POLLOCK, Merrill Edison
NAME POLLOCK Merril Edison
RANK Trooper 622 1st Canadian Army - II Canadian Corps - 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade REGIMENT 6th Armoured Regiment - 1st Hussars
“today not tomorrow”
Royal Canadian Armoured Corp Born November 14, 1916 - Parkhill - McGillivray Township - County of Middlesex Residence Parkhill - Ontario Died August 15, 1944 27 years 9 months
Memorial Bayeux Memorial - Bayeux - Calvados - France
Panel 19 Column 2
Wife Mrs. Ruth Pollock - Parkhill
Parents Mr. Laurence and Mabel Pollock - Parkhill Brothers Morely lived with his parents in Parkhill
Merril was born in Parkhill on November 14, 1916. He was raised United and would have attended Parkhill United Church. He left school at the age of 15.He was employed as a truck driver for his father before he enlisted.
Canada He went to London on May 28, 1941 and he enlisted into the Canadian Army. At the time he stood 5' 10" tall and weighed 173 pounds. He had a fair/ruddy complexion with blue eyes and light brown hair. He received the rank of Trooper. He was posted too No. 1 District Depot in London. In the middle of June he Was Taken on Strength with the 5th Armoured Regiment - 1st Hussars and posted to Camp Borden. At the end of August he received permission to marry Ruth Carruthers and the wedding took place on September 4. He received five days of embarkation leave from October 3-7.
Overseas
Trooper Pollock embarked from Canada on November 9, 1941 and Struck off Service of the Canadian Army in Canada. The following day while at sea he was Taken on Strength with the Canadian Army overseas. He disembarked in Liverpool on November 23. He then was sent to Camp Aldershot - Hampshire. He received his Landing leave from December 29-January 2, 1942. On January 5 Trooper Pollock qualified as a Driver I.C. Group III of wheeled vehicles. On May 2 he qualified as a Driver Group "C". At the end of August 26-September 2 he had leave. From December 14-22 he was on leave. He received nine day of leave from From February 10-18, 1943. Then on April 21 he qualified as a Gunner Class II. He received leave from May 5-13. At the end of July Trooper Pollock re-mustered from Gunner/Operator Group "C" to Gunner/Operator Group "C". On the last day of October he is given the rank of Lance Corporal. In early June 1944 he embarked from the United Kingdom and disembarked in France on June 6 with the 6th Armoured Regiment. He was an unposted reinforcement belonging to the 1st Hussars. On July 24 the !st Hussars Took him on Service with the rank of Trooper. The Sherman tank was the tank of choice because of its mobility. However, it could not match the firepower
on the German tanks.
Trooper Pollock was part of the 5- man crew in a tank called “Cataraque”. By mid - August, they had been in Normandy and in the fight constantly for 60+ days. "Operation Tractable" was in progress and on August 14 the fighting was intense with both "A & C" Squadrons losing a great deal of tanks. "B" Squadron with the infantry had advanced and crossed the Laaizon River at Rouvres. "B" Squadron destroyed 8 enemy 105 mm guns and 6 88mm guns and took 342 prisoner of war. During the morning of the 15th, the Germans mounted a counter attack on Point 184 (the highest ground
north of Falaise) where the Hussars and infantry were. On the morning of August 15th, that started out cloudy then cleared and became very hot the Hussars were in very poor shape. “A” Squadron could only advance with 7 tanks, and Trooper Pollock was part of #2 Troop; “B” Squadron could advance with 13 and “C” Squadron could move forward with 4 tanks. "A & C" Squadrons combined with a total of 11 tanks. About noon, the Canadians mounted another poorly thought out offensive because the tanks had used precious fuel and ammunition during the mornings German counter attack. Fuel and ammunition had not been replenished and as well there was no time for the armour and infantry to work out their signals.
“A & C” Squadrons moved forward, but the German fire was very hot and accurate and very shortly a
number of the Shermans were burning. One tank of “A” squadron came face to face with two Tigers who
were in a position to stop any Allied tanks trying to advance. "B" Squadron and the Canadian Scottish advanced at 2 pm and achieved their objective with the loss of 2 tanks and heavy losses to the infantry. Trooper Pollock’s tank was struck by enemy fire and he was not able to exit his tank. When the tank was struck those that got out heard nothing further from those men still inside. Trooper Pollock was the loader / operator and when the German 88 shell struck he fell to the floor and died instantly. Anyone who was wounded and could have left the tank was stopped by the intense fire from the ammunition and fuel. Several more Shermans were destroyed before one Sherman could manoeuvre into a position where it could engage the enemy tank. This tank was struck by the German tank and partially disabled but was still able to score a direct hit on one Tiger and it withdrew in flames and the second Tiger retired. During the evening of August 15th another attack was ordered and again everything went wrong. The start line was not secured, units were not in a position to advance and
engage and darkness came before they could commence their attack. All remaining tanks were re-fuelled
and re-armed. It was during the day action of August 15th when Trooper Pollock lost his life.
Early in June of 1945 both his wife Ruth and his mother Mabel received the Memorial Cross. In November of 1949 his wife received the medals awarded to Merril which included the 1939-45 Star, the France-Germany Star, the Defence Medal, the War Medal along with the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with clasp.
Merril is honoured and remembered on the Parkhill United Church Memorial Plaque, on the Exeter Cenotaph, in the Books of Remembrance that are located in the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa and on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
