During World War II, the 103rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army was activated for service on November 15, 1942 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. They trained stateside, with many soldiers receiving special training in a variety of combat skills. The 103rd Division left the US and arrived at the port of Marseille in France on Oct. 20, 1944. 

The 103rd Division began fighting in November at St. Die and Vosges in France. In December, they crossed the Lauter River in Germany and fought along the Siegfried Line. In January of 1945, the division was fighting along the Sauer River and fought at Soufflenheim and Muehlhausen. By March, they had crossed the Siegfried Line and were fighting in the Upper Rhine Valley at Stuttgart, Munsingen, and Landsberg. In April, they liberated the Kaufering concentration camp. They then went on to cross the Danube River and captured Innsbruck, Austria. They joined with other units including the 88th Infantry Division at Vipiteno, Italy on the Austrian border where they were for the news of Victory in Europe on May 8, 1945. The division served as occupation forces until they returned to the U.S. and inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on Sept. 22, 1945.

Lafayette County Staff Sergeant Francis Terrance Timmins served with the 411th Infantry Regiment of the 103rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army during WWII.

Francis Terrance Timmins was born May 22, 1921 in Lead Mine, Lafayette County, Wisconsin to Emmet and Ella (Flynn) Timmins.

The Timmins family included twins Margaret and Mary who died when they were 5 years old in 1918 before Francis Terrance (aka Terrance) was born.

On the 1930 U.S. Census, the Timmins family lived in New Diggins Township, in Lafayette County. The household included father Emmet, mother Ella, and children James Emmet, Agnes Irene, Terrence (Francis T.), and Donald John. They owned their home and father Emmet was a farmer working on his own account. 

From the 1940 U.S. Census, the Timmins family lived in the same house they lived in in 1935. The household included the parents and children Terrence and John. Father Emmet was a farmer and son Terrence was an assistant clerk working with the CCC for general wages.

On Feb. 16, 1942, Francis T. Timmins registered for the WWII Draft. He gave his place of residence as Lead Mine in Lafayette County. He was employed at the S. O. D. Proving Ground in Illinois. His next of kin was his mother living in Lead Mine.

On Dec. 7, 1942, Francis T. Timmins enlisted for service in WWII in Milwaukee, one year after the Japanese Imperial Air Force bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Timmins resided in Lafayette County. Timmins was single with dependents and had had one year of college. His occupation was as a stock clerk.

On a November 1944 WWII Hospital Admission Card for Francis T. Timmins, it is recorded that he was a battle casualty in the line of duty. He received artillery fragments in his leg and abdomen and died on Nov. 22, 1944 near Strasbourg, France.

From the Dec. 10, 1944 Wisconsin State Journal, article “Timmins, Benton, Killed in Action,” the article stated “The Benton community Friday learned of its fourth fatality of World War II, and its second within a week, when the war department notified Mr. and Mrs. Emmett Timmins, Leadmine, that their Son, Staff Sergeant Francis T. Timmins, was killed in action in France. 

“Sgt. Timmins a member of the U. S. army infantry, had been on foreign soil for 32 days. A 1939 graduate of Benton high school, he was a well-known athlete…”

From the Dec. 27, 1944 Grant County Herald column “Latest News from the U. S. Service Front,” additional information stated that he “went overseas in October. He was killed while on combat duty near the city of Strasbourg, France.”

A relative of SSG Timmins, John Matthew Byrne posted some family photos and information on Ancestry.com. On the Benton History group Facebook page he had posted: “I was curious where first cousin, Terrance Timmins, was killed in action, so I did a little research and located the movements of the 7th Army as they drove across the Alsace region of France in the Liberation of Strasbourg. 

“In their drive through the Vosges, Terrance’s division, the 103rd Infantry, encountered heavy resistance from the Germans. Based on the position of the 103rd Infantry on the date of Terrance’s death — Nov. 22, 1944 — Terrance was likely killed just outside (or possibly in) St. Die, France. The 103rd Infantry took St. Die the following day.”

From the March 30, 1948 Wisconsin State Journal article titled “Bodies of 10 Madison, Area Heroes Reach U. S.” the article stated, “The bodies of 10 Madison area World War II dead, including two from Madison, arrived in New York today aboard navy transports, the army announced…The bodies arrived in New York aboard two transports and were among some 5,300 bodies being returned from European cemeteries at this time, the army said. 

“Of the total number, 111 were Wisconsin men.” The list included Sgt. Francis Timmins of Leadmine and PFC Garness Colden of Blanchardville.

The April 3, 1948 Wisconsin State Journal notice from Benton for Staff Sgt. Timmins, stated that “Sgt. Timmins was first buried in Epinal temporary military cemetery in France.”

In the April 16, 1948 Wisconsin State Journal notice “Sgt. Timmins Rites,” information was provided about the “solemn requiem high mass” for Staff Sergeant Timmins held at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Benton. SSG Timmins was repatriated and reburied in Saint Patrick’s Cemetery in Benton, Lafayette County.

SSG Francis T. Timmins was KIA — killed in action. He received the Purple Heart, awarded posthumously. SSG Timmins is listed on the Gold Star Honor Roll for Lafayette County.

Thank you, Staff Sergeant Francis Terrance Timmins, for your service to and ultimate sacrifice for this country. We honor you and remember you.