USNR, US Navy
William Joseph Czerwinski
Service No.: 8107863
Ship Assignment: USS LST-531
William Joseph Czerwinski was born on 22 December 1920 in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York. He was the son of Joseph Czerwinski and Anna Czerwinski (née Branecki).
Little information has survived concerning William’s childhood, education or civilian occupation. The family remained connected with New York, and his sister, Mary O’Brien, was later recorded at an address in Astoria, Long Island City.
William belonged to a generation of young Americans whose lives were profoundly affected by the Second World War. In 1943, at the age of twenty-two, he entered the United States Navy.
Military Service
Czerwinski enlisted in the United States Navy at New York on 5 May 1943, receiving service number 8107863. He served as a **Fireman First Class**, a naval rating associated with the operation, maintenance and repair of a ship’s engineering machinery.
Firemen were an important part of a vessel’s engineering department. Working alongside more senior engineering personnel, they helped maintain the machinery required to keep a ship operational. On an LST, where the ability to manoeuvre, load and land troops and equipment was essential, the engineering department played a vital role in the vessel’s operation.
By the spring of 1944, Czerwinski was serving aboard Landing Ship, Tank 531 (LST-531) as the Allies assembled their forces in southern England for the forthcoming invasion of Normandy.Exercise Tiger
During the early hours of 28 April, the convoy was attacked by German E-boats (Schnellboote) operating from occupied France. LST-531 was struck by two torpedoes and suffered catastrophic damage before sinking rapidly.
Fireman First Class Czerwinski was among those who lost their lives aboard the stricken vessel. His remains were never recovered and he was subsequently listed as Missing in Action.
Honours and Memorials
Tablets of the Missing, Normandy American Cemetery at St. Laurent, France;
A separate cenotaph commemorates him at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, Erie County, New York, providing a permanent place of remembrance in the United States.
His name is recorded in the Roll of Honour at the American Memorial Chapel in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, ensuring his sacrifice is woven into the history of the United Kingdom as well as the United States.
Czerwinski was twenty-three years old when he died. His naval career had lasted less than a year before his life was cut short aboard LST-531 during the preparations for the invasion of Europe.
Although he never reached the beaches of Normandy, his service was part of the immense Allied effort that made Operation Overlord possible. Today, Fireman First Class William Joseph Czerwinski is remembered with honour among the men of Exercise Tiger, his name preserved both in France and in his native New York as a lasting reminder of the sacrifice made on 28 April 1944.
