Gustave Dziengowski
Private Gustave Dziengowski, 469th Flying Training Squadron, U.S. Army Air Forces
Technical Sergeant Gustave Dziengowski had lived at 1476 Louis Street, in the mostly Polish neighborhood anchored by St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. As a child he had graduated from the Bonsall School and Camden High School, where he starred in football and basketball. He also attended Camden Commercial College. He worked for Public Service Gas and Electric for 12 years before being inducted into the Army on April 7, 1942.
Gustave Dziengowski qualified for the Army Air Corps. He had graduated the Army Air Force radio and gunnery courses, and was probably due to be promoted to Technical Sergeant. Another report has him as a Staff Sergeant. The War Department casualty report of 1946 lists him as a private, however. Nine months after his enlistment, while on a test flight to White City, KS, his plane caught fire and crashed. He was 32 years of age when he died, on January 6th, 1943.
At 1735 CWT, a Consolidated B-24D suffered a catastrophic structural failure of the tail section and crashed three miles west of White City, Kansas, killing 11 passengers and crew. Navigator-rated passenger 2Lt. Frank Maleckas parachuted to safety and was uninjured. The B-24 took off from the Army Air Base at Topeka, Kansas, at 1710 on an instrument training flight to Pueblo, Colorado. The airplane climbed to an altitude of 5,500 feet when it began picking up ice in the overcast. A crewmember in the rear of the airplane notified the pilots that the tail section was picking up a thick coating of ice. The pilot acknowledged the warning and said, “Do not worry.” The airplane began losing altitude rapidly. The pilot ordered the crew and passengers to put on parachutes and to stand by to bail out. Lt. Maleckas stood by in the nose section and after noticing that the airplane was beginning to shudder violently he pulled the emergency hatch lever and bailed out. He stated that the pilot gave no order to abandon ship. Investigation of the wreckage indicated that the port horizontal stabilizer, elevator, vertical fin and rudder had separated from the airplane in one piece. The B-24 then dove straight ahead into the ground and exploded violently into flames. The severed port tail section was found over one-half mile from the scene of the main wreckage. Lt. Maleckas parachuted safely to the ground and ran to the wreckage immediately, but was kept away by exploding bombs, bullets and flares. The occupants had all been killed instantly. Investigators speculated that the structural failure was caused by an excessive amount of ice stressing the tail section and causing it to fail. Killed in the crash were: 1Lt. Robert Clyne, pilot; 2Lt. Norman A. Kendell, co-pilot; 2Lt. Joseph P. Hudder, navigator; 2Lt. Clifford A. Smallwood, bombardier; SSgt. Vernon A. Larson, engineer; SSgt. Thomas P. Merlino, radio operator; 2Lt. Alden A. Alleman, pilot-rated passenger; F/O James G. Masters, pilot-rated passenger; 2Lt. John Sedor, Jr., bombardier-rated passenger; SSgt. Leonard F. MacNabb, engineer-rated passenger; SSgt. Gustav Dzingoski, radio operator-rated passenger.
Staff Sergeant Dzingoski was survived by his mother, Mrs. Stella Wanat, a brother John, and two sisters, Wanda and Mary, and his fiancée, Miss Violet Boos, of Gloucester City, NJ.
Mrs. Stella Wanat, mother of Gustave Dziengowski
Gustave Dzingoski is memorialized at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, 10th & Mechanic Street in Camden, NJ, and at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, NJ as Gustave Dziengowski.
Camden Man Killed with 10 in Air Crash
Camden Courier-Post —
Sgt. Dzingoski Dies in Kansas; Was Athlete at High School
Sgt. Gus Dzingoski, 31, of 1476 Louis Street, was one of 11 army men killed when a flying fortress crashed at White City, Kansas, while returning to its home at Topeka.
Sgt. Dzingoski’s mother, Mrs. Stella Dzingoski, a widow, was informed of the tragedy by the commanding officer of the Topeka base shortly after the crash occurred at 5:30 PM Wednesday. The body will be sent home with a military escort. Funeral arrangements await its arrival, which will not be before Monday, the family was told.
Sgt. Dzingoski, a former basketball and baseball star at Camden High School, left his job at Public Service, where he had been employed 12 years, to enter the service April 7, 1942. He joined the Army air forces and became a radio operator, training successively at Scott Field IL, Miami FL, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and had just been assigned to a bomber squadron at Topeka.
The plane was returning from a routine training flight when it crashed. No details were furnished the Dzingoski family, except that 11 of the 12 men making up the crew perished, the other parachuting to safety.
Sgt. Dzingoski had not been home since joining the service. His last letter, received Monday, told of being transferred to Topeka, which he described as his permanent base after many moves through the country. He described the country there as beautiful, but said he hoped to get home soon for a visit.
He was the son of the late Constanty Dzingoski, who conducted a store at Louis and Whitman Streets 18 years prior to his death three and one-half years ago.
Surviving besides the mother, are a brother, John, a merchant of 1643 Woodlynne Avenue, Woodlynne, and two sisters, Mrs. James Monahan, 16 Ridgeway Avenue, Oaklyn, and Mrs. A Schnitzius, 1476 Louis Street, Camden NJ.
The sergeant was engaged and planned to be married when the war ended to Miss Violet Boos, of Market Street, Gloucester.
Funeral Tomorrow for Sgt. Dzingoski
Courier-Post, Camden N.J. —
Full Military Honors Will Be Paid; Legion To Hold Ritual
Sgt. Gus Dzingoski, killed last Wednesday when a Flying Fortress crashed near White City, Kansas, will be given full military honors tomorrow morning.
The flying sergeant was the son of the late Constanty Dzingoski and Mrs. Stella Dzingoski, of 1476 Louis Street. His is the first casualty of this war from St. Joseph’s Catholic church, Tenth and Mechanic streets.
The body arrived yesterday under full military escort and was met by Funeral Director Stanley Ciechanowski. The American Legion funeral ritual will be conducted in the mother’s home at 8:30 tonight. It will be led by Paul Donahue, Camden County Legion commander. Assisting will be Bolek Palsielski, commander of Laskowski-Wojtkowiak Post 74, American Legion.
Scouts to Pay Tribute
The funeral will be conducted in the home at 8:30 AM tomorrow followed by Solemn High Mass of Requiem in St. Joseph’s church at 9:30 AM. Burial will be held in St. Joseph’s cemetery, Chews Landing NJ. Legionnaires and delegates from the St. Joseph’s American Red Cross Unit, Boy Scouts from the church’s Troop No. 25, and the parish Girl Scout troop will participate.
Sgt. Dzingoski, a former basketball and baseball star at Camden High School, quit the job held with Public Service for 12 years to enlist in the Army Air Corps on April 7, 1942. He trained as a radio operator at Scott Field IL, Miami FL, and in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, and had been assigned to a Topeka KS base but three days before the fatal crash.
St. Joseph’s Church Keeps in Touch with Men and Women in Armed Forces
Camden Courier-Post — 1944
St. Joseph’s Church Keeps in Touch with Men and Women in Armed Forces; Four Sons Killed and Two Missing
By Frank Sheridan
With many of their loved ones and relatives either killed, starved or reduced to slavery by the Nazi invaders of Poland four years ago, 1154 mothers of this city have given sons and daughters to fight for defense of the United States.
They are members of St. Joseph’s church, Tenth and Mechanic streets. Four sons were killed in line of duty, two others are missing and another is reported a prisoner of the Japs.
The mother of Staff Sgt. Roman Drapinski, 1468 South Tenth street, killed by a dynamite blast, is somewhere in Poland, but her name is honored equally with other mothers by the parish.
Names on Honor Roll
Others on the honor roll are Mrs. Stella Dziengowski, 1476 Louis street, mother of Sgt. Gustave Dziengowski; Mrs. Antonia Koscianski, 966 Bulson street, mother of Pvt. Walter J. Koscianski; and Mrs. George Lozowski, 1143 Sheridan street. Mother of Pvt. John Lozowski, killed in line of duty; Mrs. Jessie Piotrowski, 1343 Chase street, mother of Machinist Mate Joseph S. Piotrowski; and Mrs. Boleslau Poduszczak, 1105 Lowell street, mother of Second Lieut. Leopold Poduszczak, missing in action; and Mrs. Frank Ulak, 914 Atlantic avenue, mother of Lieut. Bruno Ulak, prisoner of the Japs.
A service bureau set up by the church keeps in contact with those in the armed forces. Letters and gifts keep flowing, and those in the service reply. An index system shows the thoroughness of the records directed by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Arthur B. Strenski and his assistants, Rev. Leon S. Winowicz, Rev. Lawrence Faber and Rev. Henry Blaszczynski. They are aided by members of the parish in keeping the records.
Sergeant Dziengowski was the first member of the parish to give his life. He was killed in an airplane crash near White City, Kan., on Jan. 12, last. Ten others were killed. They were on a trial trip in a flying fortress. He was buried at St. Joseph's cemetery, Chews Landing, with military honors after a Solemn Requiem High Mass at the church.
Brother Seized in Poland
Drapinski entered the service in September, 1941, and was attached to the Twelfth Armored Division. He came to this country from Poland five years ago and worked with his brother, Adam. Another brother, Stanislau, is a prisoner of the Germans. He was captured during the invasion of Poland. His father died in Poland two years ago and the whereabouts of his mother in Poland is not known.
Private Lozowski died in an airplane accident near a Marine base at Atlantic Field, N.C. The plane was on a trial trip and fell into a bay. Four days after the accident on April 4, the body was recovered and sent back to his parents. It was buried with military honors after a Solemn Requiem Mass at the church.
Lozowski was 20 and was a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High school. He was employed by the Radio Condensor Company before his enlistment last November.
Piotrowski, who was 22, survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, but was reported lost when the cruiser Helena was sunk in the battle of Kula Gulf early in July. Admiral Jacobs, chief of Navy personnel, notified the mother of the young seaman of his apparent death.
Father Served in Army
Piotrowski was a graduate of Camden High school. He worked with his brother, Henry, in the interior decorating business before joining the Navy four years ago. He was last home on leave in April, 1942. He has another brother, Edward, and a sister, Irene. His father, John, who died several years ago, served in the Polish Army in World War I, joining a volunteer force organized in Canada. He also served as a commander of Iaskowski-Wojtkowiak Post, American Legion.
Lieutenant Poduszczak was reported missing in action since July 26, when he participated in an air raid over Hanover, Germany. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1941.
Enlisted in Air Corps
The sergeant was a graduate of Camden High school and starred in both basketball and football. He was employed 12 years by Public Service and enlisted in the Army Air Corps on April 7, 1942.
Private Koscianski died in action in the African campaign. Several letters sent him by the service bureau were returned unclaimed. The War Department notified his mother he was killed in Algeria on Feb. 6, last. His body was buried between two sergeants and white crosses were erected over their graves.
He worked for the Camden City Parks Department as a truck driver for five years before he was inducted June 4, 1942. He was in the Signal Corps and was driving a truck when killed. He was sent overseas two months after his induction.
Sergeant Drapinski, brother of Adam Drapinski, died July 18, last, from injuries received in the premature explosion of dynamite at Camp Campbell, Kan. Drapinski, who was 23, was giving instructions to a group of recruits when the explosion occurred.
He received his wings on Nov. 21, 1942. He was home for two days last May before going overseas. He attended Camden schools and also studied in Poland from 1932 to 1936. His brother, Richard, is a corporal in the Army Air Corps.
Lieutenant Ulak was taken prisoner at Corregidor by the Japs. He was a reserve Army officer when the war broke out and was called into active service. Ulak was born in Camden and attended St. Joseph’s school, Camden High school and was graduated from Lehigh University. He has three brothers and two sisters, besides his parents. A brother, Alfonse, is an Army sergeant in California. Other brothers are Adolph and Rudolph. The sisters are Mrs. Wanda Romanowski and Adella.