Military
SSgt Robert V Folliard 306th BG MIA 1 May 1943
Killed in Action (KIA). 1-May-43, assigned target was the U-boat yards at St. Nazaire and a navigational error on return took the group over heavily defended Brest. The B-17 42-29649 was attacked by fighters and caught on fire. The pilot landed at Cornwall, the BTG Maynard 'Snuffy' Smith was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on this day. Folliard was one of 3 who parachuted out of the burning plane and were lost.
Awards: AM, PH.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Killed in Action. The assigned target was the u-boat yards at St. Nazaire and a navigational error on return took the group over heavily defended Brest. The B-17 42-29649 was attacked by fighters and set on fire. The pilot landed at Cornwall, the BTG...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
Killed in Action (KIA) on May 1, 1943. Assigned target was the uboat yards at St. Nazaire and a navigational error on return took the group over heavily defended Brest. The B-17 #42-29649 was attacked by fighters and caught on fire. Buka was 1 of 3 who...
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
On May 1, 1943, assigned target was the uboat yards at St. Nazaire and a navigational error on return took the group over heavily defended Brest. The B-17 #42-29649 was attacked by fighters and caught on fire. The pilot landed at Cornwall, the BTG...
Group
Constituted as 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942. Activated on 1 Mar 1942. Trained for combat with B-17's. Moved to England, Aug-Sep 1942, and assigned to Eighth AF Eighth Air Force in September 1942 Station 111 Thurleigh. During combat,...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17F 42-29649 was delivered at Denver 29-Jan-43; Great Falls 31-Jan-43; Salina 13-Feb-43; Assigned to 423BS/306BG [RD- ] at Thurleigh 24-Mar-43; On 1-May-43 the aircraft was despatched on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France. On...
Military site : airfield
Built for RAF use in 1941-42, Thurleigh was initially used by RAF Bomber Command before being handed over to the Eighth Air Force. Its runways and hardstandings were improved, and the B-17s of the 306th Bomb Group began using the base. It was their...
Cemetery
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Queens County, New York | 1920 |
|
Son of William and Mollie C Folliard. |
||
| Enlisted | New York City. NY | 13 January 1942 |
|
New York City. New York |
||
| Based | Thurleigh | 1943 – 1 May 1943 |
|
Assigned to 423BS, 306BG, 8AF USAAF. |
||
| Killed in Action (KIA) | France | 1 May 1943 |
| Buried | Cambridge American Cemetery | 1946 |
|
Tablets of the Missing |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 15 May 2022 12:10:57 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography, awards, events, unit associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/310770931 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 19 February 2021 20:17:18 | jmoore43 | Changes to unit associations |
| Sources | ||
Added an association to the 423th BS listed in the A/C #42-29649 description section. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 19 February 2021 20:15:11 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography, events and place associations |
| Sources | ||
Added an association to Thurleigh, the home base for the 306th BG. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 12 September 2020 19:31:35 | jmoore43 | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Added KIA event per info in the "Summary biography". |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 12 September 2020 19:27:13 | jmoore43 | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
Removed the connection to "Maynard H Smith" Co-pilot. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 14 September 2019 03:20:57 | jmoore43 | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
Added a connection to Pilot Lewis P. Johnson, |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 14 September 2019 02:56:51 | jmoore43 | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
Added a connection to Joseph S. Bukacek. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 14 September 2019 02:54:14 | jmoore43 | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
Made connections to other crew members. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 14 September 2019 02:47:05 | jmoore43 | Changes to aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
Added a connection to A/C 42-29649. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:24:13 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Combat Chronology, MACR 0820, Losses of the 8th and 9th Air Forces Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey pp. 113-4, First Over Germany by Russell Strong pp. 105-7, ABMC and National Archives links on web sites of National WWII Monument. / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia |
||
