Wheatley, George

George Dudley Wheatley was born April 10, 1892, in Abington, Massachusetts, son of Frank G. and Nellie Holbrook Wheatley; he had three brothers, Frank E., Russell, and John R. Wheatley. He graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. From 1914 to 1917, he was employed by Bay State Nursery in Abington and United Shoe Machinery Company in Boston. In May of 1917 he entered the National Army’s Officer Candidate School at Plattsburg, New York, where he was a member of the second class of 1917 (Company 3, 17th Provisional Training Regiment composed of men from New England). He was commissioned second lieutenant in the U.S. Army’s Officers Reserve Corps in November, promoted to first lieutenant on November 27, and inducted into military service.

In 1918, after induction into the U.S. Army he sailed with other officers from New York to Europe on the SS Mongolia. In 5 weeks of February and March he attended the Allied Expeditionary Forces school in Chatillon-sur-Seine, France. Further activities in 1918 include the following:

• March 13: Reported to Company A, 165th Infantry at Senneville, France.
• March 31: Additional three weeks of training in Baccarat.
• April 23: Returned to area near Montigny.
• May 9: Reported to Company B at St. Pole.
• May 30: Left Baccarat for the front.
• July 14–15: German offensive began.
• July 29: First wounded in battle; while recuperating at a nearby military hospital, he was also stricken with influenza (several accounts cite date of wounding as July 28).
• August 21: Reported wounded in action and transferred to an American Red Cross Convalescent Hospital in Biarritz, France, AEF; treated for multiple gunshot wounds in the buttocks and right thigh; reported back to his regiment at La Marche on Sep 26.
• September 26–November 11: Returned to the front when the 42nd Division moved to Verdun as part of the Meuse-Argonne offensive; took Hill 288, La Tiuderie farm and the Cote de Chatillon, and broke squarely across the powerful Kriemhhilde Stelling, clearing the way for the advance beyond Landres et St. Georges; moved through the advancing lines of the forward troops of the First Army and drove the enemy across the Meuse, capturing the heights dominating the river before Sedan and reached the enemy lines, the farthest point attended by any American troops.
• November 11: Learned of Armistice while passing through Buzaucy; stopped at Thenorgnes.
• November 14: Started for Germany as part of Army of Occupation, took command of Company L at Landres (relieved of command on Dec 1).
• December 3: Crossed Seine River into Germany.

Activities in 1919 included:

• January 13: Transferred to 27th Division.
• January 16: Reached Paris.
• February 28: Sailed for United States from Brest, France.
• March 9: Landed at Hoboken and went to Camp Merritt, New Jersey.
• March 25: Paraded in New York City.
• April 1: Discharged at Camp Devens, Massachusetts.
• October–November: Resided in Springfield, Vermont, for at least several months.

Wheatley entered the insurance business in Chicago, Illinois, in 1920, and married Margaret G. McMillan in Evanston, Illinois, in 1921. They had three children; Margaret A. (born 1923), Barbara H. (born 1925), and James H. ( born1929) Wheatley. In 1940, the family moved to Abington, Massachusetts, and George became successful in the insurance business and civic affairs. He died May 20, 1961, in Abington.

Created by Paul A. Thomsen, graduate assistant, and Anthony R. Crawford, curator of manuscripts, in May 2012. Minor editing by Cliff Hight, department head, in September 2024.

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