September 28, 2007
OttawaRemains of Canadian Second World War heroes, Flight Lieutenant Arnold Raymond Blynn; Flying Officer Harold Leonard Brown; Pilot Officer George Alfred Chapman; Flight Sergeant Arthur George William Liddell; and Flight Sergeant Charles Burton Wylie, will be buried during a rededication ceremony on October 4 at Kraków Rakowicki Cemetery in Poland.
Veterans Affairs Canada has arranged for family members of the five Canadian crew members to attend the burial and rededication ceremony. The family members will be joined by David Preston, Ambassador of Canada to Poland, as well as British and Polish civilian and military officials. The Department of National Defence will provide ceremonial support for the events, including three pallbearers, a bagpiper and a chaplain.
"I am pleased that we are able to ensure family members of these Canadian airmen are present at the rededication ceremony of their loved ones," said the Honourable Greg Thompson, Minister of Veterans Affairs. "We remember these men, and we remember what they were fighting forpeace, freedom and the rule of law. We will never forget what they sacrificed so that we could live freely today."
"The airmen of Halifax Bomber JP276 served valiantly, and they represented Canadian values and traditions in the finest sense," said the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. "Today, these same values and traditions are carried on by our service men and women."
On August 4, 1944, the seven airmen of the Halifax Bomber JP276, all assigned to 148 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, were killed when their aircraft was shot down over Poland. In addition to the five Canadian crew members, two members of the Royal Air Force, Sergeants Kenneth James Ashmore and Frederick George Wenham, were also killed in the crash. The recovered remains were initially buried in one grave at a local cemetery near the crash site. In 1948, the grave was exhumed and the remains transferred to Rakowicki Cemetery, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery in Kraków, Poland.
In 2006, a team of Polish archaeologists and historians from the Warsaw Rising Museum began excavation of the site in an attempt to recover the plane's wreckage. Additional remains of the crew were recovered as a result. Using DNA from relatives of the crash victims, the Department of National Defence confirmed in August 2007 that the remains were those of the JP276 air crew. These remains will be interred in the crew's existing gravesite during a ceremony organized by the Canadian Department of National Defence in collaboration with the Royal Air Force.
For more information about the recovery and the rededication service, please visit the Veterans Affairs Canada Web site
Backgrounders
Halifax Bomber JP276
Canadian Flight Crew of Halifax Bomber JP276
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Media Enquiries:
Janice Summerby Media Relations Advisor Veterans Affairs Canada (613) 992-7468
MDN/DND Defence Media Liaison Office DND Public Affairs (613) 996-2353/54
Richard Roik Director of Communications Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs 613-996-4649
All Other Enquiries:information@vac-acc.gc.ca
