October 6, 1906 (Norwalk, CT) – November 29, 1944; 38 years old
Unmarried
Last local address: 1 Strawberry Hill Avenue, Norwalk (parents)
Enlisted on October 8, 1942
Unknown service number
USS Pochard (AM-375)
Born to Arthur S. (1876-1976) and Luella E. Manley Hill (1879-1923). Brother Harold E. (1905-1987) and Merian Hill Rosenthal (1912-?).
Electrocuted aboard minesweeper USS Pochard (AM-375) while in Savannah Naval Station, Georgia, two days after the ship was commissioned. His death certificate states that he came in contact with a live wire.
From The Norwalk Hour November 30, 1944
Chief Warrant Officer Edward W. Hill Accidentally Electrocuted On Minesweeper
Chief Engineer and Commissioned Warrant Officer Edward William Hill, son of Arthur S. Hill of 1 Strawberry Hill Avenue, was electrocuted yesterday on a minesweeper at Savannah, George, according to a Naval Department telegram received early this morning by his father. Details of the accident are not available but the message attributed the death to “accidental electrical shock.” Warrant Officer Hill who had been in the service for about two and one-half years, had been assigned to minesweepers during that period and in several engagements had narrow escapes from death. He had two ships torpedoed. The ship on which he was killed was commissioned on Monday and was scheduled to leave port in the near future. Warrant Officer Hill had forwarded an invitation to his father and stepmother to attend the commissioning but they were unable to attend. Warrant Officer Hill attended local schools, leaving five years ago for Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he was production manager of the LeRoy Diesel Company. Besides his father, he is survived by one brother, Harold E. Hill, residing in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and one sister, Mrs. Marion Wright of Flushing, Long Island. Funeral arrangements will be announced following the arrival of the body which is being shipped north accompanied by a Naval escort.
CWO Hill is buried in Rowayton Union Cemetery, 212 Rowayton Avenue, Norwalk; Avenue 3, Plot 39, Grave #3. Photo by webmaster.
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