Reported from replacement depot for duty as Platoon Leader on 4 Oct 1944.
– Source: K Company 115th Inf Reg morning report dated 7 Oct 1944

Lt. W.M. Royall Dies in Germany
Florence, Dec. 12 – (Special) – First Lt. William Milling Royall, know to his many friends as Billy, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Sam J. Royall, was reported today killed in action in Germany. Lieutenant Royall, 23, has
been previously reported as missing. He had been overseas since September 1, 1944, and at last
reports was fighting with the Ninth army along the Roer river.Billy, a likable young man who had made
friends easily and had a good natured disposition, graduated from The Citadel in 1942. he was
commissioned a second lieutenant, entering active service immediately. He had finished Florence high
school in 1938 and his record at both places was an enviable one. he is a member of
St. John’s Episcopal church.
Lieutenant Royall was stationed at Camp Breckinridge, Ky., fort Huachua, Ariz.,
and Camp Van Dorn, Miss.
During his stay in the States he successfully completed two courses at Fort Benning, Ga.
The last letter received by his parents was written November 11, 1944, and addressed to his father,
a veteran of the World War.
– Source: The State, Columbia, S.C., 13 December 1944, p.2.

His cenotaph in Mount Hope Cemetery, Florence, S.C. reads “1st Lieut. 115th Infantry U.S.A Killed in
action in Germany and buried in military cemetery in Holland.”
– Source: Findagrave.com

Billy Royall, my childhood friend, and his family invited me to visit them at Myrtle Beach a few years
later. The Royalls had a cottage there and, sometime late, one at Ingram Beach that was developed
as part of Ocean Drive. I was fortunate to visit the Royalls many summers at both places.

Billy and I were almost the same age. We were both baptized at St. John’s Church and both classmates
from the first grade through high school, and he was my closest friend. Sam Royall, Billy’s father, was a
successful lawyer in Florence and had expressed a wish that we might become lawyers and practice
together. (p.15)

Despite my bad experience I returned to Camp Coker the following year. This time I go together with
Billy Royall and some of my fellow Florence Scouts, and we descended on a cabin en masse to take it
over. Camping proved a more agreeable experience that year. (p.20)

Gloom, impenetrable gloom, settled over me when the time came to leave Florence in January 1945.
Billy Royall, my childhood friend and companion, had been killed in Holland in November 1943, [sic] and
other friends in the army were reported missing in combat. I had a brush with death that convinced me
that this was probably my last visit with my family. (p.64)
– Source: When Conscience and Power Meet: A Memoir, Eugene N. Zeigler, Jr.,
Univ. of South Carolina Press, 2008