This Military Service Page was created/owned by
SGM Mike Vining
to remember
Rector, Raymond (Ray), Pfc.
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Contact Info
Home Town Rockville
Last Address 19 Hammond Street Rockville CT 06066
Date of Passing Jan 06, 2014
Location of Interment Pleasant Hill Cemetery - Freedom, Maine
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Raymond Edward "Ray" Rector, age 92, of Rockville, Connecticut, beloved husband of 31 years to Shirley Gates Rector passed into the hands of the Lord on 6 January 2014, at Windsor, Connecticut. Ray was born on 26 August 1921, in Cedar Springs, Michigan to the late Orrin Tefft and Mabel Augusta Lowing Rector. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as part of the anti-artillery service in Germany, he then married Mae Robinson of South Carolina with whom he had three sons; Kenneth, Jack and Ronnie presently residing in South Carolina. Besides his children he is also survived by his six grandchildren; Geoff Rector of Wolcott, Sharon Welehorsky of Naugatuck, Ashley Lalus of Freedom, Maine, Christina Renzullo of Torrington, Matthew and Jason Rector of South Carolina as well as ten great-grandchildren. Besides his parents he was predeceased by four brothers and five sisters. Ray was a quiet man devoted to his "entire" family including his nieces and nephews in Michigan, New Jersey, and Florida. Relatives and friends are welcome to join the family on Thursday, 9 January 2014 from 4 - 7 pm at The Small & Pietras Funeral Home, 65 Elm Street, Rockville, Connecticut. Burial will be private with full military honors some time in May 2014, at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Waldo County, Freedom, Maine.
Other Comments:
Uncle Ray E. Rector (service number 36464461), entered the Army on 11 May 1943, at Kalamzoo, Michigan. He was assigned to 2nd Platoon, B Battery, 556th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion (Mobile), XVIII Corps, Ninth Army. The platoon had four gun sections #5, 6, 7, and 8. Uncle Ray was in section #7. Each gun section had a M1 40mm Bofors Automatic Gun and a M51 Quad .50-caliber machine gun.
The 556th AAA AW BN (Mobile) was organized on 20 March 1943. They were stated at Camp Jackson, South Carolina in the summer of 1944. The Battalion arrived the in European Theater of Operations around mid-September 1944. The 556th saw it first significance combat action during the New Years Day 1945 raids. The Battalion went on to distinguish itself in the protection of the Ninth Army’s Rhine River crossing. In November of 1945, uncle Ray returned to the United States for dischare.
Raymond Edward "Ray" Rector is my maternal uncle. This remembrance profile is maintain by Mike R. Vining, SGM USA (Retired), email: sgmmvining@gmail
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Ardennes Alsace Campaign (1944-45)/Battle of the Bulge
From Month/Year
December / 1944
To Month/Year
January / 1945
Description The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. Hitler planned the offensive with the primary goal to recapture the important harbour of Antwerp. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. United States forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred the highest casualties for any operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany's war-making resources.
The battle was known by different names. The Germans referred to it as Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein ("Operation Watch on the Rhine"), while the French named it the Bataille des Ardennes ("Battle of the Ardennes"). The Allies called it the Ardennes Counteroffensive. The phrase "Battle of the Bulge" was coined by contemporary press to describe the way the Allied front line bulged inward on wartime news maps and became the best known name for the battle.
The German offensive was supported by several subordinate operations known as Unternehmen Bodenplatte, Greif, and Währung. As well as stopping Allied transport over the channel to the harbor of Antwerp, Germany also hoped these operations would split the British and American Allied line in half, and then proceed to encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis Powers' favor. Once that was accomplished, Hitler could fully concentrate on the eastern theatre of war.
The offensive was planned by the German forces with the utmost secrecy, minimizing radio traffic and moving troops and equipment under cover of darkness. Despite their efforts to keep it secret, the Third U.S. Army's intelligence staff predicted a major German offensive, and Ultra indicated that a "substantial and offensive" operation was expected or "in the wind", although a precise date or point of attack could not be given. Aircraft movement from the Russian Front and transport of forces by rail, both to the Ardennes, was noticed but not acted upon, according to a report later written by Peter Calvocoressi and F. L. Lucas at the codebreaking centre Bletchley Park.
Near-complete surprise was achieved by a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance. The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, taking advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions, which grounded the Allies' overwhelmingly superior air forces. Fierce resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive around Elsenborn Ridge and in the south around Bastogne blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success; columns that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This and terrain that favored the defenders threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. Improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, as survivors retreated to the defenses of the Siegfried Line.
About 610,000 American forces were involved in the battle,[2] and 89,000 were casualties, including 19,000 killed. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II.
