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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Chester Szymanski

In memory of:

Flying Officer Chester Szymanski

June 22, 1944

Military Service


Service Number:

J/25119

Age:

22

Force:

Air Force

Unit:

Royal Canadian Air Force

Division:

57 (R.A.F.) Sqdn

Additional Information


Born:

July 20, 1921
Burwin, Poland

Enlistment:

April 8, 1942
Edmonton, Alberta

Son of Felixa and Bolestaw Szymanski, of Edmonton, Alberta.

Commemorated on Page 457 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:
Grave Reference:

14. C. 21.

Location:

Rheinberg is 24 kilometres north of Krefeld and 13 kilometres south of Wesel, in the locality of Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal. The cemetery is 3 kilometres south of the centre of the town of Rheinberg on the road to Kamp Lintfort. From the motorway 57, turn off at Rheinberg and at the T junction follow the 510 in the direction Kamp Lintfort. The cemetery is a short way along this road on the right.

The site of Rheinberg War Cemetery was chosen in April 1946 by the Army Graves Service for the assembly of Commonwealth graves recovered from numerous German cemeteries in the area. The majority of those now buried in the cemetery were airmen, whose graves were brought in from Dusseldorf, Krefeld, Munchen-Gladbach, Essen, Aachen and Dortmund; 450 graves were from Cologne alone. The men of the other fighting services buried here mostly lost their lives during the battle of the Rhineland, or in the advance from the Rhine to the Elbe.

There are now 3,326 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated at Rheinberg War Cemetery. 156 of the burials are unidentified. There are also nine war graves of other nationalities, most of them Polish.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Photo of CHESTER SZYMANSKI– Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of CHESTER SZYMANSKI– Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Correspondence– Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Correspondence– Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Edmonton Bulletin August 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of Chester Szymanski– Photograph of Flying Officer, Bomb Aimer, Chester Szymanski, Royal Canadian Air Force.
  • Letter– Letter received in December 1964, asking a cousin to visit Chester’s grave at the military cemetery.
  • Letter (Page 2)– Letter received in December 1964, asking a cousin to visit Chester’s grave at the military cemetery.
  • Entrance– Visit to the grave by Szymanski’s family friends.
  • Paying respects– Mieczyslaw Dziewulski visiting Chester Szymanski’s grave. Chester Szymanski’s mother was the daughter of the paternal uncle of Mieczyslaw Dziewulski. 
M. Dziewulski was living in Poland and had promised he would go to the cemetery in Germany to pay tribute to Flying Officer Chester Szymanski. 
At 89 years old, he made the long trip from Warsaw to Germany, transiting through Paris where he met his son, to fulfill this promise.
  • Paying respects– Mieczyslaw Dziewulski, 89 years old, and his son, Arkadiusz Dziewulski, visiting Chester Szymanski’s grave to pay tribute and fulfill a promise.
  • Group Photo– Mieczyslaw Dziewulski, 89 years old, and his son, Arkadiusz Dziewulski, take a moment to reflect following their visit  to Chester Szymanski’s grave.
  • Grave Marker
  • Memorial– Flying Officer Chester Szymanski is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Memorial– Flying Officer Chester Szymanski is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Memorial– Father J P Lardie's comments as inscribed on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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