USAAF over Poland

12/09/2026

A short stop at the Polish Military Cemetery at Lommel, Belgium. On the way to the Sanicole Air Show.

I like some graves have some personal touch from family. These don’t make these graves so lonely.

12/09/2026

September 13th, 1944. The 15th Air Force bombed the IG Farben at Auschwitz.

Two B-24s are shot down in the target area. One of them is the B-24 #42-51139 „Hell’s Angel” of the 485th Bomb Group. 6 men died and were buried at the crash site. The grave was taken care of by the Polish population, despite the N**i occupation, and later despite the Soviet rule. As soon as Poland became a free country in 1989, the rememberance of the American crew flourished again. There is a beautiful memorial at the crash site, and Zygmunt Kraus had an excellent private museum in Wadowice.

You can read more about this crew on my substack (a free post):

https://sserwatka.substack.com/p/shot-down-over-auschwitz

08/09/2026

An American B-24 sitting on a Soviet airfield in Poland, captured in a German Luftwaffe recon photo.

This history gem landed on my desk just last week. This is a Luftwaffe recon photo from October 27 1944. It shows a Soviet grass airfield near Kolbuszowa in Poland. You can clearly see a B-24 neatly parked between the Soviet machines. A friend who shared this photo asked which Liberator it could be.

I checked my records which B-24s landed behind Soviet lines in October 1944. A B-24 from the 455th BG stood out as it was marked as “landed in Soviet controlled territory”, without a specific location. The pilot’s name was Polando. A quick google revealed more info. Polando shared in his memoires he landed near Dhikovich, and one of the villages surrounding the airfield was Dzikowiec. The B-24 #42-78359 “Ten Hits and a Miss” was repaired and flown out of the Soviet zone on Dec 13, 1944. This is how we solved another WWII history puzzle!

You can find more stories about USAAF over Poland in WWII on my Substack.

30/08/2026

Ewart Sconiers was the last MIA from Stalag Luft III. I was personally involved in searching for him since early 2000s, until the happy ending in 2018. Here my detailed story of searching for Ewart.

When the US government restarted searching for WWII MIAs in Poland in late 1990s, I was the local history expert they worked with. I shared a lot if information, helped identify many crash sites, and used my experience, knowledge, and network, all to help the effort to bring closure to families.

Ewart was the first man found in Poland after the fall of the Soviet Block. Eight more MIAs were identified in the last few years, and there are 150+ Americans still missing from WWII in Poland.

Link to full Ewart’s story is in the comment

23/08/2026

Happy National Flag Day to my Ukrainian friends!

23/08/2026

August 22nd.

On this day in 1944, there was another mission by the 15th Air Force to Blechhammer and Odertal. Many aircraft were lost, including three in the target area.

The B-24 #42-78256 “Purple Shaft” of the 456th BG, pilot Wilson Goodall, was one of the three. There were only two survivors from the 10-men crew.

The Blechhammer 44 association remembers this and many other American crew who flew to
Blechhammer and Odertal. They have a very fine museum located in a German WWII air raid shelter.

https://www.facebook.com/share/14mcXsJBDNt/?mibextid=wwXIfr

15/08/2026

15/08/2026

Happy Weekend!

This group of young Polish people re-enact a B-17 crew which landed in their neighbourhood in March 1945. This Flying Fortress, #43-38231 „Try'n Get It” of 452th BG, landed near Wrzesnia, Poland, after a mission to Zwickau. The American crew was then accomodated by Soviet troops, and returned to England, via Poltava in Ukraine.

There were two more B-17s from the 452nd BG which landed or crashed in Poland. One landed in Radomsko, just four days earier than the „Try'n Get It”

The other one was the “BTO in the ETO” shot down in June 1944 near Biala Podlaska. I wrote about it on my Substack.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DMf11W916/?mibextid=wwXIfr

11/08/2026

BREAKING NEWS!!!!
Two more MIAs in Poland are identified!

The crew of 1st Lt Arthur Lindell was lost over Blechhammer on Dec 26, 1944. All crew was lost and declared MIA. I researched this loss in 1999/2000 and correctly identified the crash site. This is why the US government could do field work and excavations leading to the identifications.

2nd Lt Avery M Gilliland was the co-pilot, and Sgt Myron L Yaw was the ball turret gunner. These two men are identified.

If you have a family member who is still MIA, please contact the DPAA! They are looking for family members for DNA and they can share relevant documents with you! I am sharing a link in a comment below