Eaton, Randolph Clay

RANDOLPH G. EATON was killed in action on the Mareth Line in Tunisia. Capt. Howe, his Commanding Officer, reports as follows: "At 10 AM on the 25th March, 1943, Randolph Eaton, attached to the 6th N.Z. ADS South West of G. . . was severely injured by shrapnel from a bomb landing on the ground of the ADS. Major Duncan of the ADS gave him immediate attention, but he died five minutes later. Major Lamieson (Padre) buried him at the ADS." His home was in Brookline, Massachusetts and he had been a student at Bowdoin College, which he left at the end of his freshman year in order to join the American Field Service. He was 21 years old.

__ AFS Letters No. 12

On 25 March, Lt. Snead reported in the Platoon diary the first AFS death by enemy action in the advance from El Alamein: "Randy Eaton was at the 6th ADS yesterday evening. He was planning on coming in [to the 5th MDS] this morning. Prior to leaving, he wanted to pick up some supplies from a YMCA car. While walking from a NZ car to the YMCA vehicle, he was hit by a bomb burst, suffering severe injuries to his back and head. He died instantly, without pain. The whole crew are severely shocked. He was a good lad and a good driver."

__ George Rock. Chapter 5. "Middle East 3. El Alamein to Tunis (October 1942 to May 1943)" History of the American Field Service, 1920-1955. New York 1956.

It was toward the end of the Khamseen that Winslow Martin dropped in from another camp in the valley. He had to prop the door open against the gale to get inside the ambulance, and his skin was raw and sore from the sand's whipping. He sat down, looking very low, and presently inquired, "You heard about Randy Eaton, didn't you?" "No," I said, thinking of the kid who'd come over with him before. "What about him?" "He's dead," Win said, "got his back blown off by a shell this afternoon." He paused a minute, looking drawn and shaky, then he added . . . . censored . . . . This I hope will be my low water mark for uneasiness, for though it has little element of personal danger, yet somehow the ingredients of the story are terrifying to me.

__ Caleb Milne. I Dream of the Day. Africa 1942-1943. New York: Longman's, 1945.

HERALD, APRIL 2, 1943

R. C. Eaton, 21, Dies in Action

Grandson of Founder Of Thompson's Spa

Randolph Clay Eaton, 21, volunteer ambulance driver with the American Field Service in Tunisia and grandson of the founder of Thompson's Spa here, was killed while serving in the Mareth line sector, it was learned here yesterday.

"Randy" Eaton joined the Field. Service last summer after leaving Bowdoin College, where he was a member of the class of 1945. He had been attached to the British Eighth Army and took part in Gen. Montgomery's "big push," which started in November.

His mother, Mrs. Charles F. Eaton, residing at the Hotel Wadsworth here, was notified of his death by telegram. His father, Lt.-Comdr. Charles F. Eaton, USN, is on active duty in the Panama Canal zone. He had one brother, Richard, a student at Procter Academy.

Lt.-Comdr. Eaton is the youngest son of Charles S. Eaton, who founded Thompson's Spa in September, 1882. The Eaton family has a summer home at Marblehead Neck.

"Randy" Eaton decided to join the American Field Service while at Bowdoin, where one of his professors was Prof. Thomas Means, a member of the original American Field Service which served In France during the world war.

__ Newspaper clipping in "A Mother's Scrapbook: John Newlin Hobbs and the American Field Service, 1942-1945."