CORP Benjamin Harrison Fay
US Army/FDNY/NYPD
Death - November 2, 1918
November 2, 1918 - LODD
Fireman/Corporal Benjamin H. Fay - Ladder 102
FDNY Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. New York
KIA 106th Infantry, Machine Gun Company. World War I France. Before he was called away to the military, he was a New York City fireman, and ex-police officer
Entered service, April 2, 1918, from Brooklyn, NY. Assigned to Machine Gun Company, 106th Infantry Regiment, 27th Division. After training at Camp Wadsworth, SC, the 106th Infantry deployed to Europe, on May 10, 1918. He saw combat in both Belgium & France. He died of influenza on Nov. 2, 1919, in France.
Note: Benjamin Harrison Fay was a New York Fireman assigned to Ladder 102, which was originally Ladder 2, Brooklyn Fire Department. When they merged with the new, New York City Fire Department it was re-designated FDNY Ladder 2, then Ladder 52 and then in 1913 to its current designation Ladder 102. His birth was January 8th 1889. His death November 2nd 1918. His address was 137 Adelphi Street, Brooklyn, New York.
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CORP Fay's Helmet:
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27th Infantry Division
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106th Infantry
World War I
The 27th Division was organized in November 1917 into a "square division" of the US Army. It had two infantry
brigades (each with two infantry regiments), along with an
artillery brigade,
machine gun battalions, and headquarters and support units During the reorganization, the 23rd New York Infantry Regiment was converted into the 106th Infantry Regiment, under the command of Col. Franklin W. Ward, and was assigned to the 53rd Infantry Brigade (now the
53rd Troop Command) alongside the
105th Infantry Regiment (former 2nd New York). When the regiment arrived in
France, it had a strength of 3,003 officers and enlisted men, and it was moved into the front lines on 25 June 1918. The regiment relieved elements of the
British 6th Division along the East Poperinghe Line in
Belgium, where it remained with the other elements of the 27th Division. On 31 August 1918, the
Ypres-Lys Offensive began, and the 106th Regiment was engaged in the reconnaissance efforts prior to the main battle. Alongside the 53rd Brigade and the rest of the 27th Division, the 106th attacked
German position in the
Second Somme Offensive from 24 September to 21 October 1918.This offensive proved to be the decisive action which broke the
Hindenburg Line.
Ladder 102 former firehouse
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RIP. Never forget.