Frieda Christine Blanck (Friend) heard the call of her nation and volunteered to be in the earliest group of women in the army, the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corp, WAAC. The WAAC was the forerunner to the Women’s Army Corp, WAC.

Living in Queens, New York, Frederick “Fred” Nickolaus Bernard Blanck, an immigrant from Niedersachsen, Germany, and his wife, Anna Frances Reilly Blanck, welcomed a baby girl into their home. Anna was a first-generation American with parents from Ireland and England. They named the baby Frieda C. Blanck in Brooklyn on December 2nd[i]. The year was 1915 and America would soon be on the edge of WWI.[ii]

Fred immigrated to America when he was 14 and became a naturalized citizen at age 16.[iii]

Frieda joined a lively household. Her four sisters were Catherine Bertha Blanck, age seven, Emma M. Blanck Heckmann (also spelled Eckman), three, Wilhelmina Blanck, two, and Dorothy Mary Blanck Harrison was one. A year later, the girls were given a brother, Frederick Bernard Blanck Jr.[iv] The family also had a baby girl they lost, Anna Grace Blanck who lived from 1909 to 1910.

In 1920, the four oldest girls were in school, leaving just Frieda and Frederick Jr. at their Queens’ rental home during the day. Their dad, Fred, was working as a clerk in a delicatessen.[v]

In 1925, Frieda gained one more sister, Martha E. Blanck, making a total of seven children in the family.[vi]

What a lively house it must have been in 1930 as the oldest Catherine is 22 but the other siblings, Emma, Wilhelmina, Dorothy, Frieda, and Frederick are all teenagers plus one five-year-old in the mix. In addition, Frieda’s Uncle, Thomas Rielly, is living with them. Not only does the family own their home, but Fred now owns the delicatessen. Catherine is also working. She is a journalist in New York. Only Martha is at home as everyone else heads to school.[vii]

Frieda attended Richmond Hill High School.[viii] A couple of years later, Frieda, age 16 or 17, leaves high school after finishing three years. Fred Jr. follows her example and leaves after three years.[ix]

HER LIFE BEFORE MILITARY

As Frieda heads toward the war years, it is 1940 and she is now 24. She’s living at home with her brother, Fred Jr. who is 23, and her little sister, Martha, who is 15. With four of the seven children out of the house, there must have been extra space for the family has taken in a lodger, Richard Haggard, 49.[x]

Now most days only Anna is at home. Frieda is working as an alarm operator for a burglar protection company and making $20 a week. Fred Jr. is selling shoes and brings in $20 a week. Fred Sr. is still running his delicatessen and makes $25 a week. Only Martha is left in school. The lodger, Richard, is working at a city hospital operating the phones.[xi]

On October 22, 1941, Frieda’s brother, Fred Jr., enlists as a Warrant Officer at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York.

Near to where Frieda lives is neighbor, Brooklyn-born Roy James Anthony Friend. He’s a few years younger than she. Roy has graduated from high school and is working as a shipping and receiving clerk. While he and Frieda see each other, they are separated as he enlists as a Warrant Officer, like Fred Jr., and reports to Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York.[xii]

Frieda is working at the Holmes Electric Protective Company as an operator on the headquarters signal board.[xiii]

In May of 1943, brother Fred marries followed by his little sister, Martha’s wedding in November, leaving her parents as empty nesters.[xiv]

HER MILITARY STORY

In 1941, a bill was introduced that changed Frieda’s life. Representative Edith Rogers from Massachusetts proposed establishing a women’s corp of the army. The proposed bill didn’t gain traction until the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Pushed by the enemy attack, the bill became law on May 15, 1942 establishing the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC). While the women had an official status and salary, they did not have the benefits the men received.[xv]

Frieda Blanck enlisted in the WAAC when it was first organized.[xvi] It was a coveted position as 35,000 women applied for those first 1,000 positions.[xvii]

As a WAAC, she first headed to Des Moines, Iowa,[xviii] which was selected as the site of the first WAAC training fort. Women began arriving on July 20, 1942. After training, the WAACs were working mostly in baking, clerical driving, and medical jobs.[xix]

After Des Moines, Frieda was stationed in Memphis, Tennessee.[xx]

An article in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle mentioned Frieda and other Brooklyn girls in the armed services. The article read “Within a few short months WAACs and Waves and Spars have become established patterns in the fabric of wartime living. They have earned their place in the scheme of things and won the respect not only of officialdom but of the man in the ranks and his next-door neighbor.”[xxi]

In June of 1943, Freida took a leave from the WAACs to be married. On June 17, 1943, PFC Frieda Blanck and Staff Sergeant Roy J. Friend married[xxii] making Frieda a traditional June bride and a war-time bride.[xxiii] After their wedding, the bride and groom returned to their posts.[xxiv]

A month later, the U.S. Army removed the word “auxiliary” and it was renamed the Women’s Army Corp(WACs). At this time, the thousands of women who had enlisted began to receive full benefits.[xxv] After the reorganization as the WAC, she re-enlisted.[xxvi] It wasn’t just as simple as signing up. According to a history of women in the army, “the entrance requirements were rigorous.” Many women applied who did not get chosen.[xxvii]

PFC Frieda C. Friend, service number A-202190, served in the Women’s Army Corp, WACS, after the corps status change. Frieda moved from the WAACs to the WACs by re-enlisting on May 24, 1944 in New York, New York as a private first class.[xxviii] She served in the 1202nd Army Air Force Base Unit, WACS. She spent time serving in Brazil.[xxix]

According to HonorStates.org, the women who were in the 1202nd were older, with an average age of 28, than the usual recruit and were chosen for their “maturity and work experience.”

In November of 1944, Frieda was one of 159 WACs in Accra, British West Africa to serve with the Air Transport Command. Their job was to deliver troops and supplies as well as transfer aircraft.[xxx] Other WACs worked as air controllers, mechanics, postal clerks, switchboard operators, sheet metal workers, weather forecasters, and more.[xxxi]

HER LAST DAY

PFC Frieda Friend was with 17 other women of the Women’s Army Corp on a normally routine 776- mile[xxxii] flight from Accra, British West Africa to Robert’s Field[xxxiii], Liberia. The WACs were onboard as they were being transferred to a new assignment. There were scattered showers that morning but no other weather of note.[xxxiv]

Her plane, piloted by a crew of three[xxxv], a C-478 #44-76406, disappeared.[xxxvi]

The plane was last reported over Takoradi, British West Africa, about 150 miles west of Accra, shortly after departure.[xxxvii]

Little is known about what transpired aboard the plane that day but several calls of “Mayday,” an emergency procedure used as a voice distress signal, were heard. The distress signal was loud and clear, lasting five minutes.[xxxviii] A search was conducted by aircraft and surface craft over a wide area of the French Ivory Coast.[xxxix] The search consisted of seven PET’s and British, French, and Native forces, who were informed to search waters and coastline. No sign of the plane was found.

The plane is believed to have crashed into the sea near Takordi, Ghana.[xl] The Chicago Tribune reported the “[xli]18 WACs were the first ever reported lost overseas.”

She went missing on May 30, 1945 and was declared dead while missing in action off the coast of Ghana, Africa.[xlii] News of the missing planes made newspapers across America on June 6th, 1945. The article titled _“PFC Frieda Friend on Missing Plane” _appeared in her hometown paper, The Brooklyn Eagle on June 7, 1945.

Her parents were notified via telegram. No details were given at that time but a press release from Washington followed with news of the missing plane.

Frieda Christine Friend was 30.

**READ THE STORIES OF ALL 21 ON THIS FLIGHT **

Click here- https://www.fold3.com/page/653613892/flight-c-47b-44-76406-stories-of-21-missing-in-action/stories

COMMENDATIONS

Purple Heart

World War II Victory Medal

American Campaign Medal

Army Presidential Unit Citation

Army Good Conduct Medal

European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign[xliii]

MEMORIALS

On June 16, 1945, a memorial service for the missing women was held by the WACs’ leadership in Portman Square in London and over 660 WACs attended.[xliv]

PFC Frieda Friend is remembered on the Tablets of the Missing, an American Battle Monument, North Africa American Cemetery in Carthage Tunisia.

AFTER THE WAR

Frieda’s husband of one year, Roy Friend, remarried to Rita Exarhos in August of 1947, two years after the death of Frieda.

ABOUT THIS STORY

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

[i] https://search.ancestryinstitution.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61457&h=823797&tid=&pid=&queryId=646373321f72bcfcea56305f65ad5e6f&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Zvj182&_phstart=successSource

[ii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/family-tree/person/tree/2061694/person/372281768/facts

[iii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/family-tree/person/tree/2061694/person/372281768/facts

[iv] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/family-tree/person/tree/2061694/person/372281768/facts

[v] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/family-tree/person/tree/2061694/person/372281768/facts

[vi] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/family-tree/person/tree/2061694/person/372281768/facts

[vii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/family-tree/person/tree/2061694/person/372281768/facts

[viii] https://basic.newspapers.com/image/686251630

[ix] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/family-tree/person/tree/2061694/person/372281768/facts

[x] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/family-tree/person/tree/2061694/person/372281768/facts

[xi] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/family-tree/person/tree/2061694/person/372281768/facts

[xii] https://search.ancestryinstitution.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8939&h=5167431&tid=&pid=&queryId=5adebd2c4451bcd3e09243e64cbfdad2&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Zvj176&_phstart=successSource

[xiii] https://basic.newspapers.com/image/686251630

[xiv] https://search.ancestryinstitution.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61406&h=1978080&tid=&pid=&queryId=aa0c1b3d447863ab110ba4e16e911c05&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Zvj189&_phstart=successSource

[xv] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Womens-Army-Corps

[xvi] https://basic.newspapers.com/image/686251630

[xvii] https://www.army.mil/women/history/wac.html

[xviii] https://basic.newspapers.com/image/686251630

[xix] https://www.army.mil/women/history/wac.html

[xx] https://basic.newspapers.com/image/686251630

[xxi] The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 14, 1943

[xxii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/61406/images/47512_546446-00597?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=646373321f72bcfcea56305f65ad5e6f&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Zvj181&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=1959127

[xxiii] https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/2061694/person/372281768/media/8455297c-a4e7-4b8d-a89a-5cc9180bf1b8?_phsrc=Zvj174&_phstart=successSource

[xxiv] https://basic.newspapers.com/image/686251630

[xxv] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Womens-Army-Corps

[xxvi] https://basic.newspapers.com/image/686251630

[xxvii] https://www.army.mil/women/history/wac.html

[xxviii] https://www.fold3.com/page/83014756-frieda-c-friend

[xxix] https://basic.newspapers.com/image/686251630

[xxx] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=334268

[xxxi] https://www.womenofwwii.com/army-wacs/

[xxxii]https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=22956270&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM3MDE5ODM5MSwiaWF0IjoxNjAwNjUzOTMxLCJleHAiOjE2MDA3NDAzMzF9.GGROPxU0pGgcIxOv2cUjLCtQalRy9746RfogyVqiR44

[xxxiii] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56250251/leona-marie_elizabeth-seyfert

[xxxiv] https://www.abmceducation.org/understandingsacrifice/soldier/rose-puchalla

[xxxv] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56250251/leona-marie_elizabeth-seyfert

[xxxvi] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=334268

[xxxvii]https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=22956270&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM3MDE5ODM5MSwiaWF0IjoxNjAwNjUzOTMxLCJleHAiOjE2MDA3NDAzMzF9.GGROPxU0pGgcIxOv2cUjLCtQalRy9746RfogyVqiR44

[xxxviii] https://www.abmceducation.org/understandingsacrifice/soldier/rose-puchalla

[xxxix] New York Times, June 7, 1945 “18 WACS Missing on African Flight”

[xl] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56250251/leona-marie_elizabeth-seyfert

[xli]https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=22956270&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM3MDE5ODM5MSwiaWF0IjoxNjAwNjUzOTMxLCJleHAiOjE2MDA3NDAzMzF9.GGROPxU0pGgcIxOv2cUjLCtQalRy9746RfogyVqiR44

[xlii] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=334268

[xliii] https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=91391

[xliv] https://www.facebook.com/notes/mia-recoveries-locating-lost-wwii-servicemen/the-tragic-loss-of-c-47-44-76406-the-wacs-worst-disaster/10150778536912463/

img.jfif - 1945- WACs at London Memorial Service for Frieda Friend and 17 other WACs lost at sea

WAC Pin.jpg

Frieda C Friend