B-24 J Liberator crash monument (Pańska Przehybka)

Pańska Przehybka is known for the fact that on December 18, 1944, an American four-engine heavy bomber of the B-24J Liberator type, number 42-251714 and proper name “California Rocket”, crashed here. The crew of the plane consisted of 10 soldiers belonging to the 757th Squadron, 459th Bomb Aviation Group, 15th United States Air Force, under the command of pilot Lt. William J. Beimbrink. In mission No. 166, the plane took off on the morning of December 18 with other bombers from Giulia Field near Cerignola in Italy with the task of bombing German synthetic gasoline production plants in Dwory near Oświęcim. Even before reaching the target, three engines stopped working as a result of anti-aircraft artillery fire. In this situation, the plane dropped the secured bombs in a safe place near Pszczyna and headed towards the Russian front, because returning to Italy with one engine was impossible. However, above the Gorce Mountains, the last engine lost power. The ten-person bomber crew jumped out with parachutes, nine paratroopers were found thanks to the quickly organized action of Home Army partisans stationed in the Gorce Mountains and the population of the village of Ochotnica. Only the captain of the plane was missing, and his body was never found. The rescued soldiers were under the care of the partisans until the arrival of the Soviet front, and then they got to Odessa, from there by ship to Italy, and after the war to their homeland.

On the 50th anniversary of this event, a monument was unveiled on Pańska Przehybka in the place where the plane fell. It is a fragment of the Liberator’s fuselage assembled using original elements of this aircraft. Next to it, a wooden hut was built in the traditional local style, and on it there was a plaque with a description of this event, as well as the history of the resistance movement in the Gorce Mountains. The unveiling ceremony was attended by three rescued plane crew members.