Kazimierz Chartanowicz
© MarketGarden.com
April 2026: Kazimierz Chartanowicz: Third Identification Confirmed by Mroz
Polish soldier Kazimierz Chartanowicz, killed during the Battle of Arnhem, will finally receive a headstone with his name. Researcher Mateusz Mroz has convinced the authorities with his work. This is already the third soldier officially identified thanks to him.
Life and service of Chartanowicz
Kazimierz Chartanowicz was born on July 30, 1922, in Baranowicze, near Grodno (now in Belarus). As a 17-year-old boy, he was deported by the Soviets to a Gulag in 1939. After amnesty at the end of 1941, he joined the Polish Army in the USSR, first in the 4th Tank Battalion and later in anti-tank artillery. In 1943, he volunteered as a paratrooper and received badge no. 3519.
On September 18, 1944, he landed near Wolfheze with glider no. 899 as part of Operation Market Garden deployment. His unit first took position with their anti-tank gun at the British headquarters in Hartenstein and then moved to the south side of the perimeter in Oosterbeek, near the Old Church and Kate ter Horst’s house. He was killed by a mortar shrapnel that hit his face and pierced his helmet. This was either the 22nd of the 25th. He was buried on September 22 near Kerkpad 2, behind Ter Horst’s garden.
Years-Long Fight for Recognition
After the bodies from field graves were transferred to the cemetery after the war, Chartanowicz was listed as “no known grave” for over 82 years, despite British reports from 1945 about his field grave. Mroz’s research points with nearly 100% certainty to grave 25.B.17 that carried a headstone ‘Unknown Polish Soldier’ at the Airborne War Cemetery in Oosterbeek, next to his comrade Józef Skaczko.
Source Gelders Archief.
The CWGC refused for years to recognize Polish evidence, despite dossiers from the Polish Ministry of Culture. Now the ministry has received confirmation: the identification is correct. Mróz has already informed the family near Ełk in Poland.
via, among others, Facebook post Mateusz Mróz
Previous identifications concern Edward Trochim and Edward Morchonowicz
Unveiling of the new gravestone on 18 September 2026
During an impressive ceremony on Friday 18 September 2026, the new gravestone on Chartanowicz’s grave was “unveiled”. It took place before a large audience, with an honour guard from the Polish Army’s current 6th Airmobile Brigade. In front of the grave, a small glass display case held the helmet of Bombardier Kazimierz Chartanowicz, showing the damage from the mortar fragment that proved fatal to him.
An information panel told the story of Chartanowicz’s life to the attendees.
Text continues under the pictures.
Video recording of the ceremony
Regional broadcaster Omroep Gelderland made a short report and interviewed Mateusz Mróz. This footage was part of the preview to the broadcast of Sunday’s commemoration at the cemetery in Oosterbeek. The full commemoration can be watched again here (in Dutch). We thank Omroep Gelderland for making this footage available for use on our site.