Harry Stocking Pollard
Master Technical Sergeant Harry S. Pollard was a chief radioman who flew with VMTB-233 during the Northern Solomons campaign.
He was killed in an accidental crash near Munda, New Georgia, on 11 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 347713
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
No active pursuit; lost at sea
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
19 August 1921
at Ajo, Arizona
Parents
Harry & Erma (Stocking) Pollard
Education
High school graduate
(details not known)
Occupation
Messenger, employed at a copper mine
Service Life
Entered Service
15 January 1942
at San Diego, CA
Home Of Record
Ajo, Arizona
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. Harry Pollard
Specialty
Radioman
Primary Unit
VMTB-233
Campaigns Served
Solomon Islands
Individual Decorations
(details not known)
Additional Service Details
MTSgt. Pollard was the senior radioman of his squadron at the time of his death.
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
On 11 November 1943, MTSgt. Pollard joined MTSgt. Alfred V. Tice and 1Lt. Paul D. Ward for a routine test hop. The three Marines boarded an Avenger bomber (TBF-1 #06406) and took off from Munda Airfield without incident.
The Avenger was a few miles from the airfield when one of the wings suddenly collapsed, sending the bomber into a death spiral. Lieutenant Ward managed to leap from the plummeting plane, and survived with minor injuries. Pollard and Tice were trapped in the fuselage, and were killed when the bomber hit the sea.
Burial Information or Disposition
Body lost at sea; not recovered.
