Mysterious grave

[alkali]

Hi Friends,

I ask about help.
In forest by village Gostomko (54°09’35”N, 17°49’25” E) near Koscierzyna, Pomorze Gdańskie ( Gdańsk Pomerania ) is uunnamed grave.



On plate is such inscription :

In this place it rests 3 English aviators
bestiality murdered through
Nazis in day of 24 July 1944.
Honour their of memory

I very want to restore them identity, to establish who were they. I have yet problem, in July of 1944 RAF and USAAF did not fly into this region. I did not find information about lost plane in this time and in this region. Local remember, that this aviators this crew of airplane shoot down day earlier near locality Kartuzy. On COMMONWEALTH WAR CEMETERY in Malbork it has nobody of died 24 July 1944.
I ask about help in solution of riddle of this grave.


Best Regards,
Czarek
czareklot@wp.pl

[Alex Smart]

Thank you Czarek,

Thank you for the photographs of the grave site.

They seem to be still remembered and looked after by the local people.

Please thank them on our behalf.

These three airmen could have been POW escapees that were caught.

I wonder how it is known that they were "English" have you asked the locals ?

Were there others ?

Is it certain that there was an aircraft crash involved ?

Many thanks

Alex

[alkali]

Dear Alex,

Thank you for interest. I thought also about prisoners. But local speak, that this crews of airplane.
Old people from village speak that this airplane shoot down day earlier ? (23 July) near Kartuzy, about 30 kilometres NE from Gostomko. On parachutes jumped from him 5 or 6 people. Aviators hid in forest but they became caught by Gestapo or SS unit(for sure not Wehrmacht) and three murdered.
I will go probably on Wednesday to this village and I will exactly talk from local.

Best Regards,
Czarek
Gdańsk / Poland
czareklot@wp.pl

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Czarek,
Firstly, your countrymen did a wonderful and heroic fight in WW2, they are not forgotten.
Second: On the night of 23/24 July, there was a RAF Bomber Command raid on Kiel, with 629 four-engined airplanes taking part. Only 4 Lancasters were lost. So, this is perhaps a start! Another Lancaster was lost from a minelaying sortie near Kiel. I know it is far away from Gdansk, but I do not know the route taken by the bombers ( their flight plan ). It is possible that they passed close or around.
I will try to locate those 5 Lancaster losses so we could have a start...
From the information you put there, we can assume the crew was of 5 or 6 members? Only 3 were murdered?
I firstly thought of a BOAC Mosquito flying to Sweden, but it is too far away...Had to check the BOAC losses too ( someone can help us? )
Well, do not worry, there are many incredible people on this Forum that will help you to positively identify this crew. I will make my contribution and try to find out those 5 Bomber Command losses, ok?
Cheers from Brazil my Tovarisch!
Adriano

[The_Catman]

Hi Czarek

First can I also give my thanks to both your people's maintenance of the memorial, (it does look well cared for after all these years), and for sacrifices of the Polish people in WW2.

The plane lost gardening (PB211) on this date ditched on the outward leg 36 miles from Cromer, Norfolk

As Adriano says 4 Lancasters were listed as missing in the Kiel raid

LM488 crashed 0110 24Jul44 at Schlesen on the E bank of the Dobersdorfer See. All teh crew were buried locally. They have been subsequently re-interred in the Hamburg Cemetery at Ohlsdorf.

JB417 crashed on return from its first operation. Airborne 2230 23Jul44 from Little Staughton. Ran short of fuel and crashed 0340 24Jul44 while attempting an emergency landing at the Handley Page facility at Radlett, Herts. All crew survived.

PB208 crashed in the sea in the POSSIBLY in the area of Nissum Fjord as WO2 Aumell is buried in Denmark at Sondre Nissum Churchyard, 9 km NW of Ulfborg. The others are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

So it doesn't look like one of these three, but

LM174 was lost without trace. All are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

550km from Kiel to Gdansk so it is not likely, but not impossible, sometimes with damaged instruments and injured/killed navigator planes were found hundreds of miles from their route.

Another possibility if the date is correct and the crew were British to be looked into is if this was not a Bomber Command plane but one on a SOE mission

Regards from Enland

Alex

[Alex Smart]

Hi,
Re SOE and the 23/7/44.
Have scanned the Air Brit Halifax lists and found a few.
JP247 - 148 Sqn - Poland - 4th July 44
JP286 - 148 Sqn SOE - 4th July 44
JP292 - 148 Sqn - Poland - 4th July 44
JP287 - 614 Sqn - Feuersbrunn - 7th July 44
JP284 - 148 Sqn - SOE 16th July 44
LL129 - 129 Sqn - SOE 16th July 44
HX243 - 466 Sqn lost 25th July 44 crashed Bonlanden, 6km SSE of Echterdingen.

Alex

[stefaan]

HI
I contacted Graham du Toit who looks after the SAAF ROH and he replied with this.
I see that it is mostly pointing towards 148 RAF sqn.
This is his comment.
Hope it helps
From 3 June 1944 until 29 July 1944, the SAAF Liberator Squadrons were involved in what was known as the “Campaign for the Oil Fields” with attacks being carried out on Oil Refineries in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Ploesti in Romania. Only one SAAF Liberator flown by Captain T.A.M. van der Spuy disappeared without trace in the Bucharest area of Romania on 29 June 1944. All the other SAAF losses are accounted for and the aircrews have known graves.

Operations into Poland to re-supply Warsaw began on 5 August 1944 by 148 Squadron RAF with 31 SAAF and 178 RAF starting missions on 14 August 1944.

148 Sqn RAF flying Halifax Bombers was however active over Poland long before 5 August 1944, carrying out mainly SOE (Special Operations Executive) Missions, inserting and extracting Secret Agents, re-supply to Partisan and civilian informants and spies, monitoring German Frequencies, bringing back German equipment and information from Partisan Forces for evaluation and dissemination etc. They did lose aircraft during these missions and by the dates you have given me, I suspect that the bodies requiring identification are most probably Aircrew members from 148 Sqn or from Polish Squadrons which I believe were also operating in this area at the time. Hope this information is of some help.

Stefaan Bouwer

[Franek Grabowski]

This grave cannot be of any special duty crew, that is for sure.

[alkali]

Dear Friends,

Stefaan - Thanks for help and informations. Your countrymen made very much for Poland, particularly for insurgents in Warsaw. I read just book “Airlift to Warsaw. The resing of 1944”. Wrote her Your countryman Neil Orpen.

Franek - On list of Special Duty Operations it lacks lost airplanes above Poland in this time, see :

(W zestawieniu strat poniesionych podczas lotów SDO nie ma samolotu utraconego w tym okresie nad Polską, zobacz -)

http://harringtonmuseum.org.uk/Aircraft%20lost%20on%20Allied%20Forces%20Special%2 0Duty%20Operations.pdf

Best Regards,
Czarek
Gdańsk / Poland
czareklot@wp.pl

[Franek Grabowski]

Originally Posted by alkali

Dear Friends,
Franek - On list of Special Duty Operations it lacks lost airplanes above Poland in this time, see :

(W zestawieniu strat poniesionych podczas lotów SDO nie ma samolotu utraconego w tym okresie nad Polską, zobacz -)

Indeed, it seems all the aircraft flying to Poland in 1944 and lost are accounted for, and apart of that, they used a southern route, so no link with the grave is possible.
Frankly, I have no idea as to whom the men were, but I know whom they were not. Perhaps AHB or CWGC can provide some clues?