossing the Rhine between Worms and Hamm on the 26th. The advance continued, with Aschaffenburg falling on 3 Apr, and Nuremberg on the 20th. The division crossed the Danube River on 27 April, and liberated 32,000 captives of the Dachau concentration camp on 29 April 1945.

Sgt Charles Kenneth Briggs did not partake in those victories. On 17 Apr 1945, a few days before the fall of Nuremberg, he was killed in action, death due to artillery shell fragments. His sacrifice earned him the Silver Star in addition to a second Purple Heart. Charles was buried at the St. Avold Cemetery, Metz, France until after the end of the war. Back in Portland, a memorial service was held in his honor on 27 May 1945 at the Lawrence Congregational Church. In August 1948 his remains were returned home aboard the USAT Lawrence Victory and Charles was re-interred with full military honors in the Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME. He was survived by his mother, two brothers, his infant daughter and his wife, Doris, who had taken a job with Boston & Maine railroad during the war and stayed on after his death. Having lost the “one true love of her life” Doris did not remarry.

“This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project – see www.storiesbehindthestars.org – a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Together we Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of the WWII fallen.”

SOURCES

1920 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com

1930 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com

1940 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/45th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)#World_War_II

Maine, U.S., Birth Records, 1715-1922 – Ancestry.com

Maine, U.S., Marriage Index, 1892-1996 – Ancestry.com

Maine, U.S., Marriage Records, 1713-1922 – Ancestry.com

Portland Evening Express (Portland, ME) - Thu, Jul 24, 1941 - Page 22 – Newspapers.com

Portland Evening Express (Portland, ME) - Tue, Nov 23, 1971 - Page 7 – Newspapers.com

Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME), Sun, Mar 16, 1941 - Page 20 – Newspapers.com

Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME), Sat, May 26, 1945 - Page 8 – Newspapers.com

Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME), Sun, Aug 22, 1948 - Page 23 – Newspapers.com

Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME), Fri, Jan 16, 2015 - Page C7 – Newspapers.com

U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 – Fold3.com

U.S., World War II Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954 – Fold3.com

SBTS/Maine/Cumberland

Charles K Briggs