Walter Chorny, Second World War air force navigator, and Alberta pharmacist, a tribute by Olga Chorny

Walter Chorny was involved in many dangerous Air Force missions during the Second World War.

Walter Chorny taught in the rural schools of Alberta for eight years before joining the Air Force in March of 1941. Under the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, he graduated as a Navigator. In Britain, he joined the Royal Air Force and was the only Canadian attached to it at the time. Upon completion of his training with the Advanced Flying unit, Flying Officer Chorny was posted to Bardney, Squadron #9 - a special unit destined for extremely hazardous duties. Bardney was a backup unit to Squadron #617 Woodhall Spa, or better known as "The Dam Busters".


Initially, he flew the two-engine Wellingtons and four-engine Sterlings before going on to the 21 metre-long Lancasters which went mostly on night missions, fraught with constant danger. As the navigator of a Lancaster bomber, Walter made numerous raids on some of the most heavily defended targets in six nazi-occupied European countries. The squadron targeted sites like the V-1 and V-2 launching areas at Peenemunde and dropped huge "blockbusters" as well as armour piercing bombs aimed at Hitler's submarine pens in Bergen, Norway; and Brest, France.


On November 12, 1944, Walter Chorny was the navigator on one of 29 Lancasters which attached the Nazi flag ship "Tirpitz". The ship was 822 feet long with a full load displacement of 53,000 tons and just under 2000 men on board. During one of the bombing attacks, the Lancaster ran out of fuel after fog prevented them from landing. They had to ditch in a bog near Archangel in Russia, north of the Arctic Circle (the wreckage of the plane is still there to this day). Unfortunately, the Russian guide who parachuted down to help became hopelessly lost. Water, with determination and a tiny compass, took over and led the guide and seven crewmembers to safety. For this heroic deed, he was presented with the Russian Red Star.


During a raid on a Nazi submarine pen at Brest, France, Walter was wounded in the hand by anti-aircraft shrapnel. Heavy flak had riddled his bomber with 186 holes, set fire to an engine, and smashed the 31-metre wide wing spar. When his aircraft returned to base, all were stunned with amazement that they had been able to make it back. The Lancaster had more holes in it than it had metal.


Walter's most frightening moment in the war was during a raid on an industrial target in the German Rohr Valley when his place was caught between two anti-air craft search lights. Luckily, there were plumes of smoke in the sky and clouds into which the plane ducked and escaped.


After Walter's first thirty bombing missions, he volunteered for a second tour of duty. He served in England, Belgium, Holland, France, Germany, Russia, Sicily and the Libyan dessert of North Africa. All in all, Walter Chorny had participated in forty-four bombing raids as well as flying prisoners-of-war out of the German concentration camps. He then volunteered for duty in the South Pacific but while on leave, Japan capitulated and the war ended.


When Walter was discharged in September of 1945, he was presented with the following medals: The Distinguished Flying Cross (one of only three Canadian recipients), the 1939 to 1945 Star, the France and Germany Star, the Defence Medal, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, the War Medal for the years 1939 to 1945, and the Bomber Command Medal.


After the war ended, Walter Chorny attended the University of Alberta and received his degree of Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy in 1948 and continued as a member of the Alberta Pharmaceutical Association for 50 years. He owned and operated Parkallen Drugs in southeast Edmonton until his retirement.