1 LT. Donald A. Ross (May 11, 1920–December 18, 1944)
191st Tank Battalion, 45th Infantry Division
by Jonathan Suhr
Early Life
Donald Alexander Ross was born on May 11, 1920, to Marjorie and Francis Ross. His father, an American, Francis T. Ross (1891) grew up in Grantsburg, WI and moved to Clarkson, Ontario, Canada, in the early twentieth century.1 While in Clarkson, Francis served in the Canadian Expeditionary force in World War I.2 Donald’s mother, Marjorie M. Ross (1891), hailed from Toronto, Canada.3 While Francis and Marjorie most likely met in Ontario, they married in Terrace, British Columbia, on June 27, 1916 and had their first child, Margaret, in 1917.4 After serving in World War I, Francis worked at a sawmill on the Pacific coast at the junction of the Skeena and the Kitsumkalum Rivers, hundreds of miles north of Vancouver, BC, to support his growing family.5 After Margaret’s birth, the Ross family grew with the birth of Donald (1920), then Sanna (1922), and Elizabeth (1924).6
In 1924, the Ross family moved from one end of North America to another, settling in Kelsey City, Palm Beach County, FL, known today as Lake Park.7 Francis and Marjorie Ross likely moved to take advantage of the Florida land boom in the 1920s.8 Francis found work as a contractor specializing in building stores, while Marjorie worked as an elementary school teacher.9
Growing up in Kelsey City, Donald loved playing outside, and joined the Boy Scouts Troop 6 of Lake Park
to further engage in outdoor pursuits.10 In 1934, Donald entered high school and in 1935 he joined the Spanish club. He graduated from high school in 1938. Donald was also no stranger to jokes, as this senior quote from his yearbook attests: “I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.”11 This quote truly exemplifies Donald’s outdoor lifestyle and the relatively playful attitude he took towards life. After high school, Donald became a mechanic and repairman, learning the trade.12
Military Service
On November 25, 1940, Donald enlisted in the Florida National Guard as an infantryman.13 The National Guard assigned Ross to Company C of the 124th Infantry Division stationed in West Palm Beach Armory.14 He trained at Camp Blanding, a new Florida National Guard training camp named after World War I Major General Albert Blanding. In 1940, Camp Blanding served as the training site for two National Guard divisions and other units which included Donald’s unit.15
The Army, preparing for the possibility of joining the war, needed capable officers and began selecting promising enlisted men.16 In August of 1942, the Army selected Donald and four other enlisted men from C Company for Officer Candidate School (OCS).17 After graduating from OCS at Fort Benning, GA, Donald became a lieutenant in the 191st Tank Battalion as an armor officer.18 Organized on September 1, 1940, the 191st tank battalion consisted of four tank companies fitted as a medium tank battalion.19 The US Army eventually attached the 191st tank battalion to the 45th Infantry Division in 1943.20 National guardsmen from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma formed the core of the 45th Infantry Division, which the U.S. Government federalized in 1940.21 With the 191st tank battalion, the 45th Infantry Division had armored tank units to support these national guardsmen in battle.
Donald led a platoon of American tanks, most likely M4 Shermans, which served as the backbone of American armored units in World War II. The Sherman could outmaneuver German tanks which provided a key advantage as the Sherman could not overpower the German tanks in terms of raw firepower. Also, the Americans’ ability to mass produce M4 Shermans likewise provided the key advantage during World War II. Even as Germany continued to produce panzers, it fought on two fronts, had labor shortages, and relied on slave labor in factories. The idea that the Allies had an unending supply of men and material likely played a key role in declining German morale near the war’s end.22
Donald’s division landed in Casablanca, Morocco, on March 9, 1943, when the Allied troops massed in North Africa, after Operation Torch and ahead of the land invasion of Italy. As part of the US 5th Army, the 191st first saw combat at the invasion of Salerno, Italy on September 10, 1943, one day after the operation began.23]The 45th Division faced heavy fighting during the Allied amphibious landing, with the 191st tank battalion broken up into company and platoon-size levels to support infantry units throughout the beachhead.24 After eight days of combat, the Allies took Salerno then pushed further north into Italy.25 On October 7, 1943, the 5th Army reached the Gustav line, the main German defensive line in central Italy meant to prevent an Allied advance to Rome.26 When the Allies failed to break through the Gustav line, they decided to launch a new amphibious landing at Anzio, Italy on January 22, 1944.27
The battle took place on the beach below high cliffs at Anzio. Given the terrain, Allied forces remained pinned down on the beachhead for several months, from January 22 to May 25, 1944.28 During this period, Donald wrote to the Boy Scouts of Troop 6 through the TNT newsletter- a newsletter sent by the Boy Scouts to former scouts who served in the military – and his letter became the subject of an article for his local paper, the Palm Beach Post. Donald wrote, in part: “Life here is a good healthy one, providing you are not up where it is too hot. I am living in a dugout which would make the kids back there in the States turn green with envy if they could see it.”29 While lighthearted, Donald’s letter gave hints about the difficult conditions. Living in a dugout, without proper shelter or basic provisions, Donald’s reference to the heat may have been about the Italian climate, but it may have also been a reference to the constant German artillery shelling.
Once the 5th Allies finally captured Anzio, the advance continued to Rome, liberating the Italian capital on June 4, 1944.30 Although some German resistance remained in northern Italy, this success in Rome allowed the Allies to open a new front in Southern France. Operation Dragoon began on August 15, 1944. Donald’s division, re-assigned to the US 7th Army, participated in this southern landing. The 45th Division landed at Sainte-Maxime, along the Cote d’Azur on the first day of battle, August 15, 1944. They experienced light enemy resistance, pushed past the beachhead, and started rapidly heading north.31
In about one week, the 45th Division traveled about 150 miles north to Montelimar, a town about ninety miles south of Lyon, when it encountered its first intense German resistance on August 23, 1944. Montelimar had strategic importance, as it sat on the east bank of the Rhone River and served as a withdrawal route for the retreating German Army. The battle of Montelimar started when the US 36th Infantry Division engaged the Germans’ 11th Panzer Division outside of the city on August 21 and 22. The 45th rushed up to reinforce the 36th Division. The combined forces of both divisions proved successful in forcing the Germans to retreat from Montelimar on August 28, 1944.32 The 45th Division kept moving north, seizing the city of Villersexel in Franche-Comte, after heavy fighting on September 15.33 According to the Palm Beach Post as well as an Army general order, on September 13, 1944, Donald moved his tank to shield two wounded infantrymen and took heavy fire until medics rescued the
wounded soldiers near Grammont, Haute-Saône.34 The 45th Division’s General Order #257 for November 5, 1944, shown here, provides an account of First Lieutenant Donald Ross’s actions on September 13:
When two infantrymen lay wounded in a clearing under heavy enemy fire, First Lieutenant Ross moved his tank into the open area to cover the wounded soldiers while aid men went forward to evacuate them.35
For his selfless actions in the battle, First Lieutenant Donald Ross received the Silver Star.36
On September 20, 1944, the 45th Infantry Division pushed north and east into the Vosges region, to the small town of Bains les Bains. Pushing slowly forward, the 45th reached the city of Epinal, more than fifteen miles away, over the course of four days.37 While the 45th Infantry Division attempted to advance east into Alsace, it faced both natural and man made obstacles. In addition to the Moselle River and the Vosges Mountains, entrenched German artillery encampments used the terrain and the weather to their advantage against the advancing Americans.38 The 45th Infantry Division started its push toward Alsace from Baccara, Moselle. It then moved north to Sarrebourg, before crossing the Saverne Gap and driving down into the Alsace Valley, reaching it on November 23, 1944. From there the 45th infantry division pushed north, liberating the northern part of Alsace for the first time before the Germans took back control.39 On December 18, Donald A. Ross and his crew pushed through the German border around Lembach, a hilly sector of the North Lower Vosges Mountain area.40 As they advanced, German artillery hit Ross’ tank; Army medical personnel rushed Ross and his tank crew to the hospital. Ross succumbed to his wounds that same day, December 18, 1944.41
Legacy
Donald Ross is buried in Saint Avold, France where the US established a temporary military cemetery on March 16, 1945. The French government gave the US permission to establish a permanent burial ground, in which the American Battle Monuments Commission transformed the temporary cemetery into the Lorraine American Cemetery, the largest American World War II cemetery in Europe.42 For succumbing to wounds during combat, Ross earned a Purple Heart alongside his Silver Star.43
All of Donald’s sisters moved out of Lake Park, married, and had children. His father, Francis, worked in Nashville during the war as an instructor for the US government construction training school; he died from a heart attack in his summer home in Boone, NC in October 1972 at the age of 81.44 Donald’s mother Marjorie became the principal at the Lake Park elementary school during the war. Marjorie remained in her position until 1957 when she retired. Marjorie passed away on July 4th, 1987 at the age of ninety-two in Boone, NC.45
Donald’s community memorialized him in several ways after his death. In 1946, Donald’s old National Guard commander from Company C, Oliver Hartwell, constructed a bronze plaque of the fallen, which included his name.46 The local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) named the West Palm Beach post in his honor. In 1947, the Donald A. Ross VFW Post 9610 hosted a ceremony where his parents received the American Defense Medal and the World War II victory medal on their son’s behalf.47 In 1950, VFW Post 9610 participated in the unveiling of a World War II memorial in Kelsey Park. This memorial listed the sixty-two World War II Veterans from Lake Park, including Donald, as one of the three who made the ultimate sacrifice.48
The city named Donald Ross Road and Ellison Wilson Road, which intersect in Park Lake, for two of their local city’s fallen sons. On the corner where Donald Ross Rd. and Ellison Wilson Rd. intersect, there is a memorial commemorating both men. Following the naming of the road, several businesses took Donald’s name, including Donald Ross clinic and Donald Ross village, a local shopping center.49
First Lieutenant Donald Ross risked his life for his comrades, the people back home, and the French and Italians he helped liberate. He died a hero, fighting on the front lines thousands of miles away from home. Before the war, Donald was known for his love of learning and the outdoors. During the war, he exhibited the leadership and sacrifice of an extraordinary officer and soldier; his family and community will always remember him and his sacrifice.
1 “1921 Census of Canada,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed October 6, 2022), entry for Francis Ross, Terrace, Skeena, British Columbia; “1930 US Census,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed October 6, 2022), entry for Francis Ross, Kelsey, Palm Beach, Florida. Francis’s middle initial is mistyped as an I when the correct initial is a T for Theodore; “Attestation Paper,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed October 6, 2022), entry for Francis Ross, Clarkson, Ontario, Canada. Attestation papers were information forms completed during enlistment into the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) for WWI. For more information on attestation papers see, “Attestation Papers,” Canadian War Museum (Museé Canadien de La Guerre), accessed April 23, 2023, https://www.warmuseum.ca/s3/supplyline/assets/teacherresources/CWM_SupplyLine_AttestationPapers_EN_FINAL_20140922.pdf.
2 “Attestation Paper”
3 “1921 Census of Canada,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed October 6, 2022), entry for Marjorie Ross, Terrace, Skeena, British Columbia. “Border Crossing from Canada to U.S.,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed October 6, 2022), entry for Marjorie Fairbairn Ross, Toronto, Ontario.
4 “Canada, Marriage Index, 1872-1935,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed October 6, 2022), entry for Marjorie and Francis Ross.
5 “1921 Census of Canada.”; “Discover Terrace,” City of Terrace (Northwest British Columbia Resource Benefits Alliance), accessed November 1, 2022, https://www.terrace.ca/discover-terrace/history.
6 “1930 US Census.”
7 “Marjorie F. Ross obituary,”The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, FL), July 7, 1987. The obituary states that Marjorie has been a resident of Lake Park since 1924; “Lake Park History” Town of Lake Park, accessed November 1, 2022, https://www.lakeparkflorida.gov/government/about-us#:~:text=The%20Town%20of%20Lake%20Park,resort%20mecca%20and%20winter%20playground.
8 “Town of Lake Park, FL.”
9 “1930 US Census.”
10 “EX-Local Scout Writes of Anzio,” The Palm Beach Post, May 28, 1944.
11 “U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed September 20, 2022), entry for Donald Alexander Ross.
12 “1940 US Census,”
13 “WWII Army Enlistment Records,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed October 17, 2022), entry for Donald A Ross, service number 20419222; “Florida State Guard 1941-1947 Roster of Individual Service,” Florida Department of Military Affairs, entry for Donald A. Ross, pg. 305
14 “Company C Vets to Erect Plaque Honoring 13 Dead,” The Palm Beach Post, September 7, 1946.
15 George E. Cressman, “Camp Blanding in World War II: The Early Years.” The Florida Historical Quarterly 97, no. 1 (2018): 41, 43.
16 “Fort Benning,” Fort Benning Officer Candidate School, accessed October 17, 2022, https://www.benning.army.mil/Infantry/199th/OCS/History.html.
17 “Officer Training School article,” The Palm Beach Post, August 12, 1942.
18 “U.S. Headstone Inscription and Interment Record,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed September 20, 2022), entry Donald A Ross. When Ross became an officer he changed his branch from infantry to armor.
19 “191st Tank Battalion,” 191st Tank Battalion, Army Unit Directory, accessed November 1, 2022, https://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=PublicUnit&type=Unit&ID=82468.
20 Shelby L. Stanton, “45th Infantry Division,” in Order of Battle: U. S. Army, World War II (Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1984), 133.
21 “45th Infantry Division,” Oklahoma Historical Society, accessed November 9, 2022, https://www.okhistory.org/learn/45th.
22 Andrew Marks, “The M4 Sherman Medium Tank,” On Point, 19, no. 3 (2014): 14-16
23 Stanton, “45th Infantry Division,” 134, 299; “Report of change,” “database Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed October 17, 2022), entry for Donald Ross, Caseblanca, Army Base; Leonard Cizeewski, “191st Tank Battalion,” 191st Tank battalion, hosted by ibiblio, accessed December 28, 2020, http://www.ibiblio.org/45wwiiresources/191/191.html
24 Martin Blumenson, Salerno to Cassino (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 1993), 96-113;
Stanton, 133.
25 J. Rickard, “Battle of the Winter Line or Gustav Line, 12 january–18 May 1944,” History of War, August 23, 2018, accessed January 25, 2023, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_winter_line.htm.
26 Rickard, “Battle of the Winter Line or Gustav Line.”
27 Rickard, “Battle of the Winter Line or Gustav Line.”
28 Stanton, “45th Infantry Division,”134.
29 “EX-Local Scout Writes of Anzio” Palm Beach Post, May 28, 1944.
30 Rickard, “Battle of the Winter Line or Gustav Line”; Stanton, 134.
31 “Southern France: U.S. Army Center of Military History,” U.S. Army Center of Military History, accessed November 2, 2022, https://history.army.mil/brochures/sfrance/sfrance.htm, 13.
32 Jeffrey J. Clarke and Robert Ross Smith, Hyperwar: Riviera to the Rhine: U.S. Army in World II: The European Theater of Operations (Chicago: Whitman Publishing, 2012), 145, 153, 155, 158, 163–165.
33 Stanton, “45th Infantry Division,” 134.
34 “Silver Star News article,” The Palm Beach Post, December 31, 1944; “General Order #257,” 45th Infantry Division, November 5, 1944; Email correspondence with Eric Schell and Dave Kerr. Thank you to Eric Schell and Dave Kerr, historical consultants based in France and in the US, for providing us digital images of documents related to the 45th ID which are not available digitally in public archive collections.
35 “General Order #257,” 45th Infantry Division.
36 “Silver Star News article,” The Palm Beach Post, December 31, 1944; The General Order #257 does not reference Ross receiving a Silver Star directly. The“Silver Star” article from the Palm Beach Post, does mention Ross as receiving a Silver Star for his actions, and the news article essentially copies the text of the General Order. Therefore, we are confident that Ross received a Silver Star for his actions on September 13, 1944.
37 Darrell Bishop, “Through the Frozen Mountains : The 45th Infantry Division in the Vosges Campaign, 20 September 1944- 23 January 1945” (Master’s Thesis, University of Central Oklahoma, 2015), 48.
38 Bishop, 62.
39 45th Infantry Division, Order of Battle, U.S. Army Center of Military History, accessed February 5, 2023, https://history.army.mil/documents/eto-ob/45id-eto.htm; Clarke, Smith, Riviera to the Rhine, 369. Due to Operation Nordwind, a German counter attack which started the night of December 31, 1944, the US army retreated from this sector and fought to take it back and liberated for a second time all through March 19, 1945; Bishop, “Through the Frozen Mountains,” iii.
40 “191st Tank Battalion S-3 Journal,” National Archives and Record Administration, NNO 735017, December 1944, Sheet 513. Thank you to Eric Schell for sharing this document from the National Archives.
41 “U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed October 17, 2022), entry for Donald A. Ross.
42 Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial (Arlington, VA: American Battle Monuments Commission, 2019)
43 “U.S. Headstone Inscription and Interment Record.”
44 “Services Tomorrow for Francis T. Ross,” The Tennessean (Nashville, TN), October 7, 1972.
45 “Ross was a ‘teaching principal’.”
46 “Company C Vets to Erect Plaque Honoring 13 Dead,” The Palm Beach Post, December 7, 1946.
47 “New VFW Post Gets Charter,” The Palm Beach Post, November 11, 1947. For more information on the Lake Park VFW Post, see https://vfw9610.org/di/vfw/v2/default.asp.
48 “Plans Completed for Dedication of Lake Park Plaque,” The Palm Beach Post, May 21, 1950.
49 “Donald Ross Urgent Care,” MD Now Urgent Care, accessed October 17, 2022, https://www.mymdnow.com/locations/donald-ross-urgent-care/.; “Donald Ross Village,” Brock Development Corp, accessed October 17, 2022, https://brockdevelopmentcorp.com/donald-ross-village.