Andrew Mynarski was born on October 14, 1916 in Winnipeg and was the second son of Polish immigrant parents. A quiet person by nature and having a sense of humour once one got to know him. Andrew enjoyed woodworking, especially building and designing furniture on his own. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force before his 25th birthday after a brief stay with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. Andrew became an air gunner and his first posting was with Number 9 Squadron in October, 1943. In March of 1944, he replaced another mid upper gunner in 419 Squadron (Moose) and joined the crew with whom his name would be forever linked. The crew's ninth mission was on June 5th, the day before D-Day (June 6,1944) and were assigned a brand spanking new Canadian built Lancaster X with markings VR A KB726. The fourth mission in the new Lancaster was to be on the night of June 12 with the rail yards at Cambrai, France as the target. The crew's 13th sortie would occur on Friday the 13th. The crew saw this as bad omens. While waiting to go, Andrew found a four leaf clover in the grass near the planes. His closest friend in the crew was tail gunner Pat Brophy. Andrew insisted he take it for good luck. As Andrew's Lancaster crossed over the French coast, it was lit up by searchlights. Captain Art de Breyne took evasive measures and successfully escaped into darkness. On their descent to attack altitude a JU-88 got in behind them from below and opened fire. Both port engines were hit and burst into flames. Hydraulic lines to the rear turret were severed,igniting the fluid. The rear of the plane was an inferno. The Lancaster was doomed. Art de Breyne ordered the crew to bail out. Warrant Officer Mynarski left his mid upper turret and made his way to the escape door. Brophy was trapped in the rear turret which was now jammed in a position where the doors did not line up. Even worse, Brophy had broken the manual back up system while he desperately tried to get out. Captain de Breyne ordered Mynarski to bail out, but Andrew yelled out "I gotta get Brophy clear !" Making his way to the rear of the plane and without any regard for his own safety, tried to free Brophy not knowing his own parachute and flight suit had caught fire. Andrew's efforts were in vain. Brophy told Andrew "Jump out for God's sake, before it explodes ! " Reluctantly, Andrew backed up through the flames to the escape hatch. Andrew stood up, saluted his friend, saying "Good night, sir" and jumped out of the plane...on fire. French civilian witnesses saw him heading for the ground and in flames. They found him, but sadly, Andrew was severely burned and died a few hours later. Brophy rode the Lancaster all the way down. It crashed in a shallow angle. On impact, two of the twenty bomb payload exploded throwing him clear and stopping his watch at 2:13 AM, Friday, June 13th, 1944 In late 1945, de Breyne started the process of gaining recognition for Mynarski's extraordinary deed by recommending an award and enquiring about the location of his grave. Although facing some initial resistance, the recommendation worked its way up the command structure of the RCAF and RAF. On 11 October 1946, a Victoria Cross was posthumously awarded for "valour of the highest order" to Andrew Charles Mynarski, by then also awarded the rank of Pilot Officer. Andrew Mynarski's grave is at the Meharicourt Communal Cemetery near Cambria, France Thanks to neiwel for the Mynarski texture and for his Lancaster