Robert A. Hoyle
Biography: Robert Alvin Hoyle was born on February 21, 1915, in Falston, North Carolina and was the son of Caleb W. Hoyle and Lillie L. Stroup. He graduated from Shelby High School in 1933. On December 12, 1937, Robert married the former Oma L. Greene in Shelby. She was born in Blowing Rock, NC, and was the daughter of Stephen C. Greene and Dovie L. Lentz. The new couple made their home in Shelby and Robert was employed as a salesman for the local Coca-Cola bottling company.
Service Time: Robert entered the Army on January 15, 1942, at Fort Bragg, NC, and likely commenced his basic training at this location. The organizational history for the 632nd Tank Destroyer Battalion indicates that between March 28 and April 3, 249 men were assigned to the unit and Robert was probably one of them. He was eventually assigned to Company A.
On April 11th, the battalion moved by rail to Fort McDowell, California, arriving on the 16th. On the 20th, they boarded the AT Hugh L. Scott and set sail from San Francisco on the 22nd. Arriving at Adelaide, South Australia, the battalion immediately traveled to Camp Woodside and shortly thereafter, moved to Camp Sandy Creek, both about 30 miles from Adelaide. They began training until July 14th at which time they moved to Camp Mangalore, Victoria, where they commenced training on the antitank ranges at that location. Next was a move to Camp Tambouring, Queensland, on August 12th and the rest of 1942 and all of 1943 consisted of training at various locations in Australia.
On January 5, 1944, the 632nd began a very slow, piece-meal movement to New Guinea. On April 8th, movement of the entire battalion to Yamai, New Guinea, was completed.
On July 15, unit records indicate Private Robert A. Hoyle was wounded in action at 2200 hours (10PM) at Tiver, New Guinea. He died the next day from his wounds. He was awarded a Purple Heart Medal for his wounds and the New Guinea Campaign Ribbon along with the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign and the Australia Service Medals.
Robert was originally buried in a temporary military cemetery overseas but he was dis-interred in 1948 and re-buried in the Sunset Cemetery, Shelby, NC. We would like to thank Private Hoyle for making the ultimate sacrifice for his country. Thank you also to Find A Grave contributor “Mike” for use of the grave marker photo.