PB722
Crashes > of the R.A.F.
During the return flight from the bombing raid on Dortmund, the Lancaster PB722, which was flying with an exclusively Polish crew, was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Leverkusen and exploded. The Lancaster crashed burning in Leverkusen-Edelrath and burnt out completely.
Some of the crew were able to parachute out, three crew members landed in Allied-occupied territory and were able to
return to England, two others were taken prisoner of war by the Germans. Sgt Modrany and Fl/Lt Konarzewski were killed.
Nevertheless, there are some contradictory statements about the recovery of the dead.
One report on the crash states,
"that the number of occupants could not be determined. The aircraft was completely burnt out and the occupants could not be recovered alive or dead. An identification tag with the inscription Jan Konazewski, 76636 PAF was found at the crash site. The identification tag was taken by the German Wehrmacht".
However, the Leverkusen-Opladen air war diary contains contradictory information:
"An enemy 4-engine bomber crashed in Edelrath. The crew was recovered dead under the wreckage of the aircraft, some of them burnt to death".
Which of these two versions is really true can no longer be definitively clarified today. Therefore, the initial burial location of the pilot, Fl/Lt Jan Konarzewski, remains unclear to this day.
Sgt Stanislaw Modrany landed seriously injured in Bergisch-Gladbach/Hebborner Hof, but succumbed to his injuries and was buried in the Catholic cemetery in Bergisch-Gladbach.
Additional sources:
Bergisch-Gladbach city archives
Leverkusen city archives
Above:
The crash site of the PB722 and the location where Sgt Stanislaw Modrany was found.
Left:
The pilot, Fl/Lt Jan Konarzewski