Victoria Cross In late 1945, de Breyne started the process of gaining recognition for Mynarski's extraordinary deed by recommending an award and enquiring about the location of his grave. Although facing some initial resistance, the recommendation worked its way up the command structure of the RCAF and RAF. On 11 October 1946, a
Victoria Cross was posthumously awarded for "valour of the highest order" to Andrew Charles Mynarski, by then also awarded the rank of
pilot officer.
Remembering Andrew Mynarski Mynarski's Victoria Cross was loaned by his family to
Air Command in 1989 and is on display in the entrance foyer at the Mynarski Memorial Room of the Headquarters, 1 Canadian Air Division, in
Winnipeg (where a number of other family artifacts are on display). No. 419 Squadron in
CFB Cold Lake also displays the original fire axe that Mynarski used to try to free the jammed Lancaster turret; the axe was recovered from the Lancaster bomber at the crash site in northern France. Andrew Mynarski VC School in Winnipeg, the Mynarski municipal ward of Winnipeg, a park in Alberta, the Royal Canadian Legion "Andrew Mynarski" Branch 34, and 573 "Andrew Mynarski"
Air Cadet squadron all bear his name. A chain of three lakes in Manitoba has been named after him by the Geographical Placenames of Canada and at CFB Penhold, one of the locations in which he trained, the married quarters area is known as Mynarski Park. Mynarski was also honoured in 1973 when he was inducted into
Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.
Avro Lancaster FM213 of the
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in
Hamilton, Ontario, one of only two airworthy Lancasters in the world, is known as the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster in honour of Mynarski, and is painted in the markings of his aircraft. Mynarski's bust has joined the other "Valiants" when the Valiants Memorial was unveiled in
Ottawa, Ontario. This memorial site is a collection of nine busts and five statues and a large bronze wall inscription that commemorates 14 individuals celebrated for their personal contributions, but also representing critical moments in Canada's military history. A larger-than-life bronze statue of Pilot Officer Mynarski, sculpted by Keith Maddison, was dedicated in 2005 outside the former Officers' Mess, now the St George Hotel, at RAF Middleton St. George, the bomber base in England where he served. The memorial depicts Mynarski at the rear of the stricken aircraft, his right arm raised in a salute. Andrew Mynarski is also remembered at the St George Hotel by the "Mynarski Bar", a bar dedicated to him where images of him and a replica VC are on display. A local Polish organization from the community area near where Mynarski grew up has erected a memorial plaque in Winnipeg's Kildonan Park to honour Mynarski. In January 2006, a group of local Winnipeggers prominent in business, government, heritage, military and community organizations embarked on a fund-raising project to cast and erect in Winnipeg, a new statue in a campaign known as "Bring Andrew home". The Mynarski Statue Project operated under the auspices of the
Air Cadet League of Canada (Manitoba) Inc. including the parents' committee of 573 Andrew Mynarski VC Royal Canadian Air Cadets Squadron, with support from the
Canadian Aviation Historical Society. The Mynarski Statue Project Committee coordinated fundraising and community support and received important media coverage through journalist Mr. Gordon Sinclair Jr. of the Winnipeg Free Press. After learning that the original mould used to cast the statue at St. George was feasibly unavailable to use for a new statue in Winnipeg, the Committee decided to consider alternatives around 2008–2009. In December 2009, Mr. Charles Johnston, a Winnipeg sculptor/artist was selected to create a new statue. Fundraising and communication efforts continued until 2010, when a Winnipeg business owner and philanthropist, Brian Frank Klaponski became involved. After learning that his uncle had grown up with Andrew Mynarski and had been Mynarski's best friend at Isaac Newton School in Winnipeg's North End in the 1930s, Klaponski offered a significant donation for the project. That donation catalyzed the final statue design and approval process. The artist presented several concepts to the Committee as sketches and maquettes, with the final statue design chosen in 2013. Johnston created a full-size clay model and arranged to have it cast in bronze in early 2014. He brought it home to Winnipeg from the U.S. foundry that summer. It was unveiled to the public during a reception held 14 November 2014 at Winnipeg's Frame Arts Warehouse. Winnipeg's Andrew Mynarski VC Memorial Statue will be dedicated in Winnipeg's Vimy Ridge Memorial Park during a public ceremony at 1:00 p.m. on 12 June 2015.
In the media Mynarski's story has been dramatized in the Canadian Historica Foundation's series of Heritage Minutes. Mynarski was also profiled in the 2006
docudrama Victoria Cross Heroes which included archive footage and dramatisations of his Victoria Cross-winning action. His story was recently recounted in
As Close as Brothers (2011) documentary, shot in Canada using the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster as well as an Avro Lancaster bomber and artifacts at the Bomber Command Museum in
Nanton, Alberta. The eight-minute film
Mynarski Death Plummet (2014), directed by
Matthew Rankin, looks
expressionistically at the final moments in Mynarski's life. The film played at the
2014 Toronto International Film Festival and was selected for the
2015 Sundance Film Festival. ==Notes==