The wind whispers tales of courage and sacrifice as we stand before the Lotników RAF Memorial. This silent monument stands as a poignant tribute to three Allied airmen who perished on August 15, 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising. They were members of the 31st Bomber Squadron of the South African Air Force, flying a Liberator bomber to deliver vital supplies to the besieged Polish resistance. Their mission was known as “Warsaw Concerto.”
The Liberator, bearing the call sign KG-939 “A-Able,” came under intense fire from German anti-aircraft guns. The aircraft was hit, losing an engine. The crew managed to deliver their cargo, but the Liberator was ablaze with both right wing engines engulfed in flames. The commander ordered the crew to evacuate on parachutes. The doomed aircraft crashed in the forest near Michalin, taking the lives of three crew members – the co-pilot, Lt. Robert George Hamilton, and two gunners. The remaining crew members managed to escape with their lives and were sheltered by the Polish Home Army. They eventually made their way to Soviet territory.
Bronislaw Kowalski, a Home Army soldier and resident of Michalin, was present that day. He salvaged a metal sheet from the wreckage and etched on it, “In honor of the English airmen tragically fallen on 15 VIII 44. The Poles.” Kowalski later built a small stone grotto with a figure of the Virgin Mary, which he erected at the crash site. In 1977, in honor of the 33rd anniversary of the Liberator’s crash, Kowalski and his friends built the Lotników RAF Memorial on the site. The memorial stands as a silent testament to the sacrifices of the Allied airmen who fought to liberate Poland.