In the building of the former parachute storage facility, built around 1943 by the Germans who were then stationed at the Rakowice airfield, there is an exhibition presenting aviation archaeology. Archaeology is a science that studies the history and culture of ancient societies based on excavations. Aviation archaeology is a relatively new branch, dealing with the investigation of aircraft crash sites on land and underwater. It is to some extent similar to battlefield archaeology.
Estimated individual visit time – approximately 10-15 min.
For many years, the wrecks of aircraft shot down or destroyed in crashes were primarily treated as scrap material. It was only the development of research into aviation history and aviation museology that made the search for and study of — most often wartime — aircraft remains significant.
At the entrance stands a small monument — a bent propeller blade from an Avro Lancaster Mk III bomber, serial number DV286, code letters BH-C, belonging to the Polish 300 Bomber Squadron “Ziemia Mazowiecka,” which was shot down over the Netherlands by anti-aircraft artillery while returning from a mission to bomb a refinery in Gelsenkirchen. The burning Lancaster fell into Lake IJsselmeer near the town of Wijdenes. The only crew member to survive the crash was the bombardier, 2nd Lt. Bogusław Morski, who was taken prisoner. In 1998–1999, the wreck of Lancaster BH-C was found on the lake bed by Dutch archaeologists from the Aircraft Recovery Group 1940-1945 based at Fort Veldhuis. The recovered remains of crew members were buried with military honours at the cemetery in Breda, while some fragments of the Lancaster were given to the Polish Aviation Museum in April 2007.
Against the opposite wall, a view of an aircraft crash site unfolds. The wreck of a German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter shows how fierce the battles of World War II were. These aircraft were mass-produced and destroyed in equally large numbers. They were the terror of the Soviets, inflicting heavy losses, but just as often fell victim to enemy fighters or ground fire.
In the display cases in front of the wrecked Focke-Wulf are the remains of what is probably the most mysterious Polish aircraft — the CANT Z.506. It was an Italian-made torpedo seaplane, the only one of six purchased by Poland that managed to reach Puck a few days before the outbreak of World War II. It was evacuated inland to Lake Siemień in the Lublin region, where it was bombed by the Germans. The only known photographs of it, visible on the panel above the display cases, were taken from the cockpit of the German bomber that attacked it. Its burned remains were discovered several decades later.
The search for the remains of aircraft wrecked many years ago serves not only to acquire historical exhibits, but also to clarify the course of events. Aircraft destroyed and shot down during aerial combat now constitute material evidence of forgotten tragedies. Historical interest in aircraft remains buried in soil and submerged in water began to slowly revive in the 1980s. Historians, enthusiasts, and hobbyists started collecting information from still-living witnesses to aircraft shoot-downs and crashes.
In the white laboratory room on the left side, recovered and conserved objects from a Douglas A-20 Boston aircraft, belonging to Soviet naval aviation, are displayed. It most likely served in the 1st Guards Klaipėda Mine-Torpedo Aviation Regiment, and its pilot was Lieutenant Boldyusov. It was shot down by shipboard anti-aircraft artillery fire during an attack on a German convoy in April 1945, as evidenced by the damage on the underside of the wings. It then ditched near Cape Rozewie, and the crew was rescued. Its wreck, lying at a depth of approximately 15 metres, was discovered in early June 2013.
