MORE AIRCRAFT LOSSES

X9620 25th July 1941 This Mk 1c aircraft, flying out of RAF Lindholme, was shot down during a bombing raid on Emden, Germany. It was hit by flak or, more probably, shot down by a night fighter, somewhere near Opperdoes, South West of Medemblik, Netherlands. The entire crew was lost. It is thought that the Messerschmidt Bf 110 night fighter flown by Oberleutnant Egmont Prinz zur Lippe Weissenfeld of 4 Nacht Jaeger is most likely to have shot this bomber down. The entire crew were killed; these were F/O Leszek Karczewski, F/O Jan Musial, F/O Stanislaw Rzepa, Sgt Boleslaw Salamon, Sgt Zygmunt Witkowski and Sgt Zbigniew Zuwala.

N2852 (NZ-D) 20th October 1941 This aircraft was hit by flak during a raid on Emden, Germany and although the crew got off a Mayday message giving its position, the rescue attempt did not succeed. The plane crashed near Heligoland, Germany and the entire crew was lost. Those who died were: F/O Adam Gisman, P/O Stanislaw Borzecki , Sgt Wilhelm Adamik, Sgt Ryszard Klimiuk, Sgt Henryk Plis and Sgt Mikolaj Zykow.

W5720 (NZ-Q) 26th October 1941 This Mk Ic aircraft was hit by flak, in the port engine during an attack on Hamburg and almost made it back home before crashing into the sea 12 miles off Cromer, Norfolk. The crew spent 18 hours on an inflatable dinghy in the water before being rescued by the Sheringham lifeboat ‘Forester’s Centenery’ and all but one of the crew survived. Sgt Stefan Stenocki was drowned and his body was not recovered. The survivors were: F/O Edmund Ladro, P/O Ludwik Karol Assman, P/O Skarzynski, P/O Czeslaw Sokolowski and Sgt Tadeusz Krzywon The crew were spotted, about two miles offshore by the landlord of the Crown Inn on the sea front at Sheringham and, luckily, a member of the Life Boat crew was in the bar at the time and he rushed of to start the rescue.

R1215 8th November 1941 Returning from a raid on Manheim, Germany, the aircraft was out of fuel and the pilot attempted to land his plane on an airfield in Belgium. He landed at St Trond near Liege, which was a Luftwaffe fighter base. The crew all survived and were taken prisoner, but not before destroying all papers that might be useful to the Germans and they set the aircraft on fire. F/O Jerzy Tomasc Mondschein, aged 35, was one of 50 Officers executed on 29th March 1944 at Brux after an escape from Stalag Luft III (The Great Escape). He was cremated at Brux and his ashes were later buried in the Old Garrison Cemetery at Poznan, Poland. Other than F/O Mondschein’s murder, there were no fatalities. The survivors were: F/O Blicharz, P/O Rekszyc, Sgt Jaworoszuk, Sgt Krawiecki and Sgt Lewandowski.

X3164 30th November 1941 This Mk Ic, flying out of RAF Lindholme, on a bombing mission to Hamburg, ditched 20 miles east of Great Yarmouth after returning on one engine. The aircraft floated for 7 minutes, enabling the crew to escape. This crew were all killed on DV423 which was shot down by flak on 10th January 1942. The survivors were: P/O Jan Zajac, Sgt Stanislaw Garstka, P/O Jozef Maczynski, Sgt Jacek Strzyzewski, F/O Tadeusz Jozef Klewicz and Sgt Rajmund Antoni Pokrzywa.

R1064 16th December 1941 This MkIc aircraft, flying out of RAF Lindholme, was seen, by other aircrews, to crash into the sea whilst on a mission to bomb Ostend, Belgium but the cause of the crash remains a mystery. The entire crew was killed and only four bodies were pulled out of the water and were buried in France and Belgium. The fatalities were: Sq Ldr Jan Blazejewski, F/O Jan Komlacz, F/O Marian Szczodrowski, Sgt Boguslaw Golabek, Sgt Hubert Rutkowski and Sgt Kazimierz Suwalski

DV423 10th January 1942 This Mk Ic aircraft, flying out of RAF Lindholme, was shot down by a German fighter on a mission to bomb Wilhelmshaven, Germany; it crashed into the sea off the German Friesian island of Borkum. In Luftwaffe records it was claimed by Oberleutnant Rudolph Schoenert of 5/NJG2 10 kilometres north of Nordeney at 23.15hrs at an altitude of 5,000 metres (about 16,500 feet). The entire crew were lost; they had previously all survived the crash of X3164 which ditched in the sea off Great Yarmouth on 30th November 1941. They were: F/O Tadeus Jozef Klewicz, P/O Jozef Maczynski, P/O Jan Zajac, Sgt Stanislaw Garstka, Sgt Rajmund Antoni Pokrzywa, Sgt Jacek Strzyzewski.

Z1082 10th January 1942 This aircraft, flying out of RAF Lindhome, was shot down, by a night fighter, on a mission to bomb Wilhelmshaven. Once again, the entire crew were lost, they were: F/O Janusz Augustyn Kurek, Sgt Andrzej Kwiecien, Sgt Stanislaw Obiorek, Sgt Boleslaw Kazimierz Patek, Sgt Adam Rogowski and Sgt Alojzy Sankowski. Luftwaffe records show it was shot down by Lt Adolf Kaiser 6./NJG2 Over Wadden Sea near Terschelling at 22.00 hrs.

R1602 10th March 1942 This aircraft was unable to operate from its base at RAF Lindholme due to bad weather conditions and the extreme wet state of this aerodrome. It took off from RAF Swanton Morley on a mission to bomb the Krupp Works at Essen. Not all the aircraft were able to bomb the primary target but all did bomb military targets. On its return, P/O Alfred Osadzinski was forced to land at RAF Oakington because of fuel shortage. Whilst he and his crew were being debriefed, another incoming aircraft struck R1602 and both aircraft were destroyed in the ensuing fire.