William H Bowker

Cpl William Bowker was killed in action on 08 June 1944, serving with Company C, 37th Engineer Combat Battalion. On June 8, 1944, the company pushed forward with the demanding work of turning the invasion beachhead into a functioning supply network. First Platoon cleared anti-personnel mines while building a second lateral road from the cemetery to the beach return road, and cut an additional road inland to link with existing routes near the E-1 draw. Second Platoon reached the site of Vehicle Transit Area #4 by midday, clearing hedges, marking out fields, and setting up traffic control and an exit checkpoint north of Surrain, with the first vehicles moving through by mid-afternoon; sniper fire harassed the men throughout the day, and prisoners were taken in the course of the work. Third Platoon kept the emergency transit area running and began laying out a new personnel transit area near St. Laurent-sur-Mer, continuing the steady, exposed labor that defined the company's first days ashore. Cpl Bowker was killed in action that day; the report does not specify the individual circumstances.