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Born in
Manitoba
in 1916, Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski was the mid-upper gunner
of a
Lancaster
heavy bomber attacking targets in
France
on the night of 12-13 June 1944. An enemy night fighter fired on
the
Lancaster, flames broke out, and the pilot ordered the crew to abandon
the aircraft. As Mynarski went to the escape hatch he saw that
the rear gunner was trapped in his turret. As he turned back in
an attempt to reach the rear turret, his parachute and clothing
caught fire. His efforts to free the rear gunner were in vain.
The latter then indicated that he should try to save his own
life, and Mynarski reluctantly returned to the escape hatch.
There, as a last gesture to his trapped comrade, he turned
toward him, stood to attention in his flaming clothing, and
saluted before jumping from the aircraft. He was found by French
people on the ground but so severely burned that he died of his
injuries. The rear gunner, miraculously thrown clear when the
Lancaster
hit the ground, was delivered to the Resistance by French
civilians and returned to
England
to tell the story. Pilot Officer Mynarski was awarded the VC
posthumously for this valorous action.
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