Date of birth:

November 5th, 1924 (Addison/Texas, United States)

Date of death:

December 24th, 1944 (Rochefort/Namur, Belgium)

Buried on:

American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Plot: F. Row: 7. Grave: 10.

Service number:

38530955

Nationality:

American (1776 - present, Republic)

Joseph W. Gallop jr. was born and raised in Addison Texas,Joseph was the youngest child born to the family of Joseph W. Gallop sr. and his wife Vesta Lillian (Cook) Gallop.
Joseph had 3 siblings, his oldest Sister, Effie Olivia born 12 June 1919; his Brother , LeRoy born 23 Jan. 1921; his Sister, Ila Mae born 11 Oct. 1922.
After attending Grammar school Joseph was drafted while still a senior at Richards High School but was allowed to complete his studies and graduate before reporting for training.

"Buck" as Joseph was called was inducted on 25th June 1943 and entered the Military service on 9 July 1943 in Fort Worth Texas.
Buck wrote in his Diary: "During the first five days we had our I.Q. test and classification.We were issued equipment and uniforms".
He got his classification number "645"wich was an Instrument operator.

Six weeks later,after basic military training he was transferred to Camp Wallace,Texas where they were moved to their different Platoons.
Buck was moved to Btry B 26th where nothing but guys from other states was.
Buck wrote in his Diary: "After being there a few days and fighting the Civil War over we came all to our senses and made real buddies.
One thing I always liked about the group of Btry of boys I was with that whatever came up they could always smile,talk and take it."

"22 September 1943 we fired the M1 rifle and my score was 147,a few days later we fired for record and marked up 155 witch made me a marksman",Buck wrote in his Diary.

In December 1943, the 84th Infantry Division went to the Louisiana Manoeuvre Area to take part in a eight weeks of large-scale war games under the Third Army. On 15th December1943 the 84th was transferred to Camp Clairborne, Louisiana.
In November 1943 Buck was moved to the Anti Tank Company.

335th Infantry Regiment departed New York on the H.M.S. Stirling Castle, and set sail for England for further training. The ship collided with a tug boat in the harbor and the ship had to remain in New York harbor for a few days for repairs.

The 84th landed in France in November 1944 and was immediately sent into Holland. Jutting out into allied lines was the enemy salient at Geilenkirchen, an anchor of the Siegfried Line. The 84th fought its way into Geilenkirchen by November and then went on to take Lindern and a succession of towns which were stubbornly defended by the enemy. By 18 December the 84th had captured both Wurm and Mullendorf, two strong points of the Siegfried Line defenses.

On 21 December the division turned its attention to Belgium and the job of halting von Runstedt’s winter offensive.

Mr. Allan W. Howerton, a veteran of K Company, 335th Infantry Regiment - 84th Infantry Division and the author of "Dear Captain, et al.: The Agonies and the Ecstasies of War and Memory" wrote:
"P.F.C. Joseph W. Gallop Jr. (as listed in the 84th Division roster) was a member of the Anti-tank Company, 335th Infantry. He was one of six Ant-tank Company fatalities on December 24, 1944. Gallop was most likely killed at Rochefort, Belgium during a major battle to halt the German drive just south of the division's principal line of defence around Marche-en-Femenne, Belgium. Rochefort is just south of Marche."

The following from "The 84th Infantry Division in the Battle of Germany" by Lt. Theodore Draper is pertinent:

"In Rochefort, the action was pell-mell. The enemy had infiltrated in force and held most of the houses. Company K moved into a large hotel with Company L. Throughout the night (December 23/24) German 88's. machine guns and burp guns whistled and rattled all over town. We had two 57 mm. anti-tank guns and two heavy machine guns in front of the hotel. The next morning, December 24, a German tank came down the street and fired point-blank at the hotel, knocking out several jeeps. A tree-burst of 88's landed on the ant-tank guns. By 9:30 the battalion was ordered to leave Rochefort, but only Company M and battalion headquarters were able to entruck"

P.F.C. Gallop and the others were probably killed during this action. The battle at Rochefort is described in more detail in chapter 12 of my memoir "Dear Captain, et al.: the Agonies and the Ecstasies of War and Memory". It includes a quote from an after-combat interview with the Company K commander which notes that "All crew members of the 57 mm. gun, outposting the building {the hotel} were killed by artillery fire."

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• Photo 1: Gloria Morris Yager
• Photo 2: Mia van den Berg
• - Family
  - Howerton A.W., "Dear Captain, et al.: The Agonies and the Ecstasies of War and Memory"
  

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