McErlane Brothers

Peter J. McErlane and Paul M. McErlane were born in Lowell to Irish born Peter and Elizabeth (Kane) McErlane along with six sisters. The family lived in the Pawtucketville section of Lowell at 53 Third Avenue and were founding members of St. Rita's parish.

Peter was the oldest and graduated from the Bartlett, Lowell High School class of 1935 and the evening division of Lowell Textile class of 1940. He enlisted in the army ten months before Pearl Harbor. He was a member of the famed Yankee Division 101st Infantry 26th Division Company K.

First Sergeant Peter J. McErlane

His younger and only brother Paul graduated from the Bartlett and Lowell High School class of 1940. He also was an excellent golfer, winning the Lowell City Caddy Championship in 1940. He joined the Air Force and was a radio gunner of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

Sergeant Paul M. McErlane

On April 25th 1944 the McErlane family got news that their youngest son was Missing in Action. On his second combat mission his plane had to ditch over Germany. Three of the flight members ended up being Prisoners of War and six were lost. They were shot down on Easter Sunday. Right before Paul left for his ill fated mission he sent flowers to his mother for Mother's Day. They held out hope that he had survived but at the end of the war he was declared dead. A mother's heartache.

On December 10th 1944 the McErlane family was notified by the War Department that their other son, Peter was killed in action on November 28th 1944 in Vibersviller near Metz, France. He was part of the Lorraine offensive that was so deadly. He really didn't have a chance. Lots of hand to hand fighting as the Americans marched towards Germany. Trying to clear the towns to get the tanks through. Patton's tanks. It was a deadly affair.

Peter and Paul's sister Rita was serving as a Lieutenant in the US Army Nurse Corps in Italy. On the front line. She survived the war and married in Milan, Italy.

After the war the McErlanes were popular members of St. Rita's and the Pawtucketville neighborhood. The square across the street from the Joseph A. McAvinnue Elementary School is named in their honor. It's at the intersection of Mammoth, 4th Avenue and Woodward Avenue.

Paul never came home. He is memorilized on the Tablet of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery in Margaraten, Netherlands and on the family stone at St. Patrick's Cemetery.

Peter's body came home in 1948 and he had a funeral at St. Rita's and burial at St. Patrick's Cemetery. They were both survived by their parents and sisters Joan Donaghey, Anna Monnahan, Frances Fadden, Rita Miller, Eleanor Sullivan and Patricia Bartlett. Thank you McErlane family.

Lieut. Raymond B. Messer

Ray Messer was a student at Lowell Textile Institute class of 1917.  He was the son of Mr. & Mrs. Bradley A. Messer of 63A Street in Lowell.  He died in an airplane accident in France.  Messer Square was dedicated October 14, 1923 and is located at the junction of Chelmsford, Powell and Plain Street.  I found this drawing in the Lowell Sun March 13, 1955.

Here is the square enlarged so you can see it better:

I've been through this intersection many times but I never knew it was Messer Square.  Next time I go through this intersection I'll think of Ray Messer.  What would he have done with his life if he hadn't been killed in France fighting for our freedom?

Mahlon Webb Dennett - 26th Yankee Division Battery F

Lowell Textile Institute had 23 students sign up for the 26th Yankee Division Battery F Field Artillery unit.  They all served together and due to their superior mathmatics they were a great asset at firing the guns.  They were the most accurate of the division's artillery units.

The 23 men were:  Pvt. Eugene R. Ackley, '19; Lieut. Wilbur F. Berry, '17; Lieut. Russell L. Brown '19; Corp. Mahlon W. Dennett, '18; Bugler Walter S. Douglas, '19; Corp. Richard F. Hadley, '19; Lieut. John S. Holden, '19; Sergt. Carleton R. Hosley, '19; Corp. George H. Johnson, '18; Pvt. John F. Larratt, '19; Sergt. Bryan Leonard, '19; Corp. Eric T.L. Laurin, '18; Sergt. Carl E. Matthews, '17; Pvt. Dan W. Moorhouse, '19; Pvt. Brackett Parsons, '19; Pvt. Walter W. Powers, '17; Sergt. Lester E. Parker, '20; Pvt. Herbert C. Roberts, '20; Pvt. Carl G.V. Sjostrom, Jr., '19; Corp. Frank L. Thayer, '19; Sergt. Joseph A. Webster, '20; Corp. Philip J. White, '19.

The following is from a speech by Lieut. Russell L. Brown given at the dedication of the Mahlon Webb Dennett Gate on Saturday, May 18th, 1929. 

"Mindful of the loss of a comrade-in-arms, these men have arranged to erect a gate at the northwest corner of the school campus, as a memorial to Mahlon Webb Dennett, who died in France.
Corporal Mahlon W. Dennett, son of Dr. D.C. Dennett of Winchester, Mass., was born June 10, 1884.  In 1917 while in his third year as a student chemist, class of 1918, at Lowell Textile Institute, he enlisted in Battery B, 2nd Mass. regiment, which later became Battery F, 102nd field artillery, 26th division, AEF.
As the battery progressed from the training period to actual combat at the front, Corp. Dennett, by virtue of his knowledge of chemistry, was made gas corporal, and after a short schooling in gas technique was made responsible for the safety of the personnel during gas attacks.
It was Corp. Dennett's duty to see that all gas masks were in good condition, that all dugout were properly blanketed, that the men were acquainted with effects and antidotes for various kinds of gas poisoning.  In event of gas attacks he was to sound the alarm and see that all precautions were taken to avoid casualties.  In addition to this Corp. Dennett assisted in helping maintain liason with telephone and rocket posts.
The success of his efforts and faithfulness to duty is shown by the fact that in spite of many vicious gas attacks there was not one death from gas poisoning in the battery.
At the second battle of the Marne after firing steadily for days, the battery moved forward successively until it located on July 24 in an old German gun position on the edges of the woods.  The place was near the front lines and the infantry, advancing to the attack, was breaking from column to skirmish lines of squads directly in front of the battery.  The location was known exactly by the enemy, and soon a terrific barrage was falling on the guns.
During this intensive fire a German 77 m.m. long fuse shell landed at Corp. Dennett's feet as he lay in a shallow funk hole near the guns.  Receiving the full effects of the lateral spray Dennett was mortally wounded.   His torso terribly mutilated, arms and legs broken, the fingers of his left hand cut off, his cry for help was answered by comrades scarcely 50 feet away.  Capt. Lee H. Cover, Capt. Theo R. Johnson and Sergt. R.L. Brown were by his side at once together with Private Burke of the medical squad, who gave first aid and carried Corp. Dennett to the rear under shell fire.  An ambulance carried the wounded man to Mobile hospital No. 2 and later to Evacuation hospital No. 7.
Courage and fortitude alone kept him alive over two weeks.  On the third day he dictated a letter to his father in which he said, "I am out of luck.  I have been wounded, but expect to come out O.K."
The odds against him were too great, however, and on August 10, 1918, he died of sepsis, and was buried at Belleau Woods in France."

So, now back to present day, the gate is long gone.  In 1955, the area in front of Cumnock Hall was renamed as Dennett Mall.  I need to walk the area to see if there are any memorial plaques in his honor anywhere on North Campus.