LYSA GORA

On the 25th August 2007 a memorial service was held outside the village of Lysa Gora, Poland. Arranged by Dionizy Smolen .The village lies some 300 kilometres south of Warsaw and it was near here that a Liberator aircraft crashed in August 1944 when returning from a supply dropping mission to Warsaw. The aircraft was 31 SAAF Liberator EW 161 and the pilot and crew were:.

Pilot :Capt Lawrie SAAF
Lt Mc Innes SAAF
Lt Coleman SAAF
Lt Lewis SAAF
F/O Bonney RAF
F/Sgt Zambra RAF
Sgt Swift RAF

Local people and officials have built a shrine in the woods where the Liberator crashed and where the impressive two hour commemoration service was held. This was organised by local people and officials who remembered the help given to the Poles by the RAF, SAAF, Polish squadrons in exile and USAAF squadrons based in Italy. These squadrons also included men of the RAAF and RCAF.

Those in attendance included:

Mrs Febe Potgieter-Gqubule, South African Ambassador to Poland
Group Captain Andy Young, RAF, British Defence Attache to Poland

together with many ex Polish pilots, ex Warsaw insurgents, and most of the inhabitants of Lysa Gora.

In addition Anne and Elizabeth Storm, the daughter and granddaughter of F/O Bob Millar RAAF, were present. They had been invited to attend by Dionizy Smolen ,because of Bob Millar's participation in the Warsaw airlifts and Anne's research into finding relatives of the 31 SAAF crews.They were pleased to be invited and were well looked after by the organisers, having been met at Krakow airport and driven to Lysa Gora, where accomodation was arranged for them.

At the end of the service flower petals were dropped from the sky by a paraglider towed in circles by a light plane.

Altogether this was a very moving occasion.

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