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| The Andrew Mynarski Story
After a brief stay in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force shortly before his 25th birthday. He became an Air Gunner. His first operational posting was with Number 9 Squadron in October, 1943. In March, 1944, he replaced another mid upper gunner in 419 (Moose) Squadron and joined the crew with whom his name would be forever linked. On the crew's ninth mission together, (June fifth, 1944...D-Day minus 1) they were assigned a brand new Canadian built Lancaster X....KB726. A week later, on the night of June 12, they were to take off on the Lanc's fourth mission, their target: the rail marshalling yards at Cambrai, France. It would be the crew's 13th sortie. They would be over the target on Friday the thirteenth. While waiting to go, the crew couldn't help but think of these omens. Andy found a four leaf clover in the grass by the planes. He insisted that his closest buddy in the crew, tail gunner Pat Brophy, should take it. Shortly after crossing the French coast, the Lancaster was briefly coned by enemy searchlights. After some evasive maneuvers, they were in the safety of darkness again. They began descending to the level of their planned attack when a Ju88 came in from astern. Its cannons blazed from below. Three explosions tore the aircraft. Both port engines were knocked out and began to flame. Hydraulic lines to the rear turret were severed and the fluid ignited, turning the rear of the fuselage into an inferno. The captain, Art de Bryne gave the order to bail out. Warrant officer Mynarski left his post at the mid upper turret and began to make his way to the rear escape door. Through the fierce flames, he could see his friend Pat Brophy, desperately trying to escape from the immobilized rear turret. Pat was trapped. The turret had jammed in a position where the doors to escape didn't line up and, in his frantic attempts to free himself, he had broken the manual back-up system as well. By now, all of the other crew members had made their escapes from the stricken aircraft.
In complete disregard for his own safety, Andrew crawled through the flames to French witnesses saw him plunge earthward in flames but when they found him, he was so severely burned that he died within hours. Ironically, Pat Brophy survived, unhurt. When the Lancaster crashed at a shallow angle, two of its twenty bombs immediately exploded, throwing the tail gunner clear. His watch stopped at 2:13 a.m., Friday, June 13, 1944. Posthumously, with the rank of Pilot Officer, Andrew Charles Mynarski was awarded the Victoria Cross, the British Commonwealth's highest award for bravery. |
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Andrew Charles Mynarski was born the second son to recent Polish
immigrants in Winnipeg, Manitoba on October 14, 1916. He was a quiet person,
although his ready humor would come out after you got to know him. He
enjoyed working with his hands, especially woodworking. Before the war, he was
employed as a cutter at a local furrier where his craftsmanship was highly
valued. On his own, he loved to design and build furniture.
assist his fellow gunner. Not noticing that his own flight suit and parachute
had caught fire, he fought heroically to free the turret, but all his efforts
were in vain. Brophy signaled that there was nothing more he could do and
that he should bail out and save himself. Reluctantly, Mynarski complied.
Backing through the flames to the escape hatch, he stood up and, before jumping,
he saluted his doomed comrade.