Wearing the uniform of l'Armee de l'Air
( French Air Force)
He was born on 29th May 1909 at Radom and he
was a career soldier, having been in military service since 20th August 1927
when he enrolled in the School of Infantry at Ostrow Mazowiecka in north
eastern Poland. The following year he
enrolled in the School of Artillery at Torun and, in 1930, he was promoted to
the rank of Lieutenant and was then posted too the 23rd Light Artillery
Regiment at Bedzin in the Silesian highlands of southern Poland.
In 1933 he joined a weapons course at the
Aviation School in Deblin. On completion
of this course, on 2nd July 1934, he was posted to 2nd Artillery Division in
Grodno as a Battery Officer. In 1935, he
was posted to 5GB in Lida as an observer.
In September 1939 he was commanding a platoon of reconnaissance troops
in the Modlin Army under the overall command of Lt. Col Wladyslaw Rylko.
They fought through the September Campaign
until 17th September 1939 when their group crossed into Romania and were
immediately interned. Under the, then,
sympathetic regime he was able to "escape" and make his way across
Europe, by car, through Jugoslavia and Italy, to France where he served with
the Free French land forces.
When the French capitulated, he was able to
make his way to England and was then sent to the Polish Depot at Blackpool
pending disposal to an Air Force unit.
He started at RAF Kingstown at Carlisle in Cumberland (now Cumbria)
where he did basic flying training on Miles Magister trainers. He then moved on to RAF South Cerney near
Cirencester, Gloucestershire for conversion to twin engined aircraft, training
on Airspeed Oxfords.
On completion of this training, he was sent
to 18 OTU at RAF Bramcote at Nuneaton, Warwickshire for familiarisation with
Vickers Wellington bombers and for tactical training. On 3rd January 1942 he was posted to 304
Squadron at RAF Lindholme near Doncaster, Yorkshire. During his time there, he flew missions, in
Bomber Command, to Wilhelmshaven (railway station), Bremen, Boulogne (docks),
Dunkirk (docks), Cologne, Hamburg, Essen (Krupps works), Dortmund and Rostock
(incendiary attacks on the old, largely wooden, city.
He then moved with the squadron, following
heavy losses over Germany, to Coastal Command at RAF Tiree, the most westerly
of the Inner Hebrides in Scotland. This
was an alleged rest for the crews but involved many long, low level flights
over the featureless sea, which required skill and a greater degree of
concentration. The following month, they
were moved to RAF Dale on the wild coast of Pembrokeshire in Wales.
It was here that life got a bit more
interesting and dangerous! On the night
of 29th/30th July 1942 he attacked a U-boat with depth charges and
anti-submarine bombs but the results were inconclusive with only a patch of oil
seen after the attack; this could have meant damage inflicted but it could also
have been oil released as a red herring to let the crew believe they had
inflicted damage. His report read as
follows:
"On
patrol 17.34 hours Bishop Rock. On
course 242 degs. (T) at 1,000 ft., in position 4745N. 1259W., 1940 hours, observer sighted U-boat ¾
to 1m. distant on port beam. U-boat,
which was on course 270 degs. (T) began to submerge immediately it was
sighted. Speed estimated at 6 kts. U-boat was very large - considerably larger
than "H" type British submarine.
Long, rather squat conning tower, therefore thought to be Italian. Guns not observed. Aircraft circled to port, losing height, and
attacked from astern, and dead on track, of U-boat, which was still visible a
few yards below surface when 6 depth charges were dropped from 50ft. All were seen to explode, first in stick
about 15 yards ahead of swirl and other five ahead and on track of U-boat. After attack aircraft climbed to 200ft.,
circling to port, and about one minute after explosions saw circular dark brown
oil patch about 70 yards in diameter at scene of attack. Half a minute later another similar but
smaller patch observed immediately ahead, which fused with first patch. Observer, misinterpreting Captain's order to
release sea marker also released two anti-submarine bombs. Aircraft circled position for 30 minutes, but
10 minutes after attack low cloud right down to sea level made further
investigation futile. Off patrol Bishops
Rock 22.18 hours."
Soon afterwards, at 11.40am on 2nd September
1942, he was to have a considerably more exciting experience when he came
across a fully surfaced submarine at a distance of 5-7 miles and that was too
good a target to miss. Using a verbatim
copy of the Squadron ORB best describes the attack:
"Sighted
U-boat at 11.40 hours in position 44.30N 04.30W. U-boat was fully surfaced 5 to 7 miles
distant, two points on port bow. Aircraft dived to attack and U-boat altered
course 20 degs. to starboard just before aircraft released 6 depth charges
along track of U-boat, depth charges
which was still surfaced. Explosion of
4th and 5th completely obliterated [sight of] U-Boat and exploded right
alongside conning tower on port side.
Aircraft machine gunned U-boat on run up, and several of crew who were
on deck were seen to collapse. No return
fire from U-boat was experienced, but two 5-star red cartridges were fired as
aircraft ran up to attack. Aircraft then
circled and released anti-submarine bomb from 500 ft. at U-Boat, which had now
stopped. This overshot by 20 yards. A second anti-submarine bomb was then
released which undershot by 10 yards.
The U-boat had moved only 20-30 yards since the initial depth charge
attack and left a large oil patch abaft the stern. The aircraft next circled and made five
machine-gun attacks, expending about 2,500 rounds. Ten of the crew, in swimming costumes, dived
into the sea. The U-boat had a definite
list to port and was down by the bows with part of her screw showing. The aircraft continued to machine-gun the
vessel, and three or four more of the crew were seen to collapse on the deck
and fall into the sea. When the aircraft
left the scene of the attack after half an hour the U-boat was still down by
the bows and the oil patch had grown to about 400ft. across. Throughout the entire action the U-boat made
no attempt to dive and the crew made no attempt to man the gun."
This "U-boat" was actually the
large (Liuzzi Class, 1,166 tons) Italian submarine Reginaldo Giuliani which had
recently sunk two British and one American cargo vessels and was becoming a
nuisance. The previous day it had been
attacked by two or three Short Sunderland sea-planes from 10 Squadron but the
damage had been minor. The fact that so
many of the crew were in swimming costumes negates any idea of urgency of
repairs and the lack of return fire may possibly be because the gunner was hit
in the initial attack. The damage
inflicted was so severe that the crew believed the submarine was sinking but
they managed to limp into the neutral (?) port of Santander in Spain, where
extensive repairs (lasting two months) were effected and the submarine had a
Luftwaffe escort back to its base at Le Verdon (Bordeaux), France. It was never again used as an attack
submarine, being downgraded to a transport for mercury and other precious
cargoes to and from Japan.
The damage inflicted was recorded, in
English, on a Regia Marina website in an excellent article by Cristiano D'Adamo
and this report is very close to the one above but has more detail of the
damage inflicted:
"September
2nd, 1942
12:44 From an altitude of about 30 metres the
aeroplane drops four depth charges which fall one on deck, aft of the tower and
then rolls into the sea, the other three within a few metres of the hull
forward to the left. The bombs explode under the hull and the boat, hit full
on, undergoes a very violent shock first, and then a tremble. I’m pushed upward and then fall on
deck. The boat is hit full on by columns
of water which completely cover it; it is still and heavily listing port
side. The sea is covered in fuel which is
copiously leaking out of the main tanks and the other tanks which still have
any left. From the explosion, helmsman 3rd Class Andra Assali and gunner
Francesco Perali are thrown into the sea.
2:50 The aeroplane comes back for another attack
and opens fire with machine guns and launches another depth charge which falls
40 metres off the stern. Gunner Pietro
Capilli, who at the time was holding the port side gun, suffers a broken
arm. Double hull N. 3 port side has been
completely removed. Even double hulls 2 and 4 port side must have also been
seriously damaged.
13:40 The aeroplane, after having strafed the
submarine, goes away. The inside of the submarine is devastated by
explosions and there is no light. The
boat is slowly recovering from listing, but at the same time is sinking. From double hull N. 2 sea side some fuel is
leaking from holes caused by the machine gun fire. Gunner Mario Gentilini -
shrapnel in the right thigh - and sailor Odilio Malatesta –loss of a finger and
large wound on his right arm - are also wounded. Helmsman, Andrea Assali, and gunner,
Francesco Perali, are lost at sea.
The
attack causes extremely serious damage which jeopardizes the boat’s sea
worthiness such that the aeroplane crew considered the submarine lost. Instead, on the morning of September 3rd ,
the Giuliani was able to reach the Spanish port of Santander. The same port had previously provided safe
harbor to the Torelli a few months earlier.
From here, after lengthy repairs lasting more than two months, on
November 8th the Giuliani was able to leave with the acquiescence of the
Spanish authorities and reach Le Verdon safely under the escort of the
Luftwaffe the following day. This would be the last patrol for the Giuliani as
an attack boat."
As a direct result of this successful attack,
Marian Kucharski was awarded the British Distinguished Flying Cross. On 15th September 1942, he was posted to 300
Squadron, with the rank of Flying Officer, and took over command of B Flight on
1st October of that year with promotion to Squadron Leader. On 1st December 1942 he was posted to the
Blackpool Depot and on to Coastal Command Headquarters at as Liaison Officer.
On 2nd May 1943 he was posted back to 300
Squadron with the rank of Wing Commander and was given command of the squadron
for the next six months or so. During
his two spells with this squadron, he flew 18 sorties which included mine
laying in the Friesian Islands, St Nazaire and Brest. He also flew bombing missions to Krefeld,
Osnabruck, Duisburg, Dortmund, Wuppertal, Aachen, Hamburg, Essen, Munchen
Gladbach, Boulogne and Hannover. He also
won the Virtuti Militari for his actions.
On 18th November 1943 he was posted back to
the Polish Depot at Blackpool and, on 18th February 1944, he was transferred to
45 Transport Group, where he took charge of the Polish airmen in Dorval, Quebec
and Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. The
function of this group was ferrying new aircraft from the American manufacturers
across the Atlantic to Great Britain - a task he performed until the end of the
war.
During the course of his career, he was
awarded medals by Poland (Virtuti Militari, Cross of Valour and three bars, Air
Force Medal and two bars); France (Croix du Combattant, Medal for Voluntary
Service with the Free French, 1939-1945 War Medal, Liberation of France Medal) and
from Great Britain (Distinguished Flying Cross, 1939-1945 Star, Air Crew Europe
Star, Defence Medal and 1939-1945 War Medal).
Medals from Poland, France and Great Britain
He was demobilised from the Air Force in 1946
and took British nationality with effect from 10th January 1950 and announced
in the London Gazette on 14th February 1950.
At that time he was known as Michael Kucharski and lived in Stanmore,
Middlesex, working as a radio mechanic.
At some point after that, he emigrated to Canada, where he married Lucy
Cureton.
He became deeply
involved with Polish affairs in Canada and remained so until his death at the
age of 59 on 27th January 1969 in Montreal.
He is buried in the Catholic cemetery at Pointe-Claire, Montreal. A symbolic marker has also been placed on the
family tomb in Radom, Poland.
Marian Kucharski's grave marker in Pointe-Claire Catholic Cemetery
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