Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
ZAJELKA, Stanley Martin - Date of
birth
11 November 1924 -
Age
19 - Place of
birth
Duryea, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania -
Hometown
Duryea, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
33605854 -
Rank
Private -
Function
unknown -
Unit
101st Signal Company,
101st Airborne Division
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
17 September 1944 - Place of
death
In the field at the crossing of the Bornemstraat and Het Hoogste
Mariekerke, Belgium
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| B | 39 | 43 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Dominick Zajelka (father)
Eva (Kristopowicz) Zajelka (mother)
William Zajelka (brother)
Lena Zajelka (sister)
John Zajelka (brother)
Mary Zajelka (sister)
Anna Zajelka (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
unknown -
Data
unknown
More information
Pvt Stanley M. Zajelka graduated from Duryea High School and was employed by the Bloomsburg Mills, Inc.He enlisted at Wilkes Barres, Pennsylvania on 22 May 1943.
He was already a veteran of the airborne operation on D-Day in Normandy, France.
Pvt Zajelka was a passenger in the CG-4A WACO glider #42-74356, with destination the landing zone in Son, the Netherlands.
During a turn, the cable between the Dakota tow plane and the Waco became loose. The shock caused the cargo to shift in the Waco, making the aircraft uncontrollable. The tail assembly came of before it hit trees on the edge of a field and smashed into the ground.
The crew consisted only of the pilot. He was killed, along with the six passengers. They were all initially buried at the cemetery of St. Amands.
One of the passengers was Cpl Frederick Sellers of the British Royal Corps of Signals. He is still buried at the cemetery of St. Amands. He and the pilot fell out of the plane before the crash. He still showed signs of life and was taken to the hospital of St. Amands where he died shortly afterwards.
All other casualties are now buried at Ardennes.
At the site of the crash a monument was erected.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.ww2-airborne.us, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, www.newspapers.com
Photo source: Jac Engels, Peter Schouteten, http://www.usmilitariaforum.com - military forum / Jeeper704