On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, on 1 August 2024 at 5:00 PM, the Museum opened the exhibition “To the Aid of Fighting Warsaw. On Aviation Missions over the Occupied Country on the 80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising”.
On 20 display panels set up as part of an outdoor exhibition (next to the Wall of Remembrance, which features, among others, a plaque dedicated to the aircrews that flew support missions for fighting Warsaw), the history of supply drops for the Home Army across Poland and for the insurgents was presented. These drops were carried out by the crews of the Polish 1586 Special Duties Flight as well as British, South African, and American squadrons. The exhibition also mentioned the propaganda-laden, yet essentially symbolic, operations of Soviet aviation and the 2nd Night Bomber Regiment “Krakow”.
Among the Museum’s collections, in addition to memorabilia associated with the airmen who brought aid to fighting Warsaw, the permanent exhibition Wings and People of the 20th Century in the Main Hangar features a Polikarpov Po-2 LNB aircraft, of the type used for bombing German positions in Warsaw and for limited supply drops for the insurgents. Displayed alongside the aircraft are fragments of other machines that took part in the drop operations, including an oxygen bottle, structural fragments and skin panels from B-24 Liberator bombers (including one from the crew of Capt. pilot Zbigniew Szostak), as well as decorations of Home Army veterans and Warsaw Uprising participants: Col. pilot Roman Florer, Col. pilot Zbigniew Sobeńka, and test pilot Witold Łukomski.
The exhibition also featured the flight logbook of Maj. pilot Edmund Ladro and personal documents of Sgt. mechanic Stanisław Becker — airmen who flew over Warsaw.
Edmund Ladro (1913-1996) was a Knight of the War Order of Virtuti Militari and a pilot of the Polish Air Forces in Great Britain in the rank of Major. During World War II, he served in 304 Bomber Squadron and 1586 Special Duties Flight, completing dozens of flights to occupied Poland, including 19 with supply drops to aid fighting Warsaw — the first on 4 August (reaching Kielce) — flying Handley Page Halifax and Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft. After the war, he remained in Great Britain, serving in the Royal Air Force and piloting, among others, English Electric Canberra and Vickers Valiant bombers.
Stanisław Becker (1913-2001) was a flight engineer of the 2nd Air Regiment in Krakow, the 1/145 Fighter Squadron of the Polish Air Forces in France, the 304, 300, and 301 Bomber Squadrons, and the 1586 Special Duties Flight of the Polish Air Forces in Great Britain in the rank of Senior Sergeant. Operating on Handley Page Halifax aircraft, he flew supply drop missions for fighting Warsaw and other Home Army reception points in occupied Poland.
The exhibition also featured the uprising biographies of Polish female aviators, including Wanda Modlibowska and Krystyna Klimaszewska, whose memorabilia are held in the Museum’s collections.
Wanda Modlibowska (1909-2001), a glider and powered aircraft pilot and instructor, during the Warsaw Uprising served as an employee of the Presidential Office of the Government Delegate and a Home Army soldier, responsible for delivering essential documents. She also took part in the fighting. She was awarded the Cross of Valour and the Warsaw Uprising Cross.
Krystyna Klimaszewska (1913-1999), a glider pilot and instructor, spent World War II in Warsaw, where she was active in the structures of the clandestine intelligence within Section “997” of Department II (Intelligence) of the ZWZ-AK High Command (codename “Ewa”). She bore the surname Klimaszewska after her husband Sándor Benis (of Hungarian origin) adopted the false identity of “Henryk Klimaszewski”. Benis, codename “Szan”, was an intelligence operative and ZWZ-AK soldier who was killed in the Warsaw Uprising on 11 September 1944.
The exhibition was available for 63 days (the duration of the Uprising) — i.e. until 3 October 2024.
The exhibition opening was accompanied by the launch of the book “We Demand Ammunition! Aerial Support for Fighting Warsaw” by Dr. hab. Krzysztof Mroczkowski, published by the Museum in July 2024.
Exhibition curator: Ewa Cuber-Strutyńska
Task team: Mateusz Tułodziecki, Piotr Kolasiński, Błażej Młudzik, Aleksandra Blachnicka, Paweł Rokicki
Graphic design: PIXEL Arkadiusz Morawski
