http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7720293.stm

Probe into Poland WWII PM death

Prosecutors in Poland have announced they will exhume the body of the country’s World War II prime minister.

Gen Wladyslaw Sikorski will be exhumed as part of a inquiry to decide whether his death in a plane crash in Gibraltar in 1943 was an accident or murder.

A British investigation ruled that it was an accident, but some historians in Poland believe Gen Sikorski died as a result of foul play.

Poland’s president and prime minister are backing the current inquiry.

The general’s body will be exhumed in two weeks from the crypt of Krakow Cathedral, where it lies next to Polish monarchs and national heroes.

Prosecutors say it may provide clues to help them determine whether Gen Sikorski was assassinated.

Theories

During the war the general was prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile in London.

In July 1943, the Liberator aircraft he was travelling on together with two British MPs, crashed into the sea just seconds after it took off from Gibraltar.

A British investigation at the time found the plane’s controls had jammed. But a separate Polish investigation did not rule out he may been murdered.

The general’s death has produced several colourful conspiracy theories despite a lack of evidence.

At the time Gen Sikorski had demanded an investigation into allegations that Poland’s then ally, the former Soviet Union, had massacred more than 20,000 Polish officers in the forests of Katyn three years earlier.

Some even believe British Prime Minister Winston Churchill may have ordered his death to preserve good relations with Stalin.

However, prosecutors have said they are investigating a “communist crime”, suggesting that the suspicion falls on the former Soviet Union.

dead in 1943? Won’t be much forensic evidence left, if there’s anything left at all, unless they *really* went out of their way to preserve the body…

Robin Bobcat - 11 November 2008 02:46 AM

dead in 1943? Won’t be much forensic evidence left, if there’s anything left at all, unless they *really* went out of their way to preserve the body…

I suppose they could look for traces of poison.  Or if there’s a big hole in his head, a bullet rattling around in his skull, and a knife wedged in between his ribs then there might be some suspicion of foul play.

All in all, though, I doubt that there would be any sign of anything if he was murdered.  After all, it would probably have been the plane crashing that would have killed him, and intentional plane crashes leave the same injuries as do accidental ones.

Yep, it would make more sense to reinvestigate the crashed plane, if it is still somewhere on the seabed near Gibraltar.

How did thye get his body to bury from the plane if it was still on the sea floor in the 40s

Obsidian - 18 February 2009 12:09 PM

How did thye get his body to bury from the plane if it was still on the sea floor in the 40s

Mermaids.  The British navy recruits them all the time.

Short of a big bullet hole in the skull, there ain’t a lot a guy who’s been in the ground for 60 years can tell you.

Renquist - 18 February 2009 02:54 PM

Short of a big bullet hole in the skull, there ain’t a lot a guy who’s been in the ground for 60 years can tell you.

Are you sure?

Madmouse - 18 February 2009 03:00 PM

Renquist - 18 February 2009 02:54 PM

Short of a big bullet hole in the skull, there ain’t a lot a guy who’s been in the ground for 60 years can tell you.

Are you sure?

I said in the ground.

Not in a bog. That’s not ground. You can’t walk on it.

Renquist - 18 February 2009 03:10 PM

I said in the ground.

Not in a bog. That’s not ground. You can’t walk on it.

Yeah, you can. You just have to aim for the tussocks.

(As the bishop said to the actress…)

Renquist - 18 February 2009 02:54 PM

Short of a big bullet hole in the skull, there ain’t a lot a guy who’s been in the ground for 60 years can tell you.

Everybody knows that the death-rays used by the Nazi flying saucers leave a tell-tale residue on their victims.

That’s actually strawberry yogurt, Acci.