Stanley WYSOKINSKI

Source : C. Scott

Parents : Sylvester & Albina Slobodzian WYSOKINSKI

Frères : Walter

Half brother : Joseph Walter & Stephen

B-17 Fortress - type F-55-DL - s/n 42-3397 HR*

"The Fighting Cock"

Macr : 1337
Mission : Bombing Bordeaux (33)

Takeoff station 155 Great Ashfield Suffolk
Attacked by 2 fighters after aircraft left formation due to engine disturbance

Pilot places aircraft on water  The rafts are then attacked by the hunters, killing 6 men

Map of Rhône American Cemetery

Source : Andy

Stanley "Stan" Wysokinski was the son of Polish immigrants, Sylvester Wysokinski and Albini "Barbara" Slobodzian. Stanley was born and raised in Pennsylvania and received his early education there. His father died of a massive stroke in 1939 leaving Stan as the oldest male family member. His older sister was the head of the family at that time as their mother had died of peritonitis in 1922.

Stan enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 3/5/1942 in New York City, New York. After the completion of basic training, Stan was sent to various Service Schools throughout the United States, eventually qualifying as an aerial gunner and earning his Gunner's wings. He was assigned to the 551st Bomb Squadron, 385th Bomb Group, a B-17 "Flying Fortress" command, and departed for England and joining the "Mighty Eighth", 8th Air Force.

On 12/5/1943, the 551st was assigned to make a bombing run on the German submarine pens located at Bordeaux, France. Stan and his crew were normally assigned to a B-17 named "Mary Pat" but on that day he and most of his normal crew flew on a B-17 named "The Fighting Cock", Sn #42-3397.

The weather over Bordeaux was cloudy/overcast so the planes turned to return to England without dropping their bomb load. They flew out over the Bay of Biscay when the bomber they were in developed engine trouble and dropped out of the formation, flying alone about four miles behind the rest of the squadron formation. Two German fighters came upon the plane and began an attack from above and below the bomber, resulting in severe damage to the aft end of the plane and a fire in the radio room. Stan, manning the top turret guns, was wounded during this attack as were Sgt.'s Degraw and Wysokinski. The pilot and plane commander, First Lieutenant Theodore J. Kleuser, ordered the men to abandon ship but then the decision was made to ditch into the ocean. They were approximately 20 miles away from shore when Lt. Kleuser turned the plane around and began heading back towards France as the plane descended. Sgt.'s Day and Olowniuk, who were not wounded and had been jettisoning out burning equipment prior to the landing after Lt. Kleuser successfully brought the plane down on the water, now were inflating two rubber life rafts. The crew escaped the burning plane and the German fighters broke off from their attack. Stan was placed in Raft #1 with Lt.'s Kleuser and Albert along with Sgt.'s Day and Olowniuk. Sgt.'s O'Keefe and Degraw were placed in a Raft #2 with Lt.'s Betow and Slater, and Sgt. Hibbard. The rafts began taking enemy fire from the shore. Lt. Kleuser, who had masterfully belly landed the plane, stood up in his raft and was immediately shot in the head, killing him. Lt. Albert was also shot. Sgt. Day tried to keep a hold of the bodies of Lt. Albert and the now dead Sgt. Stan Wysokinski but lost his grip on them and in the two to three foot high waves they slipped away. Their bodies and the body of Lt. Kleuser were never found. Sgt.'s O'Keefe and Degraw were badly wounded and dying in their raft. Raft #2 drifted away from Raft #1 and was headed towards shore were the German troops had been firing. Rifle and machine-gun fire were heard by the survivors in Raft #1. Only Betow survived from Raft #2 as he had apparently left the raft at some point.

After a number of hours had passed, the men in Raft #1 were picked up by a German Air-Sea Rescue plane. Lt. Albert died in the planes first-aid room. Sgt.'s Day and Olowniuk survived and would later be interred in a POW camp in Krems, Austria. Lt. Betow was later picked up by a German sea plane and also was held as a POW until the end of the war.

The enemy troops who shot up Raft #2 were not German troops but a German unit made up of troops from India who had served with the British Army. They had been captured in Tobruk, North Africa and had agreed to fight for the Germans in lieu of being held as POW's.

The bodies of Sgt.'s O'Keefe Degraw and Hibbard were never recovered and assumed to have been taken by sea along with the bodies of Lt. Kleuser, Albert and Sgt. Stan Wysokinski. Lt. Slater's body was found and was taken to a German Air/Sea Rescue First Aid Station. It is unknown if he died from being shot by the Germans or if he drowned. While his death is classified as "At Sea", he died close to shore at Bordeaux, Gironde, Aquitaine, France.

By : Rick Lawrence

Crew of B-17 Fortress - type F-55-DL - s/n 42-3397 HR

"The Fighting Cock"