Stanley Joseph Radziewski was born on August 15, 1919, in Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey. He was the son of Mary Filipozuk. He was the husband of Irene Radziewski. He enlisted in the service on February 24, 1942. He served in the 762nd Bomber Squadron, 460th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Technical Sergeant and Mechanic of B-24 #42-51085 during World War II.

The B-24 #42-51085 “My Gloria” took off from Spinazzola, Italy, on a mission to bomb the Allach motor factory in Munich. They were hit by German flak during the bombing, which caused a fire in two of the motors and fuel to leak into the fuselage. They attempted to return to Italy, but the problems worsened as the third engine started to falter so they diverted in the hopes of landing in neutral Switzerland. They parachuted out of the doomed plane at 1154 and the plane crashed 300 meters further near to this spot. The local French resistance immediately gathered the crew into hiding and they spent 34 days on the run with the resistance. See site Lac de la Fare for several memorials that tell the story of how the local French resistance assisted this crew of 11 to freedom. The area where they were hiding was eventually liberated by invading American forces and the crew made their way back to their unit in Spinazzola. The saga is recounted in the book “Eleven Americans who Fell from the Sky” by Pierre Montaz.

TSgt Radziewski received his discharge from the service on September 19, 1945. He died on May 24, 2004, and is now buried in Maple Grove Cemetery, Kew Gardens, Queens County, New York, USA.

Source of information: francecrashes39-45.net, www.findagrave.com