On This Day in History: June 13

Andrew Mynarski Victoria Cross

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Quite often during World War II Allied bombers would be shot at by fucking Nazis and their planes would catch fire. If they were lucky, they’d have time to say, “Everyone get the fuck out!” and jump and hope their parachute worked. Except on June 13, 1944, Andrew Mynarski didn’t immediately jump from his very-much-on-fire Lancaster bomber. Because the plane’s tail gunner was trapped. 

--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: June 13, 1944--

Born in 1916 in Winnipeg, in 1941 Mynarski joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. It was a week after the D-Day landings. Now holding the rank of Warrant Officer, Air Gunner Mynarski and his crewmates were on a raid into Northern France, their unlucky 13th mission, if you believe in that sort of thing. Which I don’t. At their target they were attacked by a German night fighter plane that shot their Lancaster to shit. The Allied aircraft lost both port engines, and was on fire. Flying Officer Art de Breyne ordered the GTFO. 

Everyone fucked off out of the no longer perfectly good aircraft, but Mynarski noticed that tail gunner Pat Brophy’s turret was jammed and he couldn’t escape. Not hesitating for a moment, Mynarski ran to Brophy to help him. He used a fire axe in a vain attempt to knock the turret lose to allow it to move to the escape position. With Mynarski’s clothes and parachute catching fire, Brophy waved him away telling him to save himself. Mynarski crawled back through the fire, saluted Brophy and said, “Good night, sir,” and jumped. 

Because his parachute was in flames, it did not adequately slow his descent and he hammered into the ground. He was still alive, but badly burned. His clothes were still on fire. French farmers found him and said ah shit this guy is a fucking mess and they took him to a German field hospital, but he died a short time later. Since Mynarski died, how do we know what happened? That’s because Brophy, the trapped tail gunner, survived. 

Still stuck in his turret, the Lancaster broke apart as it hit the trees, then it crashed and its bomb payload, which they’d not had the opportunity to drop, went kerblooie. But part of what separated from the doomed aircraft was the tail gunner turret, which broke open and launched Brophy into a tree, knocking him unconscious. 

Of the six crew who survived, two were taken prisoner and later liberated by the Allied advance. Brophy was among the four who escaped capture, and he joined the French Resistance. He was reunited with the rest of his crew in 1945 and told the tale of Mynarski’s heroics. Flying Officer de Breyne put Mynarksi in for the Victoria Cross, which is the highest award for valor for British and Commonwealth forces. It was posthumously awarded on October 11, 1946.

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