Next to the monument.

A large rectangular information board, mounted on two wooden posts and covered with a slanted roof, presents detailed information about the Air Battle over the White Carpathians, which occurred on August 29, 1944. It tells the story of the B-17G Big Time #42-38096 and its crew, who were shot down near Sanov during Mission 263. The board includes images of aircraft and the battle date, along with photographs, maps, and historical text describing the mission, the circumstances of the crash, and the wider air conflict that took place in the region. All content is written in Czech.

Source of photos: mapy.com, googlemap

Letecká bitva nad Bílými Karpaty 29. srpna 1944
Umírali i za nai svobodu, nezapomínáme...

Motto: Svt nebude znien tmi, co páchají zlo, ale tmi, kteí se dívají, ani by proti tomu cokoliv udlali.
Albert Einstein

SANOV JABLONÍ

Stezka poznání osud amerických letc sestelených na moravsko-slovenském pomezí v prbhu Letecké bitvy nad Bílými Karpaty 29. srpna 1944.

Left column:

II. svetová válka, válecný rok 1944

Na konci roku 1943 presunuli Britové i Americané své letecké základny do jiní Itálie. Odsud v roce 1944 takrka aenné podnikali letecké útoky, jejich cílem byla likvidace hitlerovského prumyslu a rafinerií na výrobu pohonných hmot a maziv (tzv. Bitva o benzín). Bombardovací svazy 15. americké letecké armády záhy zaplnily i nebe nad moravsko-slovenským pomezím. V dosud poklidném vnitrozemí se kvílením sirén pri vyhlaování leteckých poplachu ohlaila válka.

Nálet na Moravskou Ostravu

Koncem srpna 1944 objevil americký pruzkumný letoun na nádraí v Moravské Ostrave stovky vagonu s vojenským materiálem i velké mnoství cisteren na pohonné hmoty. Poblí byly mení rafinerie na syntetický benzin v Prívoze a Bohumíne a prumyslová oblast ve Vítkovicích. Americané se rozhodli tyto cíle letecky napadnout v úterý 29. srpna 1944 nasazením stovek bombardovacích a stíhacích letounu, které casne zrána vyrazily z italských základen. Nemecká protivzdusna obrana zjistila, e na konci bombardovacího svazu letícího na sever zustala osamocená 20. perut, která se znacne opozdila za svojí 2, bombardovací skupinou, K ní se pripojily dalí tri opozdilé bombardéry z jiných perutí. Pred tri ctvrte na jedenáct je nemectí stíhaci napadli v prostoru Pietany Trencín Zlín. Bylo zniceno vsech sedm letounu B-17G Flying Fortress z 20, perute a dalí tri letouny z jiných perutí. Zahynulo pritom ctyricet jedna amerických letcu.

Tato událost byla pozdeji nazvána Leteckou bitvou nad Bílými Karpaty.

Bombardovací letoun B 17G,

sériové císlo: 42-38096, prezdívaný Big Time

(Jednotka: 5. krídlo, 2. bombardovací skupina, 20. perut)

Místo zrícení letounu: anov, Ceská republika

Posádka:

Osudy letounu sériové císlo 42-38096,Big Timea jeho posádky po napadení nemeckými stíhaci.

Porucík Thayne L. Thomas velel pri své dvanácté misi 29. srpna 1944 letounu v pravém zadní cásti 20. perute. Pri nemeckém útoku zasáhla jeho stroj u raketa z první salvy a zapálila motor vlevo od pilotní kabiny. Dalí strely z kanónu a kulometu dokonaly dílo zkázy. Mui v zadní cásti letounu byli mrtví nebo tece zranení. Výbuch v prední cásti zapálil kabinu a lehce zranení letci e tam v oku zmátené motali. Nekterí se namísto záchrany holého ivota, ani rozpoznali bezvýchodnost situace, snaili hasit poár. Pak se konecne vzpamatovali a zacali vnimat pilota, který rval do nefungujícího interkomu, aby vyskocili. Zacali hledat padaky. Palubni mechanik otevrel dvere k pumovnici a chystal se varovat sve druhý v zadní cásti stroje. V tom mohutna exploze palivových nádrí roztrhla letoun na nekolik cástí. Pilot Thayne L. Thomas, kterého tlaková vlna omracila a vymrsila z trosek, se v chladném vzduchu probral a otevrel jej. Po dopadu na zem se lehce zranený pilot nejprv seikal s panem uránem ze anova a jeho dcerou. Zavedli ho ke studance, kde se opláchl, svlékl si kombinézu a zul vysoké kozesinove boty. Pred odchodem smerem na vychod dal Suranove dcerce kousek cokolády a poté vyrazil na Slovensko. Tady se s pomocí slovenských obcanu a partyzánu dostal do Banské Bystrice, která byla

Right column:

v rukou povstalcu ze Slovenského národního povstání. Odtud jej 17. zárí 1944 spolecne s dalími spojeneckými letci odvezly dve Létající pevnosti zpátky do Itálie. 

Jete druhý mu zustal po explozi naivu a dokázal, ac tece zranen, svuj padák také otevrít. Dopadl do lesa a zustal viset na strome. Nemel dost síly vyprostit se z nej. Tak ho nali nemectí vojáci a jejich velitel letce, visícího na padáku ve vetvích, zastrelil.

 První pilot byl tak jediným, kdo preil. Cásti letounu, zvaného Big Time, se zrítily v Jabloní nad obcí anov a dále v okolních lesích smerem k osade Kochavec. Nemectí vojáci, kterí behem odpoledne shromádili ostatky mrtvých letcu, se behem své cinnosti nechali fotografovat, a tak se odtud zachovalo velké mnoství autentických snímku.

 Devet letcu bylo pohrbeno 31. srpna 1944 v hromadném hrobe ve Slavicíne spolecne s padlými letci z letounu, které havarovaly na Vykovci, Boáci a v Krhove.

Vyprávení pana Josefa Mazucha z Hrádku:

Jako chlapec jsem do anova chodíval pracovat na nae pole. Byl jsem ten den doma a pomáhal matce s hospodárstvím, kdy jsme spatrili a uslyeli výbuchy, ktere pricházely od anova, odkud k nebi stoupal dym a kour. Zahy jsme se od zynamich dozvedeli, e v Jabloní u anova spadlo letadlo, asi americké. Chtel jsem se tam jít podívat, ale moje matka mi to zakázala. Pak jsme jete videli ujídet k anovu nemecký nákladák s vojáky ze slavicínských kasáren. 

Stejne jsem se tam podívat el, ale a na druhý den se svým kamarádem Josefem uránem ze anova. Nemectí vojáci u byli pryc, ale finance ze anova bylo videt témer vude okolo Smolenky a na Dílech. Nahore v Jabloní u tefaníku jsme zahlédli zaborený motor a o kus výe na louce dalí. li jsme pak kolem krídla, které jsme podrobili dukladné prohlídce. Nakonec jsme se li podívat na Mocírky, kde jsme meli pole a tam jsme v kroví nad potokem videli nejaké velké ohorelé plechy a sedadlo. Celé místo bylo spálené asi na deseti metrech. Kdy jsme prohrabávali spálenite, nali jsme náramkové hodinky bez skla. Byly americké, jak jsme si precetli vzadu na vícku, a dále zde bylo nejaké císlo. Mely jen jednu rucicku a nely, presto jsem je schovával doma a do roku 1986, kdy jsem je dal na slavicínském hrbitove americkému dustojníkovi z ambasády v Praze, kdy na výrocí pokládali vence na hrob, kde bylo pohrbeno dvacet osm letcu. Po válce jsem videl i fotografie, které si tam nemectí vojáci a financí nafotili.

Stezka poznání mapující místa týkající se Letecké bitvy nad Bílými Karpaty. 

Zacíná v Muzeu Bojkovska v Bojkovicích. Pokracuje k památníku nad Krhovem, na místo dopadu letounu B-17G Queen, dále pres Starý Hrozenkov na Vykovec k památníku pátnactil letcu z letounu B-17G Lovely Ladies a My Baby, kterí na Vykovci a v Nové Boáci zahynuli. Pres ítkovou mírí k památníku letounu B-17G Big Time, v lese nad anovem. V obci je soukromé muzeum venované této letecké bitve. Dalím místem je hrbitov ve Slavicíne, kde bylo 31. srpna 1944 pohrbeno dvacet osm amerických letcu. Ve Slavicíne lze navtívit Mestské muzeum s expozicí venovanou americkému leteckemu souboji s Nemci. Odtud je moné se dostat na hrbitov v Rudicích k hrobu dvou letcu z bombardéru B-17G Tail End Charlie. Pres Ameriku, kde zahynul bombometcík z tohoto letounu, a odpocinkové místo v lese Jehlicná, kde letoun dopadl, pokracuje stezka k poslednímu památnému místu do obce Preckovice. Zde rodina Peátu do konce války obetave schovávala amerického letce. Odtud vede stezka zpet do Bojkovic.

English translation:

Air Battle over the White Carpathians, August 29, 1944

They also died for our freedom, we do not forget...

Motto: "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who look on without doing anything about it."

Albert Einstein

SANOV JABLONÍ

A trail of knowledge of the fates of American pilots shot down on the Moravian-Slovak border during the Air Battle over the White Carpathians, August 29, 1944.

Left column:

World War II, war year 1944

At the end of 1943, the British and Americans moved their air bases to southern Italy. From here in 1944, the Allies launched air attacks aimed at destroying Hitler's industry and refineries for the production of fuels and lubricants (the so-called Battle of Gasoline). Bomber squadrons of the 15th American Air Force soon filled the skies over the Moravian-Slovak border. In the hitherto peaceful interior, the wail of sirens announcing air raids announced war.

Raid on Moravian Ostrava

At the end of August 1944, an American reconnaissance aircraft discovered hundreds of wagons with military material and a large number of fuel tanks at the railway station in Moravian Ostrava. Nearby were smaller synthetic gasoline refineries in Prívoz and Bohumín and an industrial area in Vítkovice. The Americans decided to attack these targets by air on Tuesday, August 29, 1944, by deploying hundreds of bombers and fighters, which departed from Italian bases early in the morning. The German air defenses discovered that at the end of the bombing group flying north, the 20th Squadron was left alone, which was significantly behind its 2nd Bomber Group. It was joined by three more delayed bombers from other squadrons. At three-quarters to eleven, German fighters attacked them in the Pietany - Trencín - Zlín area. All seven B-17G Flying Fortresses from the 20th Squadron and three other aircraft from other squadrons were destroyed. Forty-one American airmen were killed.

This event was later called the Air Battle of the White Carpathians.

B-17G bomber,

serial number: 42-38096, nicknamed Big Time

(Unit: 5th Wing, 2nd Bombardment Group, 20th Squadron)

Crash location: anov, Czech Republic

Crew:

The fate of aircraft serial number 42-38096 Big Time and its crew after being attacked by German fighters

Lieutenant Thayne L. Thomas commanded the aircraft on his twelfth mission on August 29, 1944, flying in the right rear section of the 20th Squadron. During the German attack, a rocket from the first volley struck the plane and ignited the engine to the left of the cockpit. Additional cannon and machine-gun fire completed the destruction. The men in the rear of the aircraft were either dead or severely wounded. The explosion in the front section set the cockpit on fire, and the slightly injured airmen moved about in shock and confusion. Some, instead of trying to save themselves, attempted to extinguish the flames, unaware of the hopelessness of their situation. Eventually, they came to their senses and began to hear the pilot shouting through a non-functioning intercom for them to bail out.

They started looking for their parachutes. The flight engineer opened the bomb-bay doors and prepared to warn the crew in the rear section. At that moment, a massive explosion of the fuel tanks tore the aircraft into several pieces. The pilot, Thayne L. Thomas, was knocked unconscious and blown clear of the wreckage by the blast. He regained consciousness in the cold air and managed to open his parachute. Upon landing, slightly injured, he encountered Mr. urán from anov and his daughter. They led him to a spring, where he washed, removed his flight suit, and took off his fur-lined boots. Before leaving toward the east, he gave the farmers daughter a piece of chocolate and set out for Slovakia. There, with the help of Slovak civilians and partisans, he reached Banská Bystrica, which was...

 Right column:

In the hands of the Slovak National Uprising partisans. From there, on September 17, 1944, he and other Allied airmen were evacuated by two Flying Fortresses back to Italy.

Another crew member had also survived the explosion and, though severely injured, managed to open his parachute. He landed in the forest and became entangled in a tree. Lacking the strength to free himself, he was found by German soldiers. Their commander shot the airman as he hung helplessly from his parachute in the branches.

The pilot was thus the only one who survived. Parts of the aircraft, nicknamed Big Time, crashed in the Jabloní area above the village of anov and in the surrounding forests toward the hamlet of Kochavec. German soldiers who gathered the remains of the fallen airmen during the afternoon allowed themselves to be photographed in the process, so a large number of authentic photographs from the site have been preserved.

Nine of the airmen were buried on August 31, 1944, in a mass grave in Slaviín, together with other fallen crews from aircraft that had crashed in Vykovec, Boáca, and Krhov.

Recollection of Mr. Josef Mazuch from Hrádek:
As a boy, I used to go to anov to work on our familys fields. That day I was at home helping my mother with the farm work when we saw and heard explosions coming from the direction of anov, with smoke rising into the sky. Soon, we learned from neighbors that an airplaneprobably Americanhad crashed in Jabloní near anov. I wanted to go see it, but my mother forbade me. Later, we saw a German truck heading toward anov carrying soldiers from the Slaviín barracks.

I went to look anyway, but only the next day, with my friend Josef urán from anov. The German soldiers were already gone, but fragments from anov were scattered almost everywhere around Smolenka and Díly. Up in Jabloní near the tefaník familys property, we spotted an engine buried in the ground, and a bit farther up the meadow we found more wreckage. We passed by a wing and examined it closely. Finally, we went to a place called Moíky, where our family had fields, and there, in the brush above the stream, we saw large burnt metal parts and a seat. The whole area was scorched over a stretch of about ten meters. While sifting through the debris, we found a wristwatch without glass. It was American, as we read on the back cover, along with some serial number. It had only one hand and no longer worked, but I kept it at home until 1986, when I gave it to an American officer from the embassy in Prague during a ceremony at the Slaviín cemetery, where twenty-eight airmen were buried. After the war, I also saw photographs taken there by German soldiers and police.

The educational trail mapping the sites connected to the Air Battle over the White Carpathians

It begins at the Museum of Bojkovsko in Bojkovice. The route continues to the memorial above Krhov, the crash site of the B-17G Queen, then passes through Starý Hrozenkov to Vykovec, where it reaches the memorial dedicated to the fifteen airmen from the B-17Gs Lovely Ladies and My Baby, who perished at Vykovec and in Nová Boáca.

From there, the trail leads through ítková to the memorial of the B-17G Big Time, located in the forest above Sanov. The village also hosts a private museum devoted to this air battle.

The next stop is the cemetery in Slavicín, where on August 31, 1944, twenty-eight American airmen were buried in a mass grave. In Slaviín, visitors can also see the Municipal Museum, which features an exhibit about the air combat between American and German forces.

From there, the route continues to the cemetery in Rudice, where two airmen from the B-17G Tail End Charlie are buried. Passing through a place called Amerika, where the bombers bombardier was killed, and a rest area in the Jehliná forest, where the aircraft crashed, the trail leads to the final memorial site in the village of Pekovice. Here, the Peát family bravely sheltered an American airman until the end of the war. The trail then returns to Bojkovice.