Sgt Fred Larsen Back

Sgt Fred L. Back was one of the Danish nationals who enlisted in the USAAF. He served as ground personnel and is known to have been part of 7th Ferrying Group in Great Falls, Montana, involved in the ferrying of lend-lease aircraft and supplies for the Soviet Union.

Fred Larsen Back—originally baptised Frode Larsen Bak—was born on 23 February 1909 in Sæsing in the county of Hjørring, to Martin Larsen Bak and Jensine Nikoline Bak (née Nielsen).^[1]

Back emigrated to the United States in 1928, arriving in New York from Copenhagen onboard the SS Frederik VIII on 19 March 1928. His intended final destination was Detroit, Michigan.^[2] He settled in Gladewater, Texas, and married to Vitra Eunice Clark on 8 May 1939.^[3] At the time of his draft, in October 1940, the couple lived in Gladewater, Texas.^[4]

Back enlisted as a private (38307711) in the US Army in Tyler, Texas, on 25 January 1943. He was not yet a citizen. ^[5] Three months later, on 1 April 1943, he was naturalised as a US citizen in Tampa, Florida. He was serving in the AAF Basic Training Centers No. 6 in St. Petersburg, Florida at the time.^[6]

He was posted to 764th Technical School Squadron for arctic training at Buckley Field in Colorado in the fall of 1943. ^[7] During 1943 this station, originally a technical training school for aircraft fighters armorers, grew to include basic training in chemical warfare and arctic survival skills.^[8]

In November 1943, now a corporal, was attached to the 7th Ferrying Group. ^[9] The primary objective of this group, which was part of the Ferrying Division, Air Transport Command, was to ferry lend-lease aircraft and supplies on the northwestern air route from Great Falls, Montana, to Fairbanks, Alaska. A total of nearly 8,000 aircraft were delivered to the Soviet Union from the United States through this route.^[10]

Back was released from service on 23 October 1945. ^[11] He held the rank of sergeant at release.^[12]

He returned to Texas after the war, and died in Potter County on 22 November 1991.^[13]

Endnotes

[1] DNA: Parish register, Tårs sogn.

[2] New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.

[3] Ancestry: Texas, U.S., Select County Marriage Records, 1837-1965.

[4] Ancestry: U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.

[5] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.

[6] Ancestry: Florida, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1847-1995.

[7] RG 64, Morning Reports, Morning Reports for November 1943: Roll 481 (2 of 4) (NAID: 456505381).

[8] Buckley Air Force Base, From Air to Space: A Brief History of the 460th Space Wing and Buckley Air Force Base, https://www.buckley.spaceforce.mil/Portals/13/documents/2016%20Heritage%20Booklet.pdf?ver=2016-12-27-161000-643&timestamp=1482873009433 (accessed 17 November 2024).

[9] RG 64, Morning Reports, Morning Reports for November 1943: Roll 481 (2 of 4) (NAID: 456505381).

[10] Tail Winds - Seventh Ferrying Group. Montana History Portal, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/103840 (accessed on 17 November 2024).

[11] Ancestry: U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010.

[12] Ancestry: U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current.

[13] Ancestry: Texas, U.S., Death Index, 1903-2000.