Harold T Lay - The County and the Kaiser

Private, Co I, 106th Infantry, 27th Division.

Died of pneumonia in an Army hospital at Rouen, France, October 25, 1918. Age 27.

Town: Batavia

Burial: Somme American Cemetery, Plot A Row 2 Grave 4, Bony, France

Harold Tracy Lay was born in Batavia (Genesee County), New York, on August 10, 1891. He was the second oldest of four children (brothers Donald and George, sister Margaret) of prominent businessman Harry M Lay and wife, Henrietta nee Cross Lay. The 1910 US Census shows the Lays with all four children, including Harold at age 18, living at 420 East Main Street in Batavia. Harold attended Batavia schools and worked briefly as a reporter for the Batavia Times. He also attended St. John’s Military Academy in Manlius, New York, before moving to New York City, where in 1913 he became an associate editor for The Commercial Vehicle, a trade magazine, and later was editor of Transfer & Storage magazine. His brother Donald also worked as an associate editor in New York City, for the magazine The Automobile. An entertaining article in the August 10, 1913 Batavia Times, presumably written by Harold or perhaps both brothers, tells the tale of their shared motor trip from New York to Batavia over bad roads in a constantly-breaking-down motor car. “The tale is a sad one, a story of disaster and of sudden death—to parts of the machine,” wrote the author.

Harold Lay enlisted in the New York 14th Infantry in Brooklyn on June 1, 1917, about two months after the United States declared war on Germany. In mid-July, the 14th and all other National Guard units were called into federal service. At the end of September, 1917, the regiment was sent to Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina, where many of the 14th Infantry’s men, including Lay, were assigned to the newly formed 27th Division’s 106th Infantry. The 106th left for overseas from Hoboken, New Jersey, aboard USS President Lincoln on May 10, 1918, and debarked at Brest, France, on May 25. Although Lay’s trip across was uneventful, the President Lincoln was sunk by German torpedoes six days later, on May 31, during its return trip.

Throughout the course of the war, the 27th Division was attached to and fought with British forces. “There are no better fellows anywhere than these Tommies,” Lay wrote in a letter to his parents published in the September 28, 1918 Batavia Times. Private Lay would’ve seen combat, with few breaks, from early July, 1918 onward. The 27th Division, including Lay’s 106th Infantry, took part in the intense fighting on the Somme at the East Poperinghe Line, Dickebusche Lake, Vierstraat Ridge, and—later—the Hindenburg Line.

According to the November 22, 1918 Batavia Daily News, Lay died of pneumonia (probably a result of influenza) contracted while he was in a hospital in Rouen, France, where he was being treated for a foot injury he received while carrying out a wounded comrade and then returning, still injured, to the front twice, continuing to help until he could no longer walk. A citation for his actions appears In Appendix D, “Divisional Citations,” of The Story of the 27th Division (Vol. 2): “Private Harold T Lay, Company I, 106th Infantry (Deceased). For gallantry in action and devotion to duty during the battle of Vierstraat Ridge, Belgium, August 31 – September 2, 1918, in exposing himself to severe sniping fire in carrying wounded from the field and for bringing to his regimental commander an intelligent and comprehensive report of front line conditions. This soldier was evacuated to the rear and died in hospital September 29, 1918, as a result of his exertions and exposure.”

Although the citation’s combat account is likely accurate, the date given for Lay’s death is almost certainly an error. Two sources (November 22, 1918 Batavia Daily News and the March 1919 The Wind Mill, a newsletter from St. John’s School) include references to a letter from Lay written October 15, 1918—well after the September 29 date given in the divisional citation. Also, later in the same volume of The Story of the 27th Division that contains the citation, Lay’s death date is listed as October 26, 1918. This too, however, is likely an error. The predominance of sources, including his NYSS and all pertinent Burial Case File documents, give his date of death as October 25, 1918—this is most probably the correct date.

Note that Lay’s listed rank varies somewhat among sources, but the vast majority, including all county lists and all documents in his Burial Case File, as well as the NY Roll of Honor and Story of 27th Division, give his rank as private.

Private Harold Tracy Lay was initially buried at the St. Sever Cemetery in Rouen, but was later reinterred at the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France.

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July 20, 1918 Batavia Times p1 c1

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November 22, 1918 Batavia Daily News p7 c3

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Source: New York Service Summary from Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919, NY State Archives, Albany, New York