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!

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. Here is Ewart’s story.

https://sserwatka.substack.com/p/ewart-sconiers-the-last-man-out-of?r=42ks37&utm_medium=ios

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

More of my WWII aviation history stories: https://open.substack.com/pub/sserwatka

I do professional junk removal, so these are actually items I saved from ending up in the landfill. It’s my way of making sure history isn’t erased ♥️

A Polish historical reenactment group honors a B-17 crew from the 452nd BG.

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

https://sserwatka.substack.com/p/from-an-american-airman-to-a-polish?r=42ks37&utm_medium=ios

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!

https://www.dpaa.mil/Families/Contact-Information/

Exactly 82 years ago, Capt. Tudor and his crew flew their last mission. The target was Blechhammer, a heavily defended synthetic fuel factory, located at the extreme range for the 15th Air Force flying out of Italy. Their B-24 was shot down by flak.

Almost exactly 25 years ago, on August 10th 2001, I took one of the survivor’s son and his family to the crash site.

What started for me as just a WWII research transformed my life. I saw love and care for an ailing father, and I understood my research is not just research. Helping families understand what happened to their loved ones, what they went through, helping find missing soldiers are the true meaning of my work.

Read Captain Tudor’s full story:

https://sserwatka.substack.com/p/all-meat-no-potatoes-a-b-24-shot?r=42ks37&utm_medium=ios

My grandpa was in infantry in WWII and I have the original photographs he took of the Gardelegen Massacre aftermath. His unit was the first one on scene. You can read more about the incident here but basically folks were locked in a barn and it was set on fire. My grandpa wrote on the back of the photographs and I will try to share those images too.

I found this WWII dress uniform jacket, hat and tie at an estate sale yesterday. It was in the house that belonged to one of the original eBay sellers so the deceased had no relation to the solider. I was able to do some research and identify the solider by the laundry tag and find out that he died without children in 1982. His name was Donald "Donnie" Charles Chapman born in 1926 in Marion, Oregon. His army serial number was 19202308 and he enlisted as a private August 17, 1944. If anyone has anymore information about this solider or the insignia on his dress uniform, I would appreciate it! I would like to sell it but don't know the value of items like this.

A fantastic WWII signed Japanese Flag now in our showroom.