05/26/2026
2 more WWII MIAs recovered from Poland are returned to families.
On May 16th, Edgar W. Nevois was laid to rest in Praire de Rocher, IL. He was one of the MIAs from the 401st BG B-17 „Son of a Blitz” which was hit on the bomb run to Politz (today Police near Szczecin, Poland) on Oct 7th 1944. German flak blew off the front of the plane, the Fortess went into a vertical dive, hit the ground and exploded. 1 to 4 parachutes were seen to come out during the dive, but noone survived.
The graves of the gunners, engineer, radio-operator were found directly after the war and the bodies were exhumed, but noone knew until 74 years later where other airmen were buried.
In September 2018, Andrzej Ossowski and his team located a witness account pointing to an American grave at an abandoned German cemetery. I confirmed to him the crash site of „Son of a Blitz” was closest to this location. Andrzej, being a forensic expert by trade (you can find him on LinkedIn), and with a lot of experience in WWII exhumations, worked with the DPAA at the suspected grave location.
They must have found the burial place of the men who were in the shot-off front of the B-17, as Edgar Nevois was the co-pilot. The other identified person so far was Blaine Wilcox, the bombardier. He was reburied in October 2025. And I am hearing this is a developing story!
Photos: courtesy of Andrzej Ossowski
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