Friday 8 August 2008

TWO MORE MYSTERY CRASHES

I have spent the last month reviewing information I have received and I have come across two more crashes that have been only lightly recorded:
HE304 17th July 1943

Recorded only in the RAF Davidstow Moor Operations Record Book and Dennis Burke’s excellent website on foreign aircraft landings in the Irish Republic. This Wellington Mk X was returning from an anti-submarine patrol over the Bay of Biscay when it ran out of fuel. The crew baled out and landed safely in Carlow and the aircraft crashed near Ballickmoylar, Co Laois. Three aircraft were sent out to look for it but found no trace as they did not violate Irish neutrality by searching over the Republic. The crew returned to Britain and continued to fight; they were Sgt Stanislaw Kieltyka, Sgt Remigiusz Duszczak, Sgt Karol Stefan Pasieka, Sgt Mieczyslaw Franciszek Salewicz, Sgt Mikolaj Pawluczyk and Sgt Wladyslaw Kaczan.
HE150 7th November 1943

During the course of a Leigh Light exercise, this aircraft suffered engine problems and attempted an emergency landing at RAF Haverfordwest with disastrous results. The crew are unknown but the pilot was Flight Lieutenant A A Kasprzyk and the co-pilot was Sergeant Karol Polanin. The accident report is difficult to read but the following is a transcript:

EF [Engine Failure] Loss of revs on port engine. Pilot of HF150 [error, should be HE150] decided to land at strange airfield, overshot and went round again and on final landing struck unlighted a/c 615
Close to midway. Co-pilot could have returned to base. COF Airfield controller to blame gave 615 green permission to cross runway should have given 150 a red when he saw him coming in to land the second time 1000 yards away. Pilot of 150 allowed his a/c to drift and did not synchronise his motors. Did not get a green to land 2nd time. CO Commanding pilot of 150 to blame AOF Pilot to blame. Discip action. A/O CinC agrees with AOC.

The results of any disciplinary action are unknown, but both aircraft were destroyed in the ensuing fire.
I cannot understand why these crashes are omitted from so many major websites. HE150 was a training accident, so maybe that is understandable, but HE304 was an operational loss.

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