This Military Service Page was created/owned by
A3C Michael S. Bell
to remember
Solowski, Walter P., SSgt.
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REMEMBRANCE IN PROGRESS - SUBJECT TO CHANGE ------ From Patriot Guard Riders:
26 Nov 2009 4:44 PM Walter Solowski, Army Air-Corp Veteran
I spoke to Walter's daughter this morning, please support this family at their time of sorrow.. Walter flew 29 Missions over Japan in B-17's and B-29's. Walter was the sole remaining member of his Squadron. note:............ In speaking to Walters daughter, Patricia, she said with a smile....... "Dad bombed the s--t out of Japan"!! A proud Amercian Veteran, let's show him and his family our THANKS for his Service to our Country.
Watch for updates- Ride Capt. TBD Preliminary Information:
Staging at FH- 1400hrs, Friday VIEWING ONE DAY ONLY Friday, November 27, 2009 viewing hours 3-5, 7-9 Pietszak Funeral Home 2400 William St. Buffalo, NY 14206
Saturday November 28 FH- 0900, family arriving 0915 Escort FH to Church (.....end of service at Church) Church Service at 1000hrs. St. Clair RC, Church 193 Elk St. Buffalo, NY 14210
City of JERSEY CITY Also "McNamara's Band" Tail #42-94016 330 / 457-K-13 -------- Source: http://www.330th.org/
The 330th BG (VH) consisting of the 457th, 458th, 459th Bomb Squadron's plus the 26th Photo Lab was activated in April 1944 at Walker AAF, in Kansas. A mere two months later its cadres split. Part of the group remaining "on line" at Walker and part setting up manning HQ at Dalhart, Texas. After a rapid filling up of both echelons, they were again reunited at Walker in August of 1944. The newly assigned Air Crews joined them in late September and early October. There followed a brief period of intensive flight training coupled with a 24 hour-a-day maintenance schedule outdoors in the bitter winter of early 1945. Then with hard-learned "know how" and well seasoned for arctic operation, the 330th's Ground Echelon departed Kansas on 7 JAN 45 for 10 days at the Fort Lawton Staging Area in Seattle, WA. Then on 17 JAN 45 they mustered at 1805 on the docks for a 30 day cruise on the ATS Howell Lykes in route to Guam. They arrived in the Port of Guam on 18 FEB 1945 at 1000. The 502nd Engineering Squadron of the 89th Air Service Group (ASG) of the 314th BW had 'pre-carved' an opening in the jungle so our boys would know where to begin building the home of the 330th. While this group was continuing to hack at the dense trees,, uncrating thousands of bombs, trudging through feet of mud, setting up mess halls and shops, the Air Crews continued to commute between Walker and Batista Field in Cuba to finish combat training. They then picked up their new Boeing B-29 Superfortress' and headed west. WAY WEST! First to California, then Hawaii, Kwajalein and finally Guam. The first 330th aircraft set down at North Field, Guam on 25 March 1945. Even before the last squadron arrived, the 330th was already a veteran of combat. The 330th first flew against the Empire on 12 April 1945. Its forty-seventh and final bombing strike was in the air at the hour the Japanese Capitulation was announced on 15 August 1945. The result was a Bomb Group with the lowest overall abort rate on the ground, and the highest over-the-target rate of ANY Bomb Group in the entire 20th Air Force. The 330th BG flew 1,320 combat sorties, 18,978 combat hours and had dropped 7,039 tons of high explosives and incendiary bombs into the heart of the enemy's industry. Not much by today's standards of combat, but at that time these numbers were unmatched. ---------- Source: http://home.st.net.au/~pdunn/403sqn.htm
403RD SQUADRON "THE MAREEBA BUTCHERS" 43RD HEAVY BOMB GROUP IN AUSTRALIA DURING WW2
The 403rd Squadron of the 43rd Bomb Group was stationed at the following locations during World War 2:-
Melbourne, Australia 27 February 1942 - 14 March 1942 Laverton, Australia 14 March 1942 - 27 August 1942 Torrens Creek, Australia 27 August 1942 - 17 October 1942 Iron Range, Australia 17 October 1942 - 23 November 1942 Milne Bay, New Guinea 23 November 1942 - 21 January 1943 Mareeba, Australia 21 January 1943 - 11 May 1943 Port Moresby 11 May 1943 - 13 December 1943 Dobodura, New Guinea 13 December 1943 - 12 March 1944 Nadzab, New Guinea 12 March 1944 - 28 July 1944 Owi, Schouten Islands 28 July 1944 - Vic, of Camp Hill was a young bank worker in Mareeba during WW2. He wrote to the Good Mail column of the Sunday Mail to indicate that during a visit by General Douglas MacArthur to inspect the 43rd Bomb Group at the Mareeba airfield, he was shown the food preparation area in the kitchen. He apparently ran his finger over the cutting blade of a meat slicer and found that it had a fine layer of animal fat on it. MacArthur commented "You'd better get this cleaned up properly, soldier".
The following evening, Tokyo Rose stated during her broadcast "And how are the Mareeba butchers tonite? Have you got the meat slicer cleaned yet?"
The 403rd Bomb Squadron of the 43rd Bomb Group was known as the "Mareeba Butchers". It has been suggested that they got their name from the above incident. ----------
Other Comments:
SOLOWSKI - Walter P. November 25, 2009, beloved husband of Gertrude "Trudy" (nee Ratka); devoted father of Catherine (Stanley) Brozyna, Patty (Wayne) Kwiatkowski, John (Karen), James, Joseph (Mary) Solowski and Karen Tunis; also survived by 16 grandchildren, 5 great- grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Family will be present Friday 3-5 and 7-9 PM at the PIETSZAK FUNERAL HOME, 2400 William St. (near Harlem). Relatives and friends are invited to assemble for a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Clare Church (193 Elk St.) Saturday at 10 AM. Donations in Walter's Memory may be made to the Franciscan Friars at St. Clare's Church.
Published in Buffalo News on November 27, 2009 ------- Walter Solowski, WWII veteran, operated tavern November 27, 2009, 6:42 AM
March 10, 1922 - Nov. 25, 2009
Walter Solowski, a decorated World War II veteran and longtime business owner, died Wednesday in Millard Fillmore Hospital after a brief illness. He was 87.
Mr. Solowski was a staff sergeant in the Army Air Forces, serving as a right gunner on the B-29 Superfortress and B-17 Flying Fortress in the 403rd Airborne, stationed in the South Pacific. He flew 29 successful missions over Japan and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
He was a member of Adam Plewacki Post 799, American Legion.
When a memorial honoring World War II veterans was dedicated in the nation?s capital five years ago, Solowski attended the ceremonies.
"I'm not a hero; it's a job that we did," said Solowski, who at the time was believed to be the last surviving member of the famed McNamara's Band air crew that fought in the South Pacific.
"We're from an old Polish family on the East Side, and we understand what values are, and that sometimes you?ve got to fight to protect them," he said, following the dedication in 2004.
Mr. Solowski continued the family business that his parents, Mary and Joseph Solowski, established in 1940. He helped the family operate Top Hill Grill on Fillmore Avenue and South Division Street for nearly 70 years. He was still tending bar until shortly before his death.
He also spent 25 years as a building inspector for the City of Buffalo and was a member of Local 2651, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Solowski founded Top Hill Social Athletic Club and was a founding member of the Lancaster Speedway. He also was involved in many community organizations and was a member of SS. Rita & Patrick Catholic Church in Buffalo.
Survivors include his wife of 59 years, the former Gertrude ?Trudy? Ratka; three daughters, Catherine Brozyna, Patricia Kwiatkowski and Karen Tunis; and three sons, John, James and Joseph.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a. m. Saturday in St. Clare Catholic Church, 193 Elk St.
39th Bomb Group B-29s at North Field Guam - Summer 1945
The real history of the 39th Bomb Group begins at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Salina, Kansas on 12 April 1944. On that date, the Group was activated as a very heavy bombardment unit to participate in the then new B-29 Superfortress program.
In reality this activation was a re-activation, for there had been an old B-17 training Group called the 39th. However, records of that organization are scanty and, not being a combat unit, it bears little or no relationship to the "Fighting 39th," as the Group is known by the men who were in it during the days when it was helping to bomb Japan out of the war.
During April and the early part of May 1944, personnel was being assigned to the new Group in small numbers. A fourth Squadron, the 402nd, was deactivated and the men in that outfit were assigned to the other three Squadrons, the 60th. 61st, and 62nd.
On 15 May, orders were received to move the organization from Salina to Dalhart, Texas, the "Pride of the Panhandle." It was from Dalhart that almost all of the ground personnel and key flying personnel were brought into the Group.
A concentrated program of ground training was nearing completion when Colonel Potter B. Paige, the Group's permanent commander, came to Dalhart and assumed command on 15 June 1944. Four days later Lieutenant Colonel Frank P. Sturdivant was assigned to the position of Deputy Group Commander.
Things rolled along at Dalhart for many weeks, with everybody sweating out an imminent move back to Salina where flying training was to take place. Actually, it was not until well into August and September that most of the Group managed to get to Smoky Hill.
There it was found that the 499th Bomb Group still held the field for training and that the 39th would have to wait until the 73rd Wing, of which the 499th was a part, went overseas. In the Meantime, the 39th was attached to the 499th, and the men of the former learned what they could from their predecessors.
In the period of waiting, the lineup of personnel crystallized into what was virtually its final and permanent form. The 60th Squadron went under the command of Colonel Woodward B. Carpenter; Colonel William J. Crumm took over the 61st, and Colonel Robert W. Strong took the reins of the 62nd. Lieutenant Colonel Campbell Weir handled the job of Group Executive and Lieutenant James H. Thompson directed things from the Operations Officer's chair.
On the first of July, a large contingent of officers and enlisted men from the 39th went to the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics at Orlando, Florida, for thirty days' training in B-29 bombardment technique.
At long last, in October, came the eagerly awaited departure of the 499th Group for its overseas station at Saipan. The leaving of this organization meant that Smoky Hill was now clear, and that all facilities could be devoted to the job of training the 39th for the time when it, too, would be assigned to an operational base in the Pacific.
Flying training under the direction of Colonel Thompson picked up again, and class after class of ground school instruction began for all men of the unit. Overnight bivouacs, designed to prepare the men for field conditions, were conducted, and finally the acetate and the grease pencils showed that everyone was trained and ready to go into combat operations.
The final phase of flying training began on 15 January when units of the air and flight echelons went to Batista Field, Cuba for flying and bombing training. With the completion of this work, the Group could consider itself ready to combat, and, indeed, on 8 January 1945, the ground echelon left Salina for the Port of Embarkation at Seattle, Washington, where it would board the S. S. Howell Lykes for an ultimate destination at North Field, Guam.
The Howell Lykes left Seattle on 18 January and one month later arrived at Guam. Many were the tales of life aboard an Army transport as told by the men of the ground echelon - the enlivening of the long voyage by a stop at Pearl Harbor, and the enjoyment of the songs and patter of Danny O'Halloran.
In the meantime, the flight echelon had returned from Cuba and the Group was in the last stages of preparation for the ferrying of personnel and the new flyaway B-29s to the Mariannas base.
Shortly after the event took place, Colonel Paige was succeeded as Group Commander by Colonel John G. Fowler, who had returned from Guam, where he was Deputy Commander of the 314th Wing. His job was to take the 39th overseas.
Then, toward the latter part of March, the airplanes of the organization began their departure from Smoky Hill, and, after processing at Herington, Kansas, set out for the west coast and the long flight over the Pacific to Guam and whatever might lie ahead. The members of the air echelon went by train to San Francisco and thence by Air Transport to Guam.
dale
Raymond E. Barczak
David W. Bar
Clarence W. Beevers
William F. Blackington
Arthur C. Bowman
Jesse H. Chaffin
Harry W. Clark
Irving A Cohen
Kenneth Coli
Harris E. Collins. Jr.
Joseph F. Connolly. Jr.
Bertrand H. Constantine
Charles B. Coutts
John W. Courtney
Jack B. Covington
David R. Curry
William T. Davenport, Jr.
Lawrence H. Devine
David P. Donahoo, Jr.
Gerald A. Drouin
Roy V. Duncan
Kenneth E. Durham
Smith L. Edwards
James M. Engholdt
William T. Findley
Claude M. Fisher
Milford G. Fredertburg
Esteban Garcia, Jr.
Fred C. Graesslin
Milford F. Haines
Donald H. Haynes
Ralph H. Hazel
Astor G. Hero
Donald Q. Hopkins
Robert L. Hickey
Melvin J. Howard Milton Jacobs
William G. Joyce
Edward M. Kanick
Odie A. Kelly
Reece Killpack
Cornelius W. Kobler
Howard Kolbert
Aaron M. Kopit
Gerhard J. Keuhler
Walter E. Kurasowicz
Frederick D. Langham
Carl R. Larson
Gerald M. Levinson
Harold W. Lockwood
Marvin H. Long
Clare A. Lovelace
Jim A. McCandless
Maurice G. McCormack
James I. McLatchy
Charles Markowitz
Jasper Martinez, Jr.
Henry T. Matthaus
Joe B. Medina
Edward J. Mose, Jr.
Phillip S. Munson
Peter G. Navarra
Joseph B. Neden. Jr.
Ernest E. Nyhoken, Jr.
John D. O' Reilly
Clarence G. Ogden
Alexander Orionchek
Richard E. Paquette
Justin J. Patsey
Benjamin L. Powell
Maurice J. Powsner
John A. Rauzi
Eugene C. Reck
Stewart J. Reid
William A. Reith
George W. Roberts
Walter C. Roessig, Jr.
Ernest T. Rogers
Walter M. Rusin
Carlton W. Russell
Robert J. Sabol
Hammond D. Sadler
Anthony Scaffidi
Richard J. Sloane
Jack W. Smith
William J. Southhall, Jr.
John C. Sprosty, Jr.
Harry F. Stallings, Jr.
Mervin L. Stanton
Raymond M. Stoll
Robert W. Swartz
Lawrence J. Toeppe
Albert P. Tomasetti
Leon Tomberg
Paul D. Trujillo
Thomas C. Ulrich
John Venturelli
Conrad E. Vogt
Jack G. Wampack
Austin L. Wible
John C. Wilkin
Myron D. Williams
Joe D. Wilson
Thomas P. Winteringer
Luther Woods
William L. Wood
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