Warbird Information Exchange

As many of you may know, I've been researching the crash of a Capital Airlines DC-3 in Clarksburg, Maryland on June 22, 1957 on a training flight that killed the three crew. One of the crew members was Henry A. Podgurski, whose claim to fame was that he was the co-pilot on the Liberty Lad, which was the last B-24 to return to its home base from the August 1, 1943 Ploesti raid. Liberty Lad had two engines out on the starboard wing, but pilot McFarland and Podgurski flew it home like that in a remarkable feat of airmanship, teamwork and sheer physical strength and endurance.

Prior to his time in the 93rd BG, Podgurski had enlisted in the RCAF. It was one part of his service that his family knew the least about. I wrote to the Canadian Military Archives requesting his records. It took four months to accommodate the request, but it was well worth the wait!

The package was an absolute treasure trove of information, from his initial intake interview on February 10th, 1941, to his discharge paperwork upon his transfer to the AAF on March 23, 1943. Included were evaluations from his instructors, his grades and placements in his training classes, the stations and training programs he undertook. Podgurski never saw combat with the RCAF. After earning his wings in late August '42, he was sent overseas reaching England on November 6, 1942. There, he was posted to an Advanced Flying School until March 1943, when he was assigned to an Air Crew Replacement Center. He was only at the ACRC for a week before he transferred to the AAF. The one thing that struck me was how much he apparently struggled in ground school. Looking at his other academic test scores and comments from his instructors, my opinion is that he had some kind of learning disability, yet through sheer determination managed to win his wings.

Perhaps even more rewarding is being able to present the family with these documents and being able to interpret the documents for them, to help them learn more about someone they never met. With Podgurski's widow having passed in May of this year, the only family member who has any recollection was his younger daughter, who was 9 years old at the time of his death in 1957.