WWII battle of Sidi Bou Zid claims life of Monessen son

Victor Albert Trilli was born and raised in Monessen before he joined the war effort.

Editor’s Note: This story is part of Mon Valley Sons of World War II a series about our sons who lost their lives in service to our country during World War II

When Private Victor Trilli was assigned to the U.S. Army’s 17th Field Artillery Regiment in 1941, he was probably relieved. Their 155MM howitzer guns could fire their shells at targets eight miles away, certainly a safe distance from front line combat.

But until February 1943, the U.S. Army had yet to directly engage with German Panzer tanks. Their inexperience and inferior weapons would result in a dramatic defeat at the Battle of Sidi Bou Zid, Tunisia. The 17th Field Artillery was decimated.

Victor Trilli would never again embrace his family back home in Monessen, Pennsylvania. This is his story.

The Trilli family of Monessen

Victor Albert Trilli was born on Oct. 14, 1917, to Paul and Mary Trilli (née DiFlorio) in Monessen. Paul and Mary married in 1901. Paul worked in a Monessen steel mill while Mary managed the large Trilli family household.

Paul, born Ippolito Trilli in the village of Roccaroso in the Italian region of Abruzzo, immigrated to the United States in 1901 aboard the SS Galia. Mary, born Maria in the city of Napoli, Campania, Italy, also immigrated to the U.S. in 1901. They initially settled in the village of Derry, Westmoreland County.

Victor, the sixth of eight children born to Paul and Mary, was originally given the Italian first name of Vittorio upon his birth. First to be born was Rosario (1901), followed by Attilio (1903), and Guido (called William, 1907), while the family was living in Derry. After moving to Dunbar, Fayette County, where Paul had taken a job at a stone quarry, sons Gisberto (James, 1908) and Raffaele (Ralph, 1910) arrived. The family moved to Monessen where Paul opened the town’s first shoe repair shop. After Victor, the family’s only daughter arrived, Antonitta (Minnie or Antonette, 1918), followed by Arturo (Arthur, 1921). Paul went to work in the steel mill by 1920 and had purchased a home at 432 Knox Ave. He eventually became very involved in the Monessen community, and was a founding member of the Italian Mutual Aid Society.

By 1930, the five oldest sons were either working with their father in the steel mill or in the Monessen tin mill, and living at home to support the large family. Victor and his youngest siblings were attending school. Their uncle Rudolph Trilli was living with them while working at the shoe repair shop. Victor graduated from high school in the mid 1930s, and went to work for Page Steel and Wire in Monessen. In his spare time, avid sportsman Victor helped coordinate the community’s “Cramer” basketball team in 1937 and a softball team in 1940.

By 1940, Rosario, William, and Victor were living at home with their parents while working in the Monessen mills. James had completed his education as a podiatrist and opened a practice in town. Antoinette had left high school after completing her sophomore year, and Arthur was now in his senior year. With Uncle Rudolph retired and still living with them it was a full house of nine Trillis.

With the rumblings of war heard in Europe and the Pacific, U.S. Congress passed the Selective Service and Training Act in September 1940, including the first peacetime draft for the U.S. military. On Oct. 16, 1940, Victor, Ralph, William, and James joined millions of fellow American young men and registered for the draft on its first day. According to his draft registration, Victor was a 23-year-old young man standing 5-feet, 6-inches, weight 139 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

It didn’t take long before Victor was drafted into the U.S. Army. He enlisted on July 8, 1941, and reported for duty at New Cumberland, Pa. By August, Pvt. Trilli was with the Field Artillery Replacement Training Center, assigned to Battery A, 7th Battalion, 3rd Regiment. Trilli would train as a crew on the M114 155MM howitzer artillery. The M114 was a towed howitzer used by the U.S. Army as a medium artillery piece. It could fire a round a distance of over 8 miles, and was used across all theaters of World War II.

Upon completion of his initial training, Pvt. Trilli was assigned to Battery D of the 17th Field Artillery (FA) Regiment.

Four of his brothers would eventually enter military service, and the Trilli’s would become a 4-Blue-Star family.

The U.S. enters World War II

Japanese forces launched a surprise attack on the U.S. military bases in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. The U.S. declared war on Japan, and as an ally of the Japanese Empire, Germany declared war on the U.S.. The war that Victor Trilli had been training for had begun.

The 17th FA Regiment had been training at Fort Bragg, N.C. Late March 1942, the Regiment moved to Camp Blanding, Fla. Then in July 1942, the Regiment returned to Fort Bragg for final equipment and staging… it was time to head overseas, and to war.

The Regiment sailed from New York City on Aug.5, 1942, and arrived in Liverpool, England on Aug. 17, 1942. They moved to Perham Downs, England for further intensive training. In November, they proceeded to Liverpool to embark once again to an unknown destination.

Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, had begun. It was the first mass involvement of U.S. troops in the war in the European/ North African theater of the war. Three task forces with more than 100,000 men landed in Morocco and Algeria on November 8, 1942. Allied forces experienced initial success, and drove eastward across North Africa against French Vichy forces, who were aligned with the German occupiers of European France. The French eventually surrendered and joined the Allies, but reinforcements were needed to oppose the German troops in Tunisia and eastward.

Battle of Sidi Bou Zid

On Nov. 27, 1942, the 17th FA Regiment sailed to Oran, Algeria where they joined the Army’s II Corps upon landing on Dec. 6, 1942. In February 1943, they began pushing over 600 miles east to Tebessa, Algeria, at the Tunisian border. On the other side were the amassed forces of the German 5th Panzer Army. They drove into Tunisia . . . and into harm’s way.

On Feb. 14, the 17th FA Regiment, an element of Combat Command A, was in position near the small village of Sidi Bou Zid, located west of the Faid Pass in southern Tunisia. The 10th and 21st Panzer Divisions encircled and struck Combat Command A under cover of a sandstorm. The three-day engagement would become known as the Battle of Sidi Bou Zid. The most sophisticated weaponry of both forces was employed in the battle. Unfortunately, German weaponry and their desert fighting know-how was vastly superior to the Allies. It would prove decisive.

The 10th Panzer Division descended upon the 17th FA Regiment’s 2nd Bn. Many of the artillerymen panicked and began to flee. They were ordered to displace to a safer position, but as they prepared to move, they were hit from the sky by German aircraft and were severely mauled. They lost one-half of their officers and enlisted men, and all twelve 155mm howitzers.

On the second day of the battle, Feb. 15, 1943, Pvt. Victor Trilli was mortally wounded in combat. The Battle of Sidi Bou Zid had been the first action in which American soldiers were pitted against German panzers. It ended in disaster. He paid with his life.

Victor Trilli’s family was notified by the War Department several weeks later that their son was missing in action. In September, they were informed that he had, in fact, been killed in combat.

Victor Trilli, remembered

Pvt. Victor Trilli was initially buried at the American Military Cemetery in Gafsa, Tunisia. He was eventually returned to the U.S. under the Return of the War Dead program, and was buried at Grandview Cemetery in Monessen on March 12, 1949. His name is inscribed on the World War II Veterans Memorial Tablet, located at the intersection of Grand Boulevard and Euclid Drive in Monessen City Park.

John J. Turanin is a retired Western Pennsylvanian and grandson of the Mon Valley. He is one of hundreds of volunteers with the nonprofit organization Stories Behind The Stars who are writing memorial stories for every one of the 421,000 U.S. service members and 31,000 Pennsylvanians who lost their lives during World War II Those interested in joining the effort are encouraged to visit www.StoriesBehindThe-Stars.org.