Paul Elijah Oates

Conflicts & Campaigns

• On November 23, 1943 at Oran, Algeria, Paul boarded the HMT Rohna, a British transport. The Rohna joined convoy KMF (26) bound for the India area via the Suez Canal. On the 27th the convoy was attacked by 35 German Henkie 177 Bombers. The Rohna was hit by a German remote-controlled, rocket-boosted bomb, thus giving birth to the rocket age. 1,138 were killed by the missile. The hit was so devastating that the US Government placed a veil of secrecy upon it, which remained until 1967, when detail of the sinking were released. Most of the families of the casualties still do not know the fate of their love ones. Paul was one of the 1015 US troops killed that were aboard that day. A memorial to the sinking was unveiled at the Fort Mitchell National Cemetery in Seale, Alabama in 1996.

Significant Duty Stations

• Basic training; Camp Crowder, Missouri, Maneuvers; Camp Forrest, Tennessee; Advanced Training; Camp Atterbury, Indiana
• Landed; North Africa October 25, 1943. 31st Signal Construction Battalion

Decorations & Citations

• Purple Heart (Posthumously)

Notes

US Army serial number 34-680-180. Born: Grady County, Georgia. Paul worked for the Roddenbery Pickle Company, Cairo, Georgia before he entered the Army. Brother of PFC Earl Oates US Army, Pvt Thomas E. Oates US Army, Pvt Frank Oswald Oates, Jr. US Marine Corps and Construction Mechanic Third Class Uley J. L. Oates US Navy. Paul's brother PFC Earl Oates US Army was killed on Okinawa. Paul's wife, Bernice lost her brother PFC Ander Humphries US Army in the European Theater. Paul is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial, Carthage, Tunisia.