January 7, 1945: Father on Telegraph Duty Receives Devastating News

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

January 7, 1945: Claude Croll, a veteran of World War I, was the telegraph operator on duty at the railroad office tonight when the War Department telebram came over the wires that Private First Class Daniel Croll, a paratrooper with the 194th Glider Infantry of the 17th Airborne Division, was killed instantly by enemy machine gun fire during the Battle of the Ardennes in Belgium.

Daniel was Claude’s son. He was a graduate of Boyertown High School, Class of 1942 and his family, fiancé Gwen Keyser and his many friends are devastated by the news.

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