Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
KROLIKOWSKI, Henry L - Date of
birth
1922 -
Age
unknown - Place of
birth
Poland -
Hometown
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
16077421 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Radio Operator -
Unit
704th Bombardment Squadron,
446th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
4 August 1944 - Place of
death
Near Rostock, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| A | 27 | 5 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Irene Krolikowski (mother)
John Malyczak (stepfather)
Plane data
- Serial
number
41-29137 -
Data
Type: B-24H
Nickname: Dry Run
Destination: Rostock, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Heinkel aviation industry
MACR: 7709
More information
S/Sgt Henry L. Krolikowski volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Chicago, Illinois on 1 April 1942.The B-24 was hit by flak in #4 engine near the target at Rostock. It then peeled off and went down then leveled off below formation with #4 engine smoking. After leveling off the aircraft turned off to north east and passed from view. Seven crew members were taken prisoner, three were killed.
According to a witness statement of one of the surviving crew members, S/Sgt Krolikowski bailed out over the target. The others bailed out ten minutes later. The airplane crashed near Bussin Germany.
The body of S/Sgt Krolikowski washed ashore at Rostock and was initially buried at the New Cemetery of Warnemunde on 7 August 1944.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.446thbg.com, www.b24bestweb.com, www.ancestry.com,
Paul Kelly, familie info, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.8thafhs.com, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/18238601 - page 155
Photo source: Paul Kelly, Peter Schouteten, The Daily Calumet - 2 September 1944