Remains Located By Team In 2006
Aero-News has learned remains discovered last year of the
aircrew from a WWII RAF Halifax bomber -- shot down over Poland in
August 1944 while on a special operation at the time of the
Warsaw Uprising -- will be buried with appropriate military honors
in Krakow, Poland on Thursday, October 4.
The service, which will be attended by family members of the
crew, will take place during the anniversary week marking the end
of the Warsaw Uprising, which concluded in October 1944.
The Ministry of Defense tells ANN the Halifax, manned by a mixed
British, Canadian and Irish crew, was on route from Brindisi in
Italy to drop supplies at a location 60 kilometers southeast of
Warsaw when it was shot down by an enemy fighter close to the town
of Dabrowa Tarnowska, approximately 110 kilometers east of
Krakow.
On October 4, a memorial service will take place in the
Garrison Church in Krakow, followed by the rededication service,
which will take place in the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery
within Krakow's Rakowicki Cemetery. The rededication will involve
personnel from the RAF's Queens Colour Squadron and the Canadian
Forces, as well as the families of the crew.
Halifax JP276, from 148 Squadron, took off from Brindisi, Italy
at 19:56 hours on 4th August 1944 to carry out a special operation
over Southern Poland. From the time of take-off nothing further was
heard.
On board were Flight Lieutenant Arnold Raymond Blynn, RCAF
Pilot; Flying Officer Harold Leonard Brown, RCAF Wireless Operator;
Pilot Officer George Alfred Chapman, RCAF Navigator; Flight
Sergeant Arthur George William Liddell, RCAF Air Gunner; Flight
Sergeant Charles Burton Wylie, RCAF Bomb Aimer; Sergeant Kenneth
James Ashmore, RAF (VR) Air Gunner; and Sergeant Frederick George
Wenham, RAF (VR) Flight Engineer.
Eyewitnesses later said the aircraft experienced problems near
the town on Dabrowa Tarnowska, and was on fire and flying in the
direction of the village of Morzychna. The aircraft was seen to
suddenly stop in mid-air before crashing, killing all seven crew
members.
Due to the presence of occupying
enemy forces the remains that were discovered at the time were
buried in secret in the town of Dabrowa Tarnowska. These remains
were later exhumed and reburied in the Krakow Rakowicki
Cemetery.
In 2006, a Polish team from the Rising Museum in Warsaw located
remains at the crash site on the outskirts of Dabrowa Tarnowska. In
October 2006 the site was excavated and aircraft wreckage and
artefacts belonging to JP276 were recovered. During the excavation
human remains were recovered.
In accordance with Ministry of Defense policy and the wishes of
the families the remains will be buried in a single casket/ossuary.
The crew of Halifax JP276 are commemorated on the Runnymede
memorial, which overlooks the river Thames on Cooper's Hill,
Englefield Green.
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