HISTORIAN'S NOTE
By Susan L. Conklin, County Historian
During World War II Genesee County rallied to do its best and our community supplied many heros. One courageous pilot received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts in what was considered the "most daring stroke" of World War II. America needed something to lift its spirits after the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. Jimmy Doolittle and others planned a raid on the capital of Japan and trained B-25 Mitchell twin-engine light bombers to take off from a Navy carrier. One of the members of this raid was from Batavia, Eddie Cichowski. History records this 29-year-old as Captain York, a squadron commander who became Doolittle's operations officer. Local Daily Newspaper articles document his education and military career. He was known as Cichowski until the Doolittle Raid when he began using the surname of York.
Edward J. Cichowski was born on August 16, 1912 in Batavia and was the son of Ignatius and Tekla Cichowski. His father was a Polish immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1905. The family lived at 101 Harvester Avenue and Eddy graduated from the Batavia High School at the age of fifteen in June of 1928. He was remembered as an excellent student and especially gifted in mathematics. After completing high school he joined the Army and later attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. Throughout his military career he served his country well.
The April 18, 1942 raid was the first attack against the Japanese homeland in World War II and it did much to raise the American moral. Accounts of Doolittle's Raid recall that the aircraft carrier Hornet was spotted by a Japanese fishing boat which caused the planes to take off prematurely. The sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers dropped incendiary and high explosive bombs on oil refineries, steelworks, factories and electrical powerplants. The raiders were able to fly over Japan but after 13 hours aloft and out of fuel over China, 11 of the pilots told their crews to abandon the plans. Most of the crews parachuted without injury. One raider was killed in a hard landing, one crew was captured and the pilot and engineer were later executed. Four planes crashed-landed and two crewmen died in one of the crashes. Captain York was the pilot for the 16th aircraft and was able to land it safely near Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. York and his four crew members were taken prisoners because the Russians had not yet declared war on Japan. Russia was engaged in a war with Germany in the west and could not afford to have a battle with Japan in the east. York and his crew were interned for 14 months, until they escaped into Persia (now Iran).
Aboard the Hornet on that fateful day was another Batavian, John H. Richter, Aviation Machinist Mate, First Class. He lived at No. 7 Franklin Street and like all his fellow shipmates kept the closely-guarded secret of the Doolittle Raid. The Hornet was lost in the battle of Santa Cruz on October 26, 1942 during another successful mission against the Japanese. As the Hornet sank, Richter was rescued by a destroyer and later returned home to Batavia to visit his family. One can only speculate on the chance meeting of 21-year-old Richter with York aboard the Hornet and the exchange of Batavia news they might have shared.
At the age of 72, a retired Air Force Colonel, York died at his home in San Antonio, Texas, after he was stricken with a heart attack on August 31, 1984. In honor of the 60th Anniversary of the Doolittle Raid and York's heroic involvement the "History of Flight" Air Show from Geneseo, New York flew B-25 Mitchell Bombers over the Genesee County Bicentennial Parade on July 13th. All who attend the parade witness history as these planes grace the sky and took a moment to pay tribute to that brave Genesee County man who flew in a plane just like the ones they saw in that famous air raid of World War II.