George S. Debnam

Private George S. Debnam was wounded in action on September 29, 1918 at Bellicourt, France and died on November 10, 1918 in England while serving in the U. S. Army during World War I.  He was 23 years old.

George S. Debnam was born on September 27, 1895 in Franklin County, the son of Simion S. Debnam and India Debnam. When he registered for the draft in Henderson in 1917, he was working at the Henderson Cotton Mill. He was married to Ella Belle West Debnam and they had one child.

Pvt Debnam entrained from Henderson on October 9, 1917  to a mobilization camp in Columbia, S.C.  He served in Company E, 105 Engineers, 30th Division. 

In May 1918 the division traveled to New York and soon left for Europe. After a two-week voyage, the division landed in England and then departed for France. The 30th Division was assigned to the American 2nd Corps and attached to the British Army. In June 1918 the division underwent extensive combat training under British supervision and exchanged American for British equipment and firearms.

On July 2, 1918, the 30th Division was sent to the British 2nd Army in Belgium. On August 16, "Old Hickory" replaced British troops on the front in the trenches near Ypres. While there the division attacked and captured German positions with a loss of 37 dead and 128 wounded.

On September 3, the division withdrew from the front and transferred to the British 4th Army. By September 25, the 30th Division held its position opposite the German Hindenberg Line near Bellicourt, France. The Hindenburg Line was an important segment of the German defensive network on the Western Front in Europe during WWI.

On September 29, 1918 units of the 30th Division attacked the Hindenburg Line pushing the Germans from their trenches and becoming the first Allied troops to break the Hindenburg Line. The breaking of the Hindenburg Line was part of a series of Allied assaults known as the Hundred Days Offensive, which led to the Armistice on November 11, 1918.

The September 29, 1918 charge on the Hindenburg Line made that day North Carolina’s deadliest day of the war. Sgt Raymond B. Crabtree, Sgt James A. Steed,  Corporal Hamet N. Powell (all of the 120th), and Pvt. George S. Debnam (of the 105th Engineers) – all four from Vance County -- were mortally wounded in the action that day.   The wound Pvt. George S. Debnam received in the action that day resulted in his death in England on  November 10, 1918, the day before the Armistice went into effect.

Private George S. Debnam is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. 

Last edited: 13 May 2026