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Pollard Frank Leslie, Jr.

Name:
Frank Leslie, Jr. Pollard
Rank:
Second Lieutenant
Serial Number:
O-772488
Unit:
563rd Bomber Squadron, 388th Bomber Group, Heavy
Date of Death:
1944-11-25
State:
California
Cemetery:
Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg
Plot:
I
Row:
1
Grave:
13
Decoration:
Purple Heart
Comments:

Frank Leslie Pollard, Jr. was born and raised in Oakland, California. He was the son of Frank L. and Sadie Pollard, Sr. He had one sister. He attended Piedmont High School in Oakland. He entered the aviation cadet program, and received pre-flight, basic, and advanced flight training. Upon graduation, he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant, awarded wings, and assigned to an operational unit for further training.

Frank arrived in England, probably in October 1944, assigned to the 388th Bomb Group in the 563rd Bomb Squadron, stationed at Knettishall. He flew three missions beginning on November 4, 1944 with the Terlizzi crew. On November 25, he was assigned to fly as co-pilot on the W.A. Wilson crew.

The mission was to bomb the synthetic oil plants at Merseberg, Germany. When the formation arrived at the target, clouds obscured the view. However, the bombing was conducted using PFF (radar) methods, and the target was hit. Flak was intense and accurate over the target. No enemy fighters were encountered. A measure of the flak intensity was that 33 aircraft received major battle damage while 104 had minor damage.

The B-17 in which Lt. Pollard was in was struck by flak and shot down. The aircraft crashed near Arenrath Forest, and burned. Three of the crew members managed to free themselves of the aircraft and bail out, but were later captured. The remaining members of the crew were killed in the crash.

The seven dead crewmen were buried in a nearby local cemetery. Lt. Pollard's remains were moved later to the Luxembourg American Cemetery in Luxembourg. He was one of the many brave Americans of the 388th Bomber Group who lost their lives in aerial operations against the German forces from June 1943 - August 1945.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, airforce.togetherweserved.com