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Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War (722)

Athlete Nation(s) Sport(s) Role(s) Era Notes
Sonny Spencer GBR ATH Olympics 1924 †21 November 1943. Serving as an aircrew sergeant with the Royal Air Force in World War II, he was killed in action on an operational mission.
Leon Sperling POL FBL Olympics 1924 †December 1941. When the Germans occupied Lwów he landed up in the ghetto, and was shot by a drunk Gestapo officer between 15-20 December 1941.
Marian Spojda POL FBL Olympics 1924 †16 April 1940. Executed in Katyn.
Stane Šporn SLO
YUG		 ATH Olympics 1936 † 1944
Alfred Staats GER GAR Olympics 1912 †22 October 1915. Killed in action during World War I.
Richard Stanhope GBR ROW Non-starter 1908 †15 September 1916. Killed during the Battle of the Somme.
Tomasz Stankiewicz POL CTR Olympics 1924 †21 June 1940. Arrested by the Germans, tortured and shot in a mass execution in Palmiry, near Warsaw as part of Operation AB-Aktion.
Alfred Steinke GER IHO Olympics / Referee 1928—1936 † Spring 1947. Died in an internment camp.
Curt Steuernagel GER GAR Olympics 1908 †30 July 1917. Killed in action during World War I.
Hugo Strauß GER ROW Olympics 1936 †1 November 1941. Killed in action during World War II near Goldayeva in the Soviet Union.
Ludwig Stubbendorff GER EVE Olympics 1936 †17 August 1941.He and his Olympic horse, Nurmi, fought with the First Cavalry Brigade which invaded Poland as an independent unit under Third Army. Both died during the invasion.
Jean, Marquis de Suarez d'Aulan FRA BOB Olympics 1924—1936 †8 October 1944. Pilot in World War II, died when his Dewoitine 520 was shot by a Messerschmidt.
Karl Sudrich AUT FEN Olympics 1936 †18 September 1944. Died in a war hospital in Hungary from injuries sustained in World War II.
Teodors Sukatnieks LAT ATH Olympics 1924 Died in a Soviet prison camp, but exact details not known.
Gustav Sule EST ATH Olympics 1936 †3 April 1942. Starved to death in a Soviet prison camp.
Bunta Suzuki JPN ATH Olympics 1936 †10 July 1939. Killed in action in World War II.
Fusashige Suzuki JPN ATH Olympics 1936 †3 June 1945. Died in the Philippines.
Hildegarde Švarce LAT FSK Olympics 1936 †4 December 1944. Died in the bombardment of Heilbronn.
Stanisław Świętochowski POL ATH Olympics 1924 †25 December 1940. Shot in Moscow on 11 November 1940 by the Soviets NKVD. He had earlier been a prisoner in Kozielsk.
Józef Szajba POL SAL Olympics 1936 †1945. He was murdered by the Nazis in prison in Potulice (near Bydgoszcz) 1945, but further details are not known.
Jenő Szántay HUN FEN Olympics 1908 †11 December 1914. Killed in action during World War I.
Józef Szawara POL ROW Olympics 1924 † 5 August 1944 Killed during the Warsaw Uprising in World War II
Géza Szegedy HUN ATH 1906 / Non-starter 1906—1908 †1918. Killed in action during World War I.
András Székely HUN SWM Olympics 1932 †January 1943. Killed in concentration camp.
Henryk Szlązak POL WRE Olympics 1936 †30 September 1944. Killed by an artillery shell during the Warsaw Uprising.
Kazimierz Szosland POL EJP/EVE Olympics 1924—1928 †20 April 1944. Fought in wars with Ukraine and Soviet Russia, and was killed in the forests of Grodziskiem Mazowiecki.
Ilja Szrajbman POL SWM Olympics 1936 †1943. Killed in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Georges Tainturier FRA FEN Olympics / Referee 1924—1932 †7 December 1944. Executed by the Nazis by decapitation with an ax.
Teizo Takeuchi JPN FBL Olympics 1936 †12 April 1946. Died in a detention camp in Siberia.
Harald Tammer EST ATH/WLF Olympics / Other 1920—1924 †6 June 1942. Died in a Soviet prison camp.
Mutsuo Taniguchi JPN ATH Olympics 1936 Died in World War II (per Volker Kluge), date and place not known.
Hans Tatzer AUT IHO Olympics / Non-starter 1928—1936 †23 August 1944. Killed in action during WW II in France
Geoffrey Taylor CAN ROW Olympics 1908—1912 †24 April 1915. Missing, presumed killed, during the Second Battle of Ypres.
Felix Tekusch AUT FBL Non-starter 1912 †21 May 1916. Killed in action during World War I.
Franz Tempel NED FBL Non-starter 1920 †25 July 1944. Resistance fighter, executed during World War II.
Hugh Thomson CAN ATH Olympics 1936 † 23 February 1943. Joined the Royal Air Force and was killed in an airplane crash in World War II.
John Thornton GBR ATH Olympics 1936 †18 August 1944. Commissioned into the Seaforth Highlanders, he served at El-Alamein and in the Sicilian Campaign, and was killed in the Normandy invasion.
Waldemar Tietgens GER ROW Olympics 1900 †28 July 1917. Killed in action during World War I.
Raymond Tixier FRA HOC Olympics 1936 Aviator during WWII in the Fighter Squadron 2/4 La Fayette. Killed in action.
Kay Todd, Jr. USA USF Non-Medal 1932 †12 June 1944. Died on Normandie Beach went assaulting a German machine gun nest.
Dragutin Tomašević SRB ATH Olympics / Other 1912 †1915. Killed in action during World War I in Serbia
Freddie Tomlins GBR FSK Olympics 1936 †20 June 1943. Killed as a RAF crew-member in fight against a German submarine in/over the British Channel.
Adalbert Toots EST WRE Olympics 1936 †1948. Died in a Soviet prison camp, but exact details not known.
Martti Topelius-Tolamo FIN ATH Olympics 1928—1936 †14 March 1940. Wounded and died five days later in war hospital.
Ernest Toussaint LUX BOX Olympics 1936 †14 November 1942. Shot in German Concentration camp Hinzert.
Rudolf Trenkwitz AUT EJP Olympics 1936 †2 January 1942, Bombing of Gorky
Kostas Tsiklitiras GRE ATH Olympics / 1906 / Other 1906—1912 †10 February 1913. Volunteered to fight in the Balkan Wars and fought at the Battle of Bizani, where he contracted meningitis and died at the age of 24.
Jack Turnbull USA HOC/LAX Olympics / Non-Medal 1932—1936 †18 October 1944. His bomber was shot down over Belgium.
Masayoshi Uchida JPN DIV/SWM Olympics 1920 †1945. Killed in action during World War II.
Tokutaro Ukon JPN FBL Olympics 1936 †1944. Killed in action in World War II.
Martti Uosikkinen FIN GAR Olympics 1928—1936 †9 March 1940. Wounded at the Battle of Kollaa, part of the Soviet-Finnish Winter War, and died of his wounds in war hospital.
Ala Urban GER FBL Olympics 1936 †27 May 1943. Killed in action in World War II. Died from his wounds at the field hospital at Aleksino in Russia.
Stanisław Urban POL ROW Olympics 1928—1932 †April 1940. A prisoner in Kozielsk, he was shot and killed in the Katyń Massacre.
Eugen Uuemaa EST ATH Olympics 1924 †25 July 1941. Executed by the Soviets in Tallinn before the Germans invaded Estonia.
Aleksey Uversky RUS FBL Olympics 1912 †1942. Civilian casualty of the Leningrad Blockade in World War II.
Ladislav Vácha CZE
TCH		 GAR Olympics 1920—1928 †28 June 1943. Killed in action during World War II.
Antal Vágó HUN FBL Olympics 1912 †30 December 1944.
Hugo-Eugen Väli EST FBL Olympics 1924 †1943. Died in a Soviet prison camp, but exact details not known.
Martial Van Schelle BEL BOB/SWM Olympics 1920—1936 †15 March 1943. Executed in transit camp Breendonk.
Edmond Vanwaes BEL ROW Olympics 1912 † 31 May 1944. Died in Natzhausen-Struthof concentration camp in French Alsace
Johannes van der Vegte NED ROW Olympics 1920 †15 March 1945. Died in a Japanese internment camp.
Nikolai Vekšin EST SAL Olympics 1928 †15 January 1951. Died in a Soviet prison camp.
Pierre Versteegh NED EDR Olympics 1928—1936 †3 May 1942. Killed in Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
Heino Veskila EST BKB Olympics 1936 †July 1941. Died in June or July 1941 as a prisoner-of-war.
Justin Vialaret FRA FBL Olympics 1908 †30 September 1916. Killed in action in World War I.
Charles Vigurs GBR GAR Olympics 1908—1912 †22 February 1917. With the 11th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, he was killed in action in France in World War I and is buried in the Maroc British Cemetery in Grenay.
Kalle Viljamaa FIN WRE Olympics 1912 †28 March 1918. Killed during the bombardment of Tampere during the Finnish Civil War.
Alex Villaplane FRA FBL Olympics 1928 †26 December 1944. Executed as a collaborator.
Lorenzo Vitria ESP BOX Olympics 1924 †18 June 1941. Killed in Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp.
Tola Vologe FRA HOC Olympics 1936 28 May 1944. Executed after being arrested by the Germans under the pretext of an escape attempt.
Fidel Wagner GER NCB Olympics 1936 †14 February 1945. Missing in action during World War II.
Karl Wahlmüller AUT FBL Olympics 1936 Killed in action during World War II in 1944 in Toila, Estonia.
Sadao Wakizaka JPN HOC Olympics 1936 Died in World War II.
Edmond Wallace FRA FEN Olympics 1900 †28 February 1915. Killed in action in World War I.
Hans van Walsem NED ROW Olympics 1936 †2 January 1943. Killed in Neuengamme concentration camp.
Konrad Freiherr von Wangenheim GER EVE Olympics 1936 †28 January 1953. Died in a prisoner-of-war camp, possibly murdered.
Tapio Wartiovaara FIN SHO Olympics 1936 †20 February 1940. Wounded at Battle of Taipale and died the next day in Rauha Military Hospital.
Birger Wasenius FIN SSK Olympics 1936 †2 January 1940. Killed during the Winter War early in 1940 while fighting for the Finnish army on the islands of Lake Ladoga.
Sigurd Wathne NOR FBL Olympics 1920 †27 March 1942. 1st engineer on the Risøy, which was attacked by aircraft and sunk near Swansea, Wales. Wathne was found and taken to hospital in Swansea where he died.
George Watkins USA USF Non-Medal 1932 †19 March 1945. Killed in the bombing of the USS Franklin
Rudolf Watzl AUT WRE 1906 1906 †15 August 1915. Died from illness during World War I.
Arthur Wear USA TEN Olympics 1904 †6 November 1918. As a result of refusing to obtain proper treatment for a probable perforated duodenal ulcer, he died, still commanding his battalion, during the Meuse-Argonne fighting.
Eddie Webster GBR ATH Olympics 1924 †22 August 1945. Killed in a military vehicle accident in Italy just after cessation of hostilities and one month before he was to be decommissioned.
Erwin Wegner GER ATH Olympics 1932—1936 †16 February 1945. Killed in action during World War II as a member of the SS near Saargemuend in Germany.
Rémi Weil FRA DIV/SWM Olympics 1920—1924 †20 November 1943. Died in Auschwitz concentration camp.
Ernst Weiß GER ART Olympics 1928 †15 June 1940. Committed suicide after the Germans occupied Paris, rather than allowing himself to be deported to a concentration camp.
Árpád Weisz HUN FBL Non-starter 1924 †31 October 1944. Killed in Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp.
Gerardus van der Wel NED ATH Olympics 1920 †31 May 1945. Killed in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Walter Werginz AUT FBL Olympics 1936 †21 March 1944. Killed in action in Ukraine.
Paul Wevers GER CMA Olympics 1936 †4 March 1941. Died near Braunschweig in World War II when his plane crashed into the ground.
Miguel White PHI ATH Olympics 1936 †30 August 1942. Killed in action in the Philippines.
Carl Wiegand GER GAR Olympics 1900 †March 17 1917. Died in a field hospital.
Israel Wijnschenk NED GAR Olympics 1928 †31 January 1943. Killed in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
Arthur Wilde GBR SHO Olympics 1908 †21 January 1916. With the 1st/6th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, he was killed in action in World War I and is buried in the Arras Memorial.
Tony Wilding ANZ
NZL		 TEN Olympics / Non-starter 1908—1912 †9 May 1915. Joined the British army and was leading an armoured car unit when he was killed at Aubers Ridge during the Battle of Neuve-Chapelle.
Edward Williams GBR ROW Olympics 1908 †12 August 1915. With the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, he was killed in action in France in World War I and is buried in the St. Venant Communal Cemetery.
Herbert Wilson GBR POL Olympics 1908 †11 April 1917. Was a captain with the Royal Horse Guards near Arras. Died in the preliminary skirmishes leading up to the Battle of Paschendaele in Ypres, Belgium.
Ernst Winter GER GAR Olympics 1936 †February 1943. Last sign of life was in Stalingrad in February 1943. It is assumed he died in a Russian POW Camp.
Jack, Lord Wodehouse GBR
IRL		 POL Olympics 1908—1920 †16 April 1941. Killed in an air raid.
Hans Woellke GER ATH Olympics 1936 †22 March 1943. Killed in action during World War II.
Heinz Wöllner GER ATH Olympics 1936 †10 April 1945. Killed in action during World War II at the Western Front.
Paul Wormser FRA FEN Olympics 1936 †17 August 1944. Executed by Germans in "Le massacre de Sainte-Radegonde".
Matthias Wörndle GER CCS Olympics 1936 †15 October 1942. Killed in action in World War II near Kansodarsk in the Soviet Union.
Roman Wörndle GER ALP Olympics 1936 †26 September 1944. Killed in action in World War II near Geilenkirchen in Germany.
Jan Wrzosek POL SHO Olympics 1936 †3 September 1939. Infantry commander in the Polish Army. Killed in action during the September Campaign in Złoty Potok (Śląskie).
Mikhail Yakovlev RUS FBL Olympics 1912 †1942. Civilian casualty of the Leningrad Blockade in World War II.
Teófilo Yldefonso PHI SWM Olympics 1928—1936 †19 June 1942. Killed in concentration camp Capas, following the Bataan Death March.
Richard Yorke GBR ATH Olympics 1908—1912 †22 December 1914. Killed in action in World War I while serving as a sergeant in the London Scottish.
Kiichi Yoshida JPN SWM Olympics 1936 Died in World War II in Mindanao (PHI).
Miguel Zabalza ESP FEN Olympics 1924 †23 September 1925. Killed in action during the Rif War with Morocco.
Janusz Zalewski POL SAL Olympics 1936 †August 1944. Member of the Polish resistance. Injured during the 1944 Warsaw Rising, he was murdered along with fellow hospital patients and medical staff during Nazi reprisals.
Kazimierz Żebrowski POL IHO Olympics 1928 There are suspicions, that he was taken out to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp where he died.
Hans Zehetner AUT HBL Olympics 1936 †29 December 1942. Killed in action during World War II.
Heinrich Ziegler GER FEN Olympics 1912 Killed in action during World War I.
Herbert Ziegler AUT EVE Olympics 1936 Killed as an Oberst of the German Wehrmacht in Italy on June 25, 1944. He was buried at Futapass War Cemetery
Stanisław Ziffer POL ATH Olympics 1924 Probably killed in action in September Campaign but the details are not known.
Branko Ziherl SLO
YUG		 DIV Olympics 1936 †August 1942. Killed in Kočevski Rog.
Ron Zinn USA ATH Olympics 1960—1964 †6 July 1965. Although assumed deceased, technically still listed as MIA (missing in action) in Vietnam.
Günther Zobernig AUT SWM Olympics 1936 Killed in the last days of World War II under unknown circumstances at Klagenfurt in Austria.
Mario Zorzi ITA SHO Olympics 1932—1936 †17 February 1944. Died at a bombing raid in Frascati near Rome.
Feliks Żuber POL ATH Olympics 1928 †21 June 1940. Arrested by the Germans, tortured and shot in a mass execution in Palmiry, near Warsaw as part of Operation AB-Aktion.
Béla Zulawszky HUN FEN Olympics 1908—1912 †24 October 1914. Killed in action during World War I.