Elva C Springer - The County and the Kaiser

Corporal, 83rd Co, 6th Regiment, 4th U.S. Marine Brigade, 2nd Division.

Died November 2, 1918, of wounds received in action near Landres-et-Saint-Georges, France. Age 20.

Town: Batavia (also New Jersey; see text)

Burial: Head of the River Cemetery, Estell Manor, Atlantic County, New Jersey

Elva Clifton Springer was born May 30, 1898 in Gloucester, New Jersey, and grew up in that state, but was living and working in Batavia (Genesee County), New York, at the time he entered the service. He was the oldest of two children (brother, George R) born to John and Sarah Springer. The 1910 US Census shows the family, including Elva at age 12, living in Ewing (Mercer County), New Jersey. Sometime between 1910 and 1917, the Springers moved to Batavia, where according to the November 22, 1918 Batavia Daily News Elva’s father, an engineer, worked with the Batavia Rubber Tire Company and Elva worked as a draftsman under him. Newspaper sources, Elva Springer’s NYSS, and 1917’s Farm Journal Illustrated Directory of Genesee County all list the Springer residence as 12 Fisher Park in Batavia.

After signing up for the Marine Corps in Buffalo on May 8, 1917, Elva Springer was sent to Port Royal (Parris Island), South Carolina, where he took the oath on May 30 and underwent initial training. In early August he was sent to Quantico, Virginia, where he was assigned to 83rd Company of the newly formed 6th Regiment. Springer’s 3rd Battalion shipped out on October 31 and dropped anchor at Brest, France on November 12, 1917. The 5th and 6th Marine Regiments, along with the 6th Machine Gun Battalion, formed the 4th Marine Brigade, part of the regular army’s 2nd Division, and fought with that division throughout the war.

Springer was among the 6th Marines’ earliest casualties, when he was wounded and gassed on April 16, 1918 while his battalion was in line near Mont-sous-les-Côtes, in the Toulon sector. He survived not only that, but also fierce fighting over the next six months, in the Battle of Belleau Wood (where four other Genesee County marines were killed) in June; the Aisne-Marne offensive near Vierzy in mid-July (where the regiment suffered over 1,300 casualties in two days); the St. Mihiel offensive near Thiaucourt in September (421 casualties); and the Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge, a key German stronghold, in October (940 casualties). [Note: casualty figures used here are from History of the Sixth Regiment United States Marines.]

Corporal Springer was mortally wounded on November 1, 1918, the first day of the final phase, or “grand offensive,” by Allied forces in the Meuse-Argonne campaign. With three full American divisions assaulting in line on each side of it, the 2nd Division was assigned the center of the thrust, against strong enemy positions, and the 4th Marine Brigade was chosen to lead the division’s attacking waves. The 6th Marines, including Springer’s 3rd Battalion, jumped off at 5:30 a.m. near Sommerance, fighting first through the heavily defended territory south and west of Landres-et-Saint-Georges before advancing north/northeast towards Bayonville-et-Chennery and beyond. By 3 p.m. the marines had successfully taken their objectives despite stiff resistance from enemy artillery and machine-gun fire. Corporal Springer died the following day of wounds sustained in that attack, just nine days before the signing of the Armistice and the end of the war.

In September, 1921, Corporal Elva Clifton Springer’s remains were returned to the United States under military escort and interred at Head of the River Cemetery in Estell Manor, New Jersey.

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May 9, 1917 Batavia Daily News p6 c5

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October 26, 1917 Batavia Daily News p5 c3

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May 1, 1918 Batavia Daily News p1 c6

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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