Rubel, August Alexander

Rubel was awarded the Légion d'Honneur (Chevalier degree) posthumously on November 11, 2011.

August A. Rubel was killed in action North of Enfidaville in Tunisia when his ambulance struck a mine. A veteran of AFS World War I, he felt he could no longer stay out of the present war, where he could be helpful to others. He reenlisted in the AFS in November 1942, and went to the Middle East as an ambulance driver shortly afterwards.

__ AFS Letters No. 14

"On the night of 17/18 April," Captain Greenough wrote, "the BIMP took over a position from Force 'L.' Grima Johnson, Rubel, and the MO of the BIMPs went forward in daylight to visit the position, and Rubel returned to base to bring back the medical supplies and the orderlies after dark. They were to start at 8 P.M. At the last moment, Lt. Stockton decided to accompany them. They set out---Lt. Stockton, Rubel, and the three orderlies---and were never seen again alive. They had taken a wrong turn, gone behind the enemy's lines, and were blown up on a mine. . . . Rubel and Stockton were at least 4 miles off their course when the car was blown up. How this occurred is still a mystery, but from my own experience I know that it is entirely possible."

There was hope for a while that they had only got lost and been captured, as enemy patrols were known to be operating in the area, and the full story was not pieced together until the end of the campaign. August Alexander Rubel, who had enlisted in SSU 631 in World War I, was killed by the explosion and was buried by the Germans beside the wrecked ambulance.

__ 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.