Corporal Roy Ethan Bailey / United States Army

Italy was the scene of most of Roy’s many fighting days while in the Army. He was among the first to leave Milford after the declaration of war, entering service January 12, 1942. He was given basic training, attending a school for mechanics, at Fort Warren, Wyoming. For the next five months he had more training as a mechanic at Salt Lake City and Tucson. He went overseas just a year after he entered the Army, with the 1683rd Ordnance Company 5, Motor Mechanics Aviation unit. Landing in Africa, he was in Casablanca, Fez in French Morocco, then across the Atlas Mountains to Cobra. He crossed the Mediterranean to Sicily July 13, 1943, and fought through Messina and the Italian mainland to reach Battipaglia in September. He was in Southern France in August, 1944, and underwent severe bombing attacks for a month. He was moved back to Pontedera, near Pisa, in Italy, and two months later was transferred to the 550th Engineers. In September 1945, he returned to this country, and was discharged at Fort Devens September 27. Roy is the son of Ethan and Minnie (Snyder) Bailey, born in Milford, May 1, 1917. He was educated in Milford schools, and when he entered military service, he was a truck driver.

This profile courtesy of the Milford NH Historical Society, from a book published in cooperation with the Milford Press in 1949 entitled Milford in WWII. Submitted by Gary Ledoux