Edgar Russell Danby was born on May 8, 1910, in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, to Septimus and Jane Danby, who had recently emigrated from England. A gifted pianist, he earned several distinctions at McGill College. In 1924, his family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where they gained U.S. citizenship. Edgar pursued music, working as an organist at the Detroit United Presbyterian Church, where he met Maxine Robinson, a soprano. They married on June 22, 1935, and had two sons, Russell in 1936 and Laurence in 1941.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Edgar enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 32. He graduated from the Officer Candidate School at Fort Knox on February 20, 1943, and specialized in armored warfare. Due to his fluency in French, he was sent to Oran, Algeria, to train troops at the 5th Army’s new center. After the Allied landings in Provence on August 15, 1944, he was promoted to First Lieutenant and joined the 756th Tank Battalion in Aix-en-Provence, supporting the 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd U.S. Infantry Division.

On August 27, 1944, Edgar led his tanks as they advanced from Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes toward Suze-la-Rousse and Montélimar. His tanks, positioned at the head of the column alongside infantry from Company L, reorganized at 3:30 p.m. near the village of Allan. However, as the column moved north, it was ambushed by German forces hidden in the woods at the village exit. A Panzer tank, concealed behind a wall in the cemetery, fired on Edgar’s lead tank. The first shot hit the vehicle directly, killing Edgar, along with Corporal Steve Vargo, aged 26, and Private Dual F. Dishner, aged 19. The tank’s driver and assistant managed to escape, but the others perished instantly.

Edgar’s remains, along with those of his fallen comrades, were eventually repatriated to the United States and buried at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. Source of information: http://www.cairannevieuxvillage.eu/