Edgar E Darksdale

S/Sgt Edgar Darksdale was killed in action on 07 June 1944, serving with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment. On 7 June 1944, the 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry moved out in two columns toward its objective at Mosles, advancing behind the previous day's artillery and naval gunfire that had struck the town. Encountering little opposition until reaching Houtteville, the battalion ran into mortar and machine-gun fire from across the Aure River, where lead elements pushed a platoon across a bridge under fire and, with tank support, forced the crossing to secure the far bank. By 1700 hours the battalion had taken Mosles, at the cost of one tank and crew and several infantry casualties, while accounting for more than thirty enemy dead, and it went on to organize a defensive line astride the Bayeux–St. Lô road, later reinforced that evening by an additional platoon of anti-tank guns. S/Sgt Darksdale was killed in action that day; the report does not specify the individual circumstances.