jaceq
01.08.06, 22:03
lotnictwo.net/pic/0607/0607080006.jpg
sallyb.dcgservices.com/
"B-17 Sally B to honour Polish Nation’s heroic stand in WWII
The UK’s only airworthy B-17 Flying Fortress Sally B will make a rare flight
out of this country to Poland for a commemorative flight over Warsaw on
Tuesday 1 August to honour the courage, determination and sacrifice of the
people of Warsaw who fought for their freedom in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.
More than 250,000 citizens and troops perished.
During the official flight, the aircraft will drop leaflets over designated
sites in memory of those who died. "The aircraft’s mission is to pay tribute
to those who gave their lives for the freedom of Europe – a sacrifice that
must never be forgotten", said B-17 Operator Elly Sallingboe.
The Warsaw Uprising was a heroic and tragic 63-day attempt by the Poles to
liberate Warsaw from Nazi German occupation. A quarter of a million Poles were
killed, and the Nazis punished Poland’s defiance by systematically razing to
the ground 70% of the City. "Words cannot describe the Polish peoples
suffering. " Says Elly Sallingboe "For Sally B to be given this opportunity of
carrying out this tribute is a great honour and extremely humbling. My father
was in the Danish resistance and my older sister slept with ammunition hidden
under her cot mattress."
The Warsaw Uprising will forever serve as a symbol of heroism in the face of
great adversity and pursuit of freedom, and this is everything that Sally B
represents; it is an aircraft loaded not with bombs, but with memories, flying
in tribute to those who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom.
There is a certain irony in Sally B flying across Europe for this unique
commemoration. Only last year, the EU effectively grounded the aircraft by
introducing new insurance regulations, placing the B-17 in the same weight
category as a commercial airliner. A stop-gap solution was found, but unless
this unjust law is modified, Sally B’s future as a flying memorial remains
seriously threatened."
