Injuries Consistent With Death Caused By Impact, Investigators Determine

An investigation into the death of General Wladyslaw Sikorski, exiled Prime Minister of occupied WWII Poland, has yielded no evidence to support decades-old theories he had been murdered before his plane crashed off Gibraltar just 16 seconds after takeoff from a British military base on July 4, 1943.

The Associated Press says Sikorski's body was exhumed last November by Polish authorities in an attempt to put to rest some of the allegations of foul play before the flight departed. Forensic testing indicates his injuries were consistent with those one might suffer in a plane crash, with no evidence of poisoning, gunshot wounds or suffocation.

Court medical expert Tomasz Konopka said Sikorski died from multiple organ trauma, suffered several broken ribs, broken bones in his arms and legs, a damaged spine and eye-socket, among others. "Such injuries are typical of transport accidents or falls from great height," Konopka said.

Prosecutor Ewa Koj from the Institute of National Remembrance investigates World War II-era crimes, and expressed a renewal of focus at the release of the test results. "We can rule out certain hypotheses that have turned up over the years. We can now focus on whether the plane crash was the result of equipment failure on its own or whether there was sabotage," Koj said.

Just three months before his death, Sikorski demanded an investigation by the International Red Cross into the Katyn Forest massacre of 4,000 Polish officers at the hands of Soviet forces. The Soviet Union did not formally acknowledge responsibility for the atrocity until 1989.

FMI: www.ipn.gov.pl/portal/en/