 Bert Pollock (Courtesy of Vance Pollock and Gail Pollock) (see HUGE UPDATE below...)
In the 1943-45 log book of Don McBride, Bert listed his addresses as:  Bert H. Pollock 32 Cortland St. Norwich, N.Y. In the 1960 through 1964 CNAC mailing lists: Pollock, Bert R.D. 3 Sherburne, N.Y. HUGE UPDATE - Friday, May 17, 2019 (OK I'm late, but...) On February 12, 2018 I hear from a distant relative of Bert Pollock's: "Hey Tom, Bert would have been a very distant cousin of mine. I have had no contact with any descendants on that side of the family. Our bunch stayed down south when his grandparents went to NY before the Civil War I believe. I did a little more research and found his wife's death record... in Seguin, Guadalupe County, Texas in 1997. They had at least the one daughter Gail, born circa 1953 or '54 in Norwich or Sherburne, NY vicinity I suppose. Even though there is coverage for these places on newspapers.com, I can't find any death notices... it seems like we could at very least find something for Shirley listing surviving relatives... let us know if Gail was still living 20 years ago and possibly a married name. Here are a couple of clippings for his bio... let me know if you have any hunch on where to look. I'd be curious to learn more about this heroic relative. Thanks for the contact. Vance (Pollock)  (and on May 10, 2019 via Ancestry.com I get the following message Bert's daughter, Gail.) "Hi Tom, Thank you for the reply, and no -- we have not been in touch before. I looked at the CNAC page you are building for him and it was so nice to see his signature again -- thank you! One thing that can be updated is he definitely was a Captain (and you may not have noticed pilot is spelled "polit") (I fixed it.). I don't know how many Hump flights he did unfortunately. Both addresses are ones he had. At time of his 3/23/1969 death (from emphysema) the R.D.3 address is correct (and the road we lived on was called Steam Sawmill Road, Sherburne, N.Y. 13460). His wife, my mother, definitely was Shirley Elizabeth Haight -- not the incorrect Shirley Ringel on one of the Ancestry.com site records (I cannot figure out yet how to get the wrong spouse amended to the right spouse yet -- still learning the ropes of that site... if you have any ideas on how to do that, please let me know). I have his blood chit jacket from his time in CNAC, and his journal he kept when he stayed on in Burma for a while chronicling the building of the Burma Road. And some photos from the war. Lord, I hope all these items are still safe in the spare bedroom storage closet! -- moving things to get to things is complicated by arthritis. But I have been needing a good excuse... Plus I remember about 4 good stories he told of the CNAC days that hopefully are not apocryphal. I would love to help you build more info on my father. Ask me anything, we have no skeletons (I know of yet ;) My email address is gailqbk@gmail.com -- and you may post that as well on your CNAC page for my Dad if you want. Yours Truly, Gail Ann Pollock (I am in Austin, Texas -- bought a home here 20 years ago)" (and later...) "Being in contact with you is great, thank you! Your uncle has the air about him of a hero, by the way. You are doing great work to chronicle the CNAC side of WWII I think, and my father's page's music fits him very well (As Time Goes By). And thank you very much for putting me on the CNAC e-mail distribution list. The sheriff's election article from The DeRuyter Gleaner is indeed my father, it is nice to have, dark or not. I was in the process of adding all of my Dad's news-related articles via the Ancestry site to it's "shoebox" feature when I saw I had an e-mail from you, so perfect timing. (And I think I am done for the night, been at it since noon) Enjoy your evening as well... and if I find things pertinent to the CNAC side of his life, I will pass it along... and you too vice-versa. Still working on that Ringel spouse correctness.. still nothing, not even a whiff of my father having another wife besides my mom... but who knows and I have an open mind, so wish me luck! Gail" In 1960, Bert ran for sherrif. or would like to be added to the CNAC e-mail distirbution list, please let the CNAC Web Editor, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |
