Robert Michael Polich
MilitaryAssigned to 365BS, 305BG, 8AF USAAF. Crashed at Hunteburg on 24-Aug-44 in B-17 42-97533 Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 8208
Robert Polich was born on 7-Jun-21, in Crosby, Minnesota. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in early 1942, and served for a short time with the Coast Artillery before entering the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Army Air Forces. Polich graduated from flight school and was commissioned a 2d Lt and awarded his pilot wings on 1-Oct-43. He was trained as a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot and arrived in England on 8-Apr-44, and began flying combat missions later that month. Lt Polich served with the 365th Bomb Squadron of the 305th Bomb Group and was shot down while flying his 29th combat mission on 24-Aug-44. He was immediately captured and spent the next five months in a German hospital recovering from injuries he received bailing out of his stricken aircraft. Polich was then moved to the POW camp Stalag Luft III near Sagan, Poland, and was later road marched to Stalag VIIA near Moosburg, Germany. He remained a Prisoner of War of the Germans until his POW camp was repatriated by the U.S. 14th Armored Division on 29-Apr-45. Lt Polich returned to the United States on 21-Jun-45, and left active duty on 1-Dec-45. He stayed in the Air Force Reserve after the war, and retired on 1-Feb-66.
Awards: DFC, AM (3OLC), PH, POW, WWII Victory, EAME (2 Battle Stars).
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 365th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18171154
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade)
- Role/Job: Gunner Left Waist & Tail
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 365th Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag 7a, Moosburg
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
7 June 1921 | Son of Mike R and Violet [Perovich] Martin. | |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
24 August 1944 | Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Lufft II and later Stalag VIIa. | |
Other Baled out POW |
24 August 1944 | Crashed at Hunteburg on 24-Aug-44 in B-17 42-97533 Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 8208 | |
Died |
30 September 2015 | ||
Buried |
10 October 2015 | Lakewood Cemetery Crosby, Crow Wing County, Minnesota | |
Based |
24 August 1944 | Assigned to 365BS, 305BG, 8AF USAAF. |
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 8208 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database