Date: 1944 Jun 12/13 | A/C Type: Lancaster III | SN: DV 286 | Code: BH-C | A/C Nickname: | ||||||
File: 048 | Airforce: USAAF | Sqn/Unit: 300 Sqn (Polish) | Mission/Raid: Gelsenkirchen | |||||||
1 | Bomb. | por. (F/O) Boguslaw F. Morski POW | 9 | |||||||
2 | Pilot | plut. pil. (F/Sgt.) Franciszek Rembecki KIA | 10 | |||||||
3 | Nav. | por. (F/O) Jozef Isaak Feil KIA | 11 | |||||||
4 | Engineer | sierz (Sgt) Stanislaw Feliks Bladowski drowned | 12 | |||||||
5 | RO/AG | kpr. (LAC) Jan Bokros KIA | 13 | |||||||
6 | Mid upper g | kpr. (LAC) Stanislaw Miszturak KIA | 14 | |||||||
7 | Rear gunner | kpr. (LAC) Wladyslaw Leppert KIA | 15 | |||||||
8 | 16 | |||||||||
Crashed in Lake IJsselmeer (Old Zuyder Sea) off Wijdenes. Shot down by a German nightfighter, |
Our dear friend Boguslaw "Bogie" Morski (1917) lived in Boca Raton, FL, USA. He passed away in January 2015, age 97. Thanks to his effort, this Lancaster with crew were recovered in 2002 by the Dutch authorities.
In the fatal night, F/O Morski parachuted out with Sgt. Bladowski. Next morning, F/O Morski floated in the Lake on his life-vest and was taken aboard by two Dutch fishermen. The name 'Morski' means in Polish 'from the sea'. Because Mr. Morski thanked the fishermen in German, they thought he was German and delivered him to a German patrol boat. He tried to burn his papers in the fishermen's stove, but a German officer jumped aboard and fished them out. Mr. Morski became POW. He thought he had crashed in the North Sea.
Sgt. Bladowski washed ashore some days later at Wijdenes ("Weidenes"). Farmer Bruin took Bladowski's body from the dike and made a coffin for him. Until 1963, Sgt. Bladowski was buried in the village churchyard in Wijdenes. He was reburied in the Polish Field of Honour in Breda in 1963. In year 2000, brother Marian Bladowski from Poland was searching for his brother's grave in Wijdenes, but in vain. By coincidence, he asked at Bruin's farm for information. Farmer Bruin and his wife (born in Poland, speaking Polish), invited the man in. They drove him to Breda later that Sunday. Sgt. Bladowski's granddaughter (living in the UK with a British Airways pilot) revealed the moment for the crew of DV286 at the seaside at Wijdenes some years ago.
The in 2002 recovered crew members were buried in Breda with full military honour. They received a collective grave with five names on the cross. Mr. Morski, relatives from Poland and United States (Leppert - Pawlowicz family from Saint Petersburg, FL) and everybody involved in the recovery were all present. See our file on cemetery Breda in Search Menu - Cemeteries - Breda.
Sources, read more:
- www.polishwargraves.nl/bred/bhc.htm
- http://www.arg1940-1945.nl/engels/lancaster%20bh-c%20pagina%201gb.htm
- Our file on Cemetery Wijdenes http://www.zzairwar.nl/dossiers/909.html
- Our file on Cemetery Breda http://www.zzairwar.nl/dossiers/997.html
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