Halifax crash - new monument
 

The controversial crash of Halifax JP 295 in Banica, Poland is finally being recognised by local authorities who are planning a new monument to the crew at the crash site.
This monument will replace the existing monument which carries an inscription "To seven unknown Polish airmen......" and will be unveiled on the 65th anniversary of the crash, 27/28 August this year. An excavation carried out at the crash site in September 2006 identified the aircraft parts as Halifax, not Liberator as had been previously claimed.

The crew includes - Franciszek OMYLAK, captain and navigator; Konstanty DUNIN-HORKOWICZ, bombadier; Wilhelm BALCAREK, mechanic; Jozef SKORCZYK, gunner;Tadeusz MROZKO, gunner.

Families of five of the crew have been contacted but two families cannot be located - they are those of Kazimierz WIDACKI, pilot; and Jan Franciszek OZGA, wireless operator.
As the crew still have no marked graves it is hoped that eventually there will be official military gravesites allocated to these brave men who died on a supply mission to the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944

Any help would be greatly appreciated in locating families of Sgt OZGA and P/O WIDACKI.
Frances

Re: Halifax crash - new monument
 

Frances,
This is what I've on file for presumably WIDACKI and OZGA:
Exhumation in the early 80s showed remains of two partial skeletons only. They were buried with the crew of Liberator EW275 as it was wrongly assumed that they were the lacking two bodies of the EW275-crew.
Regards,
Henk.

Re: Halifax crash - new monument
 

Thank you Henk for your response.

When the 1980 exhumation took place one of the bodies had parts of the uniform intact which identified the body as that of the captain. This would have been F/Lt Omylak who was navigator. In the Polish Air Force it is the navigator who is captain. It is believed that F/Lt Omylak's body is one of those buried in the Military section of Rakowice Cemetery, Krakow under the name of a Liberator crew member.
The 2006 excavation at the crash site in Banica revealed more bones. I'm not sure what has happened to them. Nor am I sure about what is happening at the cemetery to rectify the erroneous burial.

Henk, it is the families of Jan Ozga and Kazimierz Widacki which are missing.

Five families of crew members out of seven have been found so far. Two to go - so any help is welcome.
Frances