Billy Brooks Knight

Private First Class Billy Brooks Knight was killed in action on February 15, 1944 at Casino, Italy during World War II.  He was 19 years old.

Billy Brooks Knight was born on 15 April, 1924 in Vance County, North Carolina, the son of James W. Knight and Mary Clopton Knight.  He was a graduate of Henderson High School, Class of 1942 and was working at Camp Butner in Creedmoor, North Carolina when he registered for the draft.  

PFC Knight and his high school classmate Harry Hedgepeth enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 26, 1943.  They were assigned to the 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division.  By the time they reached the Regiment, it was engaged in the January 1944 assault on the heavily fortified German lines at Cassino in Southern Italy. 

Following initial assaults on Cassino by the British X Corps on January 17, 1944  and the U.S. 36th Division on January 20, the U.S. 34th Infantry Division spearheaded an attack on January 24, 1944 across the flooded Rapido valley north of Cassino and into the mountains behind with the intention of then wheeling to the left and attacking Monte Cassino from high ground. While the task of crossing the river would be easier in that the Rapido upstream of Cassino was fordable, flooding made movement on the approaches each side very difficult. In particular, tanks could only move on paths laid with steel matting and it took eight days of bloody fighting across the waterlogged ground for 34th Division to push back General Franek's German 44th Infantry Division to establish a foothold in the mountains. Three of the Division’s battalions suffered 50% casualties in the fighting.  PFC Hedgepeth was killed in action on February 2, 1944.  PFC Knight was killed in action thirteen days later on February 15, 1944.

Private First Class Billy Brooks Knight is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Henderson, North Carolina.

Last edited: 30 May 2026