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John E. Bassett, born on August 23, 1924, was the son of William J. and Mary E. Bassett. He had a sister named Margaret and a brother named William. His father worked as a vacuum cleaner salesman, while his mother was a public school teacher. John’s brother was a newspaper reporter, and his sister worked as a typist/secretary for the probation department of the children’s court. They all resided at 122 Grace Church Street. During his youth, John actively participated in the Boy Scouts and was a member of the YMCA. After graduating from Resurrection Parochial School and Rye High School, Sergeant Bassett was employed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard before enlisting in the Army.
Date of Birth: 8/23/1924
Died On: 12/24/1944
Street Address: 122 Grace Church Street
Service Number: 32810665
Branch of Service: U.S. Army – F Company, 262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division
On February 19, 1943, John enlisted in the U.S. Army and underwent basic training before being assigned to the 262nd Regiment of the 66th Infantry Division. He attained the rank of Sergeant. In November 1944, Sergeant Bassett was deployed overseas, and his last letter home mentioned his visit to London a few days before Christmas. Unfortunately, his mother’s first Christmas package was returned unopened.
Tragedy struck on Christmas Eve of 1944 when the Belgian troopship SS Leopoldville, carrying John’s unit from Southampton, England to Cherbourg, France to provide reinforcements at the Battle of the Bulge, was torpedoed by the German submarine U-486. The torpedo hit the compartment where John’s company, Co. F, 262nd Regiment, was located. Only 19 of the 175 Co. F soldiers survived. Ultimately, the ship sank two and a half hours later. The sinking of the SS Leopoldville resulted in the second highest casualty count from a troopship disaster in the entire European war, with 14 officers and 784 enlisted men dead or missing. John, along with his regiment, is honored and memorialized at the American Cemetery in Collevile-sur-Mer, France.
The true details of the Leopoldville sinking were not fully disclosed by British and U.S. authorities until years later. In 1984, Clive Cussler and his organization, the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), discovered the shipwreck at different coordinates than previously marked on charts. While some information has been released, there are still undisclosed British documents pertaining to the incident. Books such as A Night Before Christmas, by Jacquin Sanders and SS Leopoldville Disaster, by Allan Anrade have shed light on this tragic event of World War II.
John’s first cousin James Kirby Taylor also died in service in WWII. Other first cousins, all from Rye who served were John A. Kirby, George Kirby, Stephen O’Reilly and Thomas O’Reilly. His uncles Martin Kirby and James Kirby served in WWI. More on Bassett.
