26 Sept 2022 Garand Picture of the Day - 32nd Inf Div

[Mark in Rochester]

Sergeant Gerald O. Cable, Service Company, 126th Infantry, from Michigan. On 25 April 1942, he became the first member of the 32nd Infantry Division to die in World War II when the Liberty ship he was on was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Camp Tamborine was renamed Camp Cable in his honor.

Tec. 5 Cable was making the trip to Brisbane aboard a Liberty Ship that was transporting some of the Division’s equipment. He has been MIA, presumed KIA, since 22 July when the ship, William Dawes, was torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-11. He had volunteered to serve as an ammunition bearer for a deck gun at the stern. He, and four Navy Armed Guards, was killed when the torpedo struck the stern. Fifty-four crew members and passengers made it to the life boats before a second torpedo sealed the ship’s fate. Some references state that Cable had spotted the approaching torpedo and attempted to give the alarm before it exploded. Some references suggest that the deck gun was shooting at the torpedo before it struck.

Information

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[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

SS William Dawes - A Ship is Burning (1942) - Naval Historical Society of Australia