WWII RAF bomber found in Poland Historians in Poland have discovered the wreckage of a World War II RAF Halifax bomber along with the remains of its British and Canadian crew. BBC NEWS | UK | WWII RAF bomber found in Poland
That's fascinating - and thanks for the link. I will be aiming to include 'wargraves in the news' on my new WW2 Cemeteries site; amazing we are still hearing about discoveries after 60-odd years!
What suprises me is that the story's been doing the rounds on the net for a while, and it's only been reported on the BBC today.
It is indeed great news for the families, giving them some closure. It of course also means a "lost crew" finally makes it home. May they finally all now rest in peace. Stephen
WWII RAF Halifax Aircrew Lost Over Poland Aero-News Network: The Aviation and Aerospace World's Daily/Real-Time News and Information Service 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 .............................
Just a point,RAF crews should not have been running these operations.The Russians stood back and clearly did not want the leadership of the Polish Uprising to take power and form any type of government which would be considered alien to a Stalin type regime.Consequently the Polish Uprising failed.On the plus side the Germans agreed to take their surrender as if the underground army were regular combatants. I would think this was the first sign to all Poles that in the post war era,there was little point in returning home. It was along haul from liberated Italy throught the Balkans, Central Europe and on to Poland.It was the RAF who diverted No 178 and No 31 Squadrons from the operations taking place for the Allied landing in Southern France to provide night relief flights in order to sustain the resistance in Warsaw while the Red Army stood in front of the gates of Warsaw.
Further to my post on the Mediterranean based operations.There was some ill feeling that these operations did not qualify for the Aircrew Europe Medal. As one former RAAF pilot of No 70 Squadron put it. "Looking back, a lot of bods gave their lives and when one looks at it today,one sometimes wonders why.No recognition was ever given, yet I flew my bomber over nine European countries on these operations".