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47th Infantry Regiment Mascot 'Hambone Jr.' Memorial

<< Back to Alresford - Riverside

Details:

Along the pathway adjacent to the river.

Monument

An inscribed upright concrete gravestone-like memorial.

 

From the Farham Herald, June 11, 2023:

Hambone Junior was a brown and white terrier adopted by American soldiers billeted in Alresford during the build-up to Operation Overlord.  The dog, who was apparently owned by a female friend of some of the troops, lived at the camp of the 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Division, US Army in The Dean. He was originally called Whisky, but the GIs renamed him in honour of a cook nicknamed Hambone, according to some sources, although others claim it was in recognition of his taste for leftover rations. 

Being a terrier he would no doubt have been an entertaining, playful character who would have kept the men company and helped keep their minds off the battle that lay ahead. Sadly, though, the scruffy little dog who ran alongside them during training did not make it to the beaches of Normandy. By a cruel stroke of fate, he was run over by a Deuce-and-a-half (a two-and-a-half-ton army truck) as mobilisation of his comrades got under way. Hambone Jr had become a mascot for the 47th and his adopted owners were naturally upset by his death.

Hambone Jr, is buried besides the River Arle, near The Dean in Alresford. His grave was originally marked by a wooden cross but by 1962 it had rotted away and the Alresford community replaced it with a memorial stone.

 

The 47th Infanttry Regiment had its HQ nearby; see Site Alresford,  47th Infantry Regiment Headquarters Plaque for more on this location

 

Monument Text:

Here lies Hambone Jr.

faithful friend of the 47th Infantry Regt.

Ninth Division U.S. Army

May 1944

Commemorates:

Units:

47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division

9th Infantry Division

Wars:

WWII