Memorial

More information

Charles P. Mannka graduated from Oliver High School and attended the University of Pittsburgh.

Two weeks before graduation, on 27 January 1942, he volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States Army in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The mission took place on 14 October 1943.

The airplane was shot down by enemy fighters and crashed in Simmershofen, Germany.

All ten crew members could bail out, and only the co-pilot, 2nd Lt Ivan L. Rice, was killed. His parachute had already opened in the airplane, and during bailing out, it failed to unfold.

One crew member evaded capture.

2nd Lt. Charles P. Mannka was taken prisoner the same day and was held captive in Stalag Luft III in Sagan. During the war, this town was located in Germany, but now it is called Zagan and is located in Poland.

Eyewitnesses stated he had been thrown into a cold, damp cell in solitary confinement, where he remained without any clothes for days until he died. The official report stated he died of dementia praecox and pneumonia on 4 June 1944. He was buried at the municipal cemetery of Leignitz, Germany (now called Legnica, Poland). His official date of death is 8 June 1944.