Polliard Crew – Assigned 753rd Squadron – September 9, 1944

The Polliard Crew came to Horsham in early September 1944 and were assigned to the 753BS.  A few days after their arrival, the 458BG, along with other Liberator groups of the Second Bombardment Division, were relieved of combat operations in order to ferry gasoline to Patton’s Army in France.  Polliard, before flying a combat mission, participated in five of these cargo runs, known by the crews as Truckin’ missions.

The crew’s first combat mission came on October 5, 1944 to hit an airfield near Paderborn, Germany.  They flew a total of four missions in October, and on the 23rd, the entire crew were transferred to the 755BS to become a lead crew.

Their first abort came on their first mission in November, on the mission to Misburg.  Operations records show, “[Aircraft] 42-50516, [was] not pathfinder, no sortie, returned bombs. The waist gunner got the chokes while flying at 14,500 feet.  Had to give him pure oxygen, but still he passed out.  Did not revive until A/C returned to base and he was placed in ambulance.”  It is unknown which crewman was afflicted in this incident, but it is apparent, by records, that all crewmen continued to fly.

By the end of 1944, Polliard had flown nine missions, but only one lead, on December 28th when they flew deputy lead with Major Roland Rue as command pilot in the low left squadron.  On January 6, 1945 after flying one mission in the New Year, the officers, radio operator and flight engineer were sent to AAF 112 Bovingdon on Temporary Duty (TD), ostensibly to receive training as a lead crew.  They were gone for a month, as formation plans show their next combat mission was on February 3rd.

The crew next led a squadron on the February 22, 1945 mission to Peine-Hildesheim, when the bombing altitude was only 10,000 feet instead of the standard 20,000+ feet. Two aircraft, one flying in Polliard’s squadron, were shot down by flak. Over the next two months, Polliard flew 12 missions, including seven squadron leads, and their last recorded mission on April 10th as group lead. Several of the crew went on leave after this last mission, and with the end of the air war in Europe on April 25th, their combat tour came to an end at 26 completed missions.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

In the 1980’s, the crew’s navigator, Lloyd Short (left), wrote a letter to the editor of the 2nd Air Division Association, and sent the crew photo above, with the names of his crew:

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, as the crew designated itself, flew 27 missions.  Most of these were as the lead or deputy lead of a squadron, group or wing.  The crew was with the 458th Bomb Group from the summer of 1944 until the end of the war in Europe.

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Several years later, Short befriended a gentleman by the name of Bryan Watson, who sent these photos and an explanation of the name of the crew:

“I asked Lloyd about the significance of that name.  He told me they switched planes so often that they never had any nose art.  They just kind of called their crew “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. 

(Photos: Bryan Watson)