HONOURING THE MEN OF 304 SQUADRON

There is a move afoot to honour the memory of the Heroes of 304 Squadron by incorporating their badge into the new crest for 304 Squadron Air Training Corps.  I fully endorse this new honour and hope that you will too.  Please let me know what you think about this idea.  But please include a return email address as all comments on this blog are normally anonymous.  It is so nice to know that someone else wishes to honour the achievements of the Squadron.

BOHDAN PIOTR RUSLAW LIPSKI

He was born on 31^st March 1916 at  Rochaczew (which was in Russia at that stage in history), whilst his heavily pregnant mother was visiting friends there; he was the son of Pawel and Stefania Lipski.  He grew up in the Pultusk region of Poland as the elder of two sons, Leszek being the younger.  There are also unconfirmed reports that the family were very wealthy and extremely well respected  land owners in the area, employing hundreds of people.

On 4^th November 1934, when he was 18, he joined the Air Force and between 1^st February 1935 and 27^th June of that year, he undertook a radio-telegraphy course, probably at Radom.  Presumably, as a career progression, he followed that up with a course in radio mechanics at the communications training centre CWL Zegrze near Warsaw – this lasted from 2^nd January 1937 until 10^th November 1937. 

 Radio-mechanics Course at CWL Zegrze, near Warsaw, 1937.  Bohdan Lipski (standing extreme right, second row).  No rank insignia visible

 

This may have been National Service, as there is no clear picture of what happened after this course.  However, he kept a diary of events from the outbreak of war and describes how he crossed the border into Romania on 18^th September 1939; he stayed in that country until 18^th December 1939 when he left for Syria, arriving there on Christmas Eve.

He remained in Syria until 15th January 1940 when he presumably boarded a ship for France where he arrived on 21^st January.  There are no available details of his time there but he left France at the time of the capitulation, on 24^th June 1940 and later arrived in England.

 

He qualified as an L/Ac wireless operator from No 2 Signals School at RAF Yatesbury, Wiltshire on 31^st March 1941 – in spite of the problems with the serviceability of the Proctor aircraft (he also trained on Dominies).  Then, from 29^th April until 6^th June of that year, he attended No 4 Bombing and Gunnery School at RAF West Freugh, near Stranraer, Wigtownshire (now Dumfries and Galloway), in Scotland.  Later, from 7^th-19^th July 1941 he did radio training on Avro Ansons at RAF Bramcote near Nuneaton in Warwickshire.  Almost immediately afterwards, he carried out air gunnery training on Wellington Bombers also at RAF Bramcote, with 18 OTU.

 

Sgt Lipski (centre) at Gunnery School – RAF West Freugh near Stranraer, Scotland

 

Sgt Bohdan Lipski (extreme right) at RAF Lindholme    c Jan/Feb 1942

On 15^th August 1941, he was posted to 304 Squadron at RAF Lindholme in South Yorkshire, where he completed 24 bombing missions, on the last of which his aircraft, Vickers Wellington Mk 1c, W5627 (NZ-B) was shot down by flak, near Chatel-Censoir, France on the return journey after bombing Cologne on the night of 28^th April 1942.  He was a member of the crew of F/O Julian Morawski and was the only member of the crew to be taken prisoner – the others all successfully evaded capture and made it back to England.

 

Sgt Bohdan Lipski    POW No 71

 

His diary reveals that on 1^st May 1942 he was in Frankfurt and on 28^th of that month he was in Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Germany (now Zagan, Poland).  By 6^th   June, he was held at Stalag Luft I near Barth, Western Pomerania, Germany and on 5^th November 1943, he was at Stalag IVb, Muhlberg, 30 miles north of Dresden, Germany.  He was still there on the night of 22^nd/23^rd April 1945, when the camp was liberated by the Russians, just over two weeks before the war in Europe ended.

The Germans wanted to round up the prisoners and march them westwards ahead of the Russian advance but the prisoners refused and the Senior American Officer is said to have persuaded the Germans not to force the issue as it would cause countless unnecessary deaths and injuries.  The German Officers surrendered  to him and promptly disappeared that night.  No doubt fearful of the treatment they could expect from the Red Army.

 

April 1945.  Sgt Bohdan Lipski (top right) and fellow POWs at

Stalag IVb, Muhlberg, Germany - on Liberation by the Russians 

 On 16^th May 1945, he left Halle, Saxony-Anhalt and travelled via Brussells to England, arriving at the Polish Depot at Blackpool, two days later.  From there it was a slow process of waiting for demobilisation.  He remained at the Polish Depot in Blackpool until he was transferred to RAF Cardington in Bedfordshire on 28^th January 1947; this was to be the final move of his military career until he was demobilised on 14^th February 1948.

His first job in civilian life was as a garage hand, employed by a fellow Pole V. Skwierkowski in the town of Warrington, Lancashire (now Cheshire).  By the time he met his wife, Stanislawa Sobieraj, he had moved to London and was working at the Royal Free Hospital.  They were married at the Town Hall at St Pancras on 23^rd July 1949 and subsequently had three children before moving to Swindon in Wiltshire in the early 1960s, after which they had a fourth child.

Once there he worked in several engineering companies before settling down to work for R.A.Lister, who later became part of Hawker Siddeley, near Swindon.  He retired in 1981 and spent his time reading, fishing and enjoying his pipe with his favoured St Bruno tobacco.  He was a quiet, placid man who never took risks – perhaps not surprisingly after a tumultuous start to his life.  He died on 20^th April 1984.

He was awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari, by General  Sikorski, and the Cross of Valour, by General Kopanski, at RAF Lindholme on 25^th April 1942 – only three days before he was shot down.  His son claimed his uncollected British medals – the Air Crew Europe Star and the 1939-1945 War Medal, as well as the Bomber Command Clasp – in July 2013.

 

Sgt Lipski’s Medals: Polish Gallantry Medals: Order of Virtuti Militari and Cross of Valour; British Campaign Medals: 1939-1945 Star, Air Crew Europe Star, 1939 – 1945 War Medal and the Bomber Command Clasp

 

Souvenirs of War: Polish Airman’s Gapa, Cross of Valour, Virtuti Militari and Polish and British Medal Ribbon Bars.  The two central items are the Caterpillar Club Membership Card awarded to any airman whose life was saved by parachuting from a stricken aircraft, awarded by the Irvin Parachute Company and the POW dog tag for POW No 71 at Stalag Luft III at Sagan – home of the Great Escape

 

All photographs used in this compilation are ©Eddie Lipski and are used with his kind permission;

All photographs and documents are from the Lipski family collection

 

 

 

 

 

STANISLAW JOZEF BORZECKI

 

He was a pilot, born on 5th August 1921 at Slobodka Dzurynska in the Tarnopol province, Poland (now Ukraine) and he was the youngest of four children of Jan Borzecki and his wife Maria. He was educated in Trembowla and applied for the SPL in Deblin in 1938. He joined 54 Infantry Regiment on 30th September 1938 for a basic course which he completed on 3rd January 1939.

He went on to join No 1 Squadron attached to the Air Force Academy in Deblin where he initially studied theory and followed that up with a flight course from 1st April 1939 until 10th June of that year; this training was cut short because of the imminence of hostilities with Germany. He was promoted to Corporal at the end of August and, with the other cadets under the command of Major Moszkowski, he crossed the border into Hungary during the September Campaign. They were immediately interned in the camp at Nagy-Kata.

At this early stage in the war, the regime was not harsh and he escaped from the camp on 16th October 1939 and made his way via Budapest, Belgrade (then Jugoslavia – now Serbia) and Thessaloniki to Athens in Greece. This was almost certainly with help from the Polish Diplomatic Corps along the way. Wherever possible, they provided false papers and money to help military personnel to reach the West.

On 25th October 1939, he sailed from Piraeus, the port of Athens, for Marseilles in France, where he rejoined the Polish forces in exile. He arrived at Lyon-Bron but had no opportunity to continue his flying training. When France capitulated, he left Lyon-Bron and made his way to Britain by sea, and arrived here on 1st July 1940.

He was sent to RAF Kirkham, Lancashire and later, on 5th August 1940, to the Polish Depot at nearby Blackpool, where he joined the Polish Air Force in Exile and was given the service number P-783410, where his tasks were learning English and familiarising himself with British equipment and methods.

During the six months from 23rd January to 23rd July 1941 he attended courses at No 1 Polish Flying Training Unit at Hucknall, Nottinghamshire; No 10 Bombing and Gunnery School at Dumfries, Scotland and 18 OTU at Bramcote, Nuneaton, Warwickshire. He was posted to 304 Squadron on 24th July 1941 at RAF Lindholme near Doncaster, Yorkshire.

On the night of 5th/6th August 1941, he flew his first combat mission to Frankfurt as second pilot to P/O Onoszko.

N2852 (NZ - D FOR Dolores) probably at RAF Lindholme in the summer of 1941

On the night of 11th/12th August 1941 he survived the forced landing of Wellington N2852 (NZ-D) at RAF East Wretham in Norfolk. They had been on a bombing mission which was recalled due to bad weather. They failed to hear the recall and could not find the primary target so they bombed Essen instead. On the return journey, the port engine seized and they were forced down. On the orders of Sgt Zykow, he bailed out successfully, along with Sgt Klimiuk and Sgt Juk but the aircraft landed safely and only Sgt Juk was slightly injured and was taken to hospital in Ipswich, Suffolk. Sgt Borzecki and the rest of the crew were flown back to RAF Lindholme the next day.

On 2nd September 1941, he set off on a mission to Frankfurt, the aircraft developed engine trouble and they were forced to abort the mission, jettison their bombs in the sea and return to RAF Lindholme. Just under two weeks later, on 15th September 1941, he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer and his service number was changed to P-1543. He was killed on 20th October 1941 when his aircraft, N2852 (NZ-D for Dolores), was hit by flak and lost an engine during a raid on Emden. It crashed into the sea near the island of Heligoland (German: Helgoland), off the coast of Germany. A distress message was sent and another aircraft saw a distress flare but no trace of him was ever found, in spite of a search, and he has no known grave.  Only two bodies were recovered.  F/O Gisman and Sgt Zykow are buried in the Sage War Cemetery at Oldenberg, Germany.

The crew were: F/O Adam Gisman, P/O Stanislaw Jozef Borzecki , Sgt Wilhelm Adamik, Sgt Ryszard Klimiuk, Sgt Henryk Plis and Sgt Mikolaj Zykow.

The crew of Vickers Wellington N2852 (NZ-D for Dolores):
Sgt Klimiuk, Sgt Plis, F/O Gisman, P/O Borzecki, Sgt Adamik and Sgt Zykow

He is recorded as having flown seven missions, with a total flying time of 37 hours and 50 minutes. He is remembered at the Bomber Command Memorial in London and at Powazki Cemetery in Warsaw.

He was awarded the Cross of Valour and the Polish Pilot's Badge.

As a footnote, Polish Airmen became attached to their own aircraft and gave them affectionate names, so NZ - D became Dolores rather than callsign Delta in the phonetic alphabet.

My sincere thanks to Ryszard Kolodziejski for his help and advice with this article.

Photographs courtesy of Mr W Sankowski, Chief Editor of Lotnictwo z Szachownica magazine, edition no 42, April 2011 in an article “P/O Borzeckis Seven Combat Missions” by D.Parzyszek.

POLISH AIRMEN - PENULTIMATE GROUP

This is the penultimate group of airmen on whom I need information and photographs to give them a proper entry on this tribute site.  If you can help me, please send me an email on one of the addresses given in the CONTACT box at the top of the page. 

WATOR Sgt Jozef P-793911

WATOR Sgt Wladyslaw P-781532
WDOWIK L/Ac Stanislaw P-782524
WEBER F/Lt Wilhelm Franciszek Adam P-2283
WEDRYCHOWSKI L/Ac Czeslaw P-794295
WEISS Sgt Adam P-780096
WEJNER L/Ac Octawian P-708929
WENDTK Ac1 Augustyn P-708598
WERAKSO W/Cdr Jozef P-0972
WERBOWSKI F/Lt Kazimierz Franciszek P-0288
WERESZ Cpl Mieczyslaw Marian P-784344
WERSCHNER F/Sgt Marian Kazimierz P-781759
WESOLOWSKI Sgt Antoni
WESOLOWSKI Sgt Wladyslaw P-703326
WICZLING L/Ac Franciszek Alfons P-793711
WIDANKA F/Lt Stefan P-0553
WIDAWSKI F/Lt Adam P-2430
WIDMUNT L/Ac Tadeusz P-707089
WIECKOWSKI Sgt Stanislaw P-704244
WIECKOWSKI Sgt Stefan P-792063
WIECZOREK F/O Cezary P-0040
WIERZBICKI L/Ac Edward P-707939
WIERZCHNIEWSKI Cpl Franciszek P-703314
WIESZCZECZYNSKI L/Ac Julian P-794002
WIGDORCZYK Cpl Hirsz P-703979
WIJASZKO Cpl Tadeusz P-792149
WILCZYK L/Ac Jan P-704577
WILCZYNSKI P/O
WINKIEL Sgt Leon Jan P-792294 (Name may be spelled WINKEL)
WISNIEWSKI Sgt Stanislaw
WISNIEWSKI-PRUS S/Ldr Wiktor P-0942
WITKOWSKI F/O Edward Piotr
WITKOWSKI Ac2 Edwin Franciszek P-704969
WITKOWSKI F/Sgt Jerzy Franciszek P-781655
WITKOWSKI Sgt Zygmunt P-780144
WITOWSKI Sgt Edmund P-781947
WLODARCZYK Cpl Jan Stanislaw P-793960
WLODARCZYK F/Lt Waclaw P-1633
WLODARCZYK F/Lt Wladyslaw Dominik P-1420
WLOSZEK Cpl Henryk P-782179
WODZIANSKI Cpl Jozef Juliusz P-780098
WODZINSKI P/O Mieczyslaw Sebastian P-1667
WOJAS Sgt Jan P-781144
WOJCIK F/Lt Stanislaw Marian P-0043
WOJDA Sq/Ldr Julian Stanislaw P-0017
WOJNILOWICZ F/Sgt Jan P-794500
WOJSA Sgt Stanislaw
WOJSA Ac2 Stanislaw P-792401
WOJTKOW-WATSON Cpl Jerzy P-793298
WOJTOWICZ Sgt J
WOJTOWICZ Sgt Stanislaw Rudolf P784066
WOLAGIEWICZ Sgt Mieczyslaw P-781175
WOLNIK F/Lt Jozef P-1145
WOLOSEWICZ F/Sgt Jozef P-780212
WOLSKI W/O Kazimierz P-782621
WOZIGNOJ Sgt Franciszek P-782100
WOZIGNOJ L/Ac Stanislaw P-781441
WOZNIAK Sgt Lucjan Jan Stanislaw P-780835
WOZNIAK F/Lt Stanislaw P-2114
WOZNIAL Sgt Boleslaw
WOZNICZKA Ac2 Tadeusz Zbigniew P-706560
WROBLEWSKI W/O Alojzy Kazimierz P-703945
WROBLEWSKI Cpl Marian Jan P-780656
WROBLEWSKI F/Lt Roman Witold Jerzy P-2481
WROBLEWSKI F/Sgt Stefan P-706566
WROBLEWSKI Sgt Tadeusz P-704339
WROBLEWSKI Wladyslaw Jan P-1583
WRONA L/Ac Edward P-782160
WRZASZCZ Cpl Franciszek P-782970
WYGLADALA Sgt Mieczyslaw P-703702
WYSOCKI Cpl Tadeusz Stefan P-794525

JERZY TOMASZ MONDSCHEIN

Gestapo picture taken the day before his murder - wearing clothes he probably made himself from old uniforms and blankets

 He was an observer (navigator), born on 18th March 1909 in Warsaw. He was murdered as a POW. Returning from a raid on Mannheim, on 8th November 1941, 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 – unfortunately for the crew. They all survived and were made prisoners of war, but not before destroying all their papers and anything that might be useful to the Germans and setting the aircraft on fire. The aircraft was Vickers Wellington 1c, R1215 (NZ-?). The rest of the all Polish crew were F/O Blicharz, P/O Rekszyc, Sgt Jaworoszuk, Sgt Krawiecki and Sgt Lewandowski.

He was one of the 50 Officers executed on 29th March 1944 after an escape from Stalag Luft III (The Great Escape) in Sagan, Germany (now Zagan, Poland). He was Prisoner of War No 680 and active in the year long preparations for this mass escape which seriously disrupted the German war effort by tying up large numbers of German troops and resources at a critical time (less than ten weeks before D-Day), which was a serious blow to the Germans – even though only three, of the seventy six who escaped, actually made it home.

In the scheme of things, he was a very useful member of the escape team and performed some very useful functions. He was one of a group of tailors who skilfully converted uniforms into civilian clothes and made warm coats from the POW blankets. In the pre-war days, before he joined the Polish Air Force, he worked on building sites and developed a skill at cutting out shaped profiles from concrete and then replaced them invisibly. This must have been extremely useful when they were concealing the entrances to the tunnels – it was certainly successful. He is also said to have built all the trapdoors in the tunnels, but that is not confirmed.

His other duty was to scan any German newspapers and magazines for any information that might prove useful to the escape effort. He was assigned this intelligence gathering task because he was fluent in speaking German and he could also read it.

Once clear of the wire, he was part of a group of twelve who made for the local railway station and he made further use of his German language skills by buying tickets for the group. The ticket seller was suspicious of so large a group, but Jerzy held his nerve, explaining that they were all Spanish workers in the local mills.

The basic idea was to get as far away from the camp as possible before the inevitable manhunt started; so they took the early morning train in the general direction of Jelenia Gora and, on arrival, the party split up into smaller groups. Jerzy and his three companions headed south with the intention of getting into Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) and seeking help from the Czech partisans – who had no love for the Germans after their occupation first of the Sudetenland, and later the whole country.

The party had to walk through waist deep snow for about 20 kilometres and were recaptured by a German patrol whilst crossing the border mountains near Reichenberg (now Liberec), in what was then Czechoslovakia. They were taken to the prison at Reichenberg where they were reunited with other recaptured prisoners (Johnny Stower and Ivo Tonder) and interrogated (possibly tortured) before being taken into the countryside near Brux (now Most) and executed. Stories vary as to whether they were machine gunned or killed with a single bullet to the back of the head – but that seems to be academic – by an unknown Gestapo killer. The bodies were cremated at Brux the next day and the urns were returned to Stalag Luft III. Cynically, the cremations were ordered the day before the executions took place.

His ashes were later buried in the Old Garrison Cemetery at Poznan, Poland. It is a sad irony that he was incarcerated in Stalag Luft III in Sagan (now Zagan) which is in Upper Silesia in modern Poland.

The actual killers are unknown but the “executions”, or rather murders, of Jerzy Mondschein and his three travelling companions (F/Lt Lester J Bull DFC of 109 squadron RAF, F/Lt Reginald V “Rusty” Kierath and Squadron Leader John EA Williams DFC, both of 450 squadron RAAF) were orchestrated by local Reichenburg Gestapo leader Bernhard Baatz, Robert Weissman and Robert Weyland. Baatz and Weyland lived on with impunity and with the complicity of the Russian authorities. Weissman was later arrested by the French military authorities but his fate remains unknown.

He was a married man with at least one child (a daughter) and, at age 35, he was the oldest of the group of Polish officers who set off for Czechoslovakia. He was in the Polish Air Force before the war and escaped, via Romania, on 17th September 1939. At some point, he was awarded the Cross of Valour.

On 25th March 2012, the Czech Republic held a ceremony honouring these men and unveiling a plaque in their memory in the city of Most (formerly Brux) where they were murdered. The Czech Air Force organised a fly past and a Guard of Honour at the ceremony, which took place on the 68th anniversary of their escape. Members of the families of the four airmen met for the first time at this event.

The photograph I have used was taken, presumably by the Gestapo, the day before he was shot and was part of the evidence gathered in the subsequent Nazi War Crimes investigation. He is wearing clothes he probably made himself. Copyright is unknown but presumably comes under the Crown or the National Archives.

FOOTNOTE:
Jonathan F Vance, in his classic book on the Great Escape - "A Gallant Company", has stated that Jerzy Mondschein suffered frequent bouts of depression - being convinced he would never see his wife and daughter again.  As a result, when these depressions occurred, he spent many lonely night time hours pacing the corridors of Hut 110, in Stalag Luft III.  Be that as it may, he bore these personal agonies in private.  He never let them interfere with his escape duties.

General Artur Nebe, the man tasked with compiling a list of the fifty recaptured escapees to be murdered, was executed by the Gestapo for his part in the July 1944 plot on Hitler's life.  He was hanged, with typical Nazi savagery, with piano wire, early in 1945.  Ironically, this happened at Sachsenhausen concentration camp where he had sent so many others - and this included Stalag Luft III escapers who ultimately survived the war.

More information and photographs will be added later...............watch this space.

INFORMATION WANTED ON POLISH AIRMEN

Here is another list of former members of 304 Squadron.  If you have any information - however little -on any of them, please contact me on nevillebougourd@gmail.com Alternatively if you have any photographs of them or documents/press cuttings about them, please send me a scan - Please DONOT send precious originals.  Together, we can give them their rightful place in this tribute site.

SOFULAK      Sgt J

SOJA     Cpl Antoni P-780824
SOJKA     L/Ac Karol P-793114
SOKOLOWSKI     P/O Bohdan Zygmunt
SOKOLOWSKI     F/Sgt Czeslaw P-706814
SOKOLOWSKI     Sgt Czeslaw P-784225
SOKOLOWSKI     F/Sgt Jan P-793561
SOLECKI     Sgt Jerzy P-782888
SOLECKI     Sgt Zygmunt Jan P-792899
SOWINSKI     Sgt Wladyslaw
SPACZYNSKI     L/Ac Czeslaw P-707361
SPALINSKI     Bronislaw P-794970
SPERBER     Sgt Abraham Zachariasz P-794557
SPIRYDOWICZ     L/Ac Jerzy P-792961
SPUREK     Sgt Wladyslaw
SPYRA     F/Sgt Julian P-705477
STANCZUK     F/Lt Edmund P781875
STANCZUK     Sq/Ldr Edward Tytus P-0049
STANCZYKIEWICZ     F/O Szczepan Marcin
STASIAK     Sgt Edward
STASIEROWSKI     L/Ac Marian P-703574
STAWICKI     F/Sgt Hieronim P-793897
STECYK     L/Ac Jozef P-707359
STEFANIAK     Sgt Antoni P-705727
STEFANSKI     L/Ac Antoni P-703310
STEINHARDT     F/Sgt Tadeusz P-706411
STENDERA     Sgt Jozef P-705623
STENOCKI     F/O Stefan M P-0885
STOMA     F/O Marian
STRACZEK     Sgt Marian Jan P-793156
STRAIGIS     Sgt Stanislaw Walter (Stanley) P-794805
STRAK     Sgt Piotr P-703723
STRAUCH     F/Sgt Franciszek P-706658
STREK     Sgt Roman P-781633
STRENG     Sgt Tadeusz Ernest Adolf P-709556
STRZYZEWSKI     Sgt Jacek P-784302
STUDENY     L/Ac Stanislaw P-793850
SULIKOWSKI     W/O Waclaw P-784722
SURMA     F/Sgt Zygmunt P-781149
SURYN     F/Lt Leon
SUSKA     F/O
SUTERSKI     F/Sgt
SUWALSKI     Sgt Kazimierz P-780356
SWIERKOWSKI     L/Ac Stanislaw Jan P-792545
SWIERZB     Cpl Ludwik P-782163
SYLWESTROWICZ     Sgt Jan P793771
SYM     P/O Antoni
SYMONOWICZ     L/Ac Wladyslaw P-782959
SZANTROCH     F/Sgt Zdzislaw Jan P-793313
SZAR     L/Ac Jozef Jan P-782937
SZCZEPANIAK     Sgt Stefan P-704236
SZCZODROWSKI     F/O Marian P-76740
SZCZUR     Ac1 Michal P-707358
SZCZUROWSKI     P/O Ryszard Zygmunt P-76788
SZCZUTKOWSKI     Cpl Florian P-781802
SZELAGOWSKI     L/Ac Mieczyslaw Marian P-782150
SZERSZUN     F/Sgt Waclaw P-703940
SZEWCZYK     F/Sgt Kazimierz P-783263
SZEWERDA     Cpl Wilhelm Zygfryd P-793940
SZKLARSKI     Sgt Walenty Mieczyslaw P-2827
SZKODA     Sgt Jozef P-704148
SZKUTA     F/Lt Alojzy P-76625
SZLACHETA     F/Sgt Kazimierz P-782187
SZLAZAK     L/Ac Eugeniusz P-783311
SZMINDA     F/O Romuald Antoni P-2193
SZOSTAK     L/Ac Tadeusz P-706088
SZOTT     Sgt Piotr P-704238
SZOTT     Sgt Zbigniew P-706782
SZPEK     Sgt Jan P-793244
SZPINALSKI     F/Sgt Boguslaw P-703941
SZULGIN     Sgt Henryk P-704340
SZUMILOWSKI     L/Ac Jan P-706367
SZUSTER     Sgt Wladyslaw P-781804
SZWEDOWSKI     Sgt Roman P-792213
SZYCH     Cpl Zdzislaw P-705063
SZYMANSKI     Sgt Leon P-703984
SZYMANSKI     W/O Tadeusz Roman P-704336
SZYMKIEWICZ     Cpl Teofil P-780365
SZYMURSKI     Sq/Ldr Kazimierz P-2010
SZYNDLER     L/Ac Boguslaw William P-780138
SZYNWELSKI     L/Ac Antoni P-708659

INFORMATION ON POLISH AIRMEN

I have placed several lists of Polish Airmen on this blog, requesting information on them (and there are more to come) and I have had a number of responses asking what information I want.   To make things as clear as possible, I want to create mini-biographies to show that they were men and not just fighting machines; this site is intended as a memorial to human beings - to honour the brave Poles who fought for my country.

I would like information on their date and place of birth; their life in Poland before the war; their wartime service and their life after the war (if they survived the hostilities) and their date and place of death and burial if they are no longer living.  If you have documents, photographs etc. please send me scans NOT originals. 

I am a genuine researcher but there are those who will ask to borrow documents, photos, medals, uniforms etc. to be professionally photographed or scanned.  These items very often end up on Ebay or similar sites and are never seen again by their rightful owners.

Furthermore, I never ask for, or accept, money - this research is carried out at my own expense and all entries on the site are placed there free.  It is intended as a tribute and a memorial - not a money making scam.

If anyone wants to make a financial contribution, please send it to Help For Heroes (in Britain) or a similar charity in your own country or the Sikorski Institute in London, who help preserve the memory of Polish fighting men.

REMNANTS OF R1268

The items shown are parts of R1268 that were retrieved at the time of the crash and have not spent the last 71 years in the ground.  They were collected by a local after the recovery crew had left and have been in storage in a private collection ever since.  The four pieces are well marked and should be easily identifiable as being from a Wellington 1c.  I acquired them from a man who lives only four or five miles from the scene of the crash.  R1268 is the only Mk 1c EVER to crash in this area.  I will try to make a positive identification of the parts and their functions and identify them here later.

JEWISH AIRMEN

This is a completely secular tribute to the Polish airmen in exile - a hero is a hero regardless of his religion.  However, I cannot help but note the lack of information that is forthcoming on the many Jewish airmen who were a part of the PAF in exile.  I would like to include these men in this tribute but the only information available is gleaned from official sources and gives no flavour of the person or his personality.  The one exception came from the family of a Catholic friend of a Jewish airman.

I would really like to honour these men who, by virtue of their religion, took even greater risks escaping through territory controlled by Nazis or their sympathisers.  Those who were captured faced a greater risk of maltreatment, torture and murder.  Even Jerzy Tomasz Mondschein, one of the 50 executed escapees in the "Great Escape" from Stalag Luft III at Sagan (now Zagan), has very little written about him.  Does anyone know his life story?

Can I appeal to the Jewish community for information on these brave men who also deserve to be remembered for their courage, their patriotism and their contribution to the war effort.  

JOZEF PAWEL MACZYNSKI

Photo courtesy of ARS Group

He was a navigator, born on 14th July 1917 and posted in from RAF Bramcote on 20th June 1941. He was the son of Apolinary and Ludwika Maczynski and had three sisters. They were from Grodno (now Belarus). He was killed when DV423 was shot down by a night fighter on a mission to Wilhelmshaven on 10th January 1942. In Luftwaffe records DV423 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). He has no known grave but the family believes he may be one of the 158 unidentified bodies buried in the Sage war cemetery in Germany

He had previously survived the crash of X3164 on 30th November 1941 which was ditched in the North Sea 20 miles east of Great Yarmouth. They lost one engine over hamburg and limped home on the other. The crew had only seven minutes to escape before the aircraft sunk.

Polish airmen in front of a Wellington Bomber.  JP Maczynski is 4th from the right

On 13th January 1942 he was awarded the Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari, just three days after his death, so this was obviously for an earlier act of gallantry.

Group photo and Virtuti Militari courtesy of Krzysztof Dabrowski

ZDZISLAW STANISLAW PIECZYNSKI

He was a radio operator, born on 28^th April 1916 at Sulejów p. Piotrków  and posted in on 12^th April 1942 from 18 OTU RAF Bramcote as a wireless operator and air gunner.  He was killed on Z1088 which disappeared on a mission to Cologne on 28^th April 1942.  It is believed to have been shot down near Villers la Ville, Belgium.  He is buried in the Charleroi Communal Cemetery.  He was awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari.

Photo © ARS Group

ZYGMUNT STANISLAW PIECHOWIAK

He was a radio operator, born on 4^th April 1920 and was posted in from 18 OTU RAF Bramcote on 27th April 1942.  He was a crew member of a Wellington that was jumped by 6 Ju88 fighters whilst on anti-submarine patrol near Bishop Rock on 16^th September 1942.  In a 12-15 minute battle, fought at 30 feet above sea level, this crew destroyed one enemy plane, saw large pieces break off the tailplane of another and scored hits on three more.  In return they had a two yard square section of wing torn off by cannon fire and their petrol tank was pierced.  They managed a power climb into the clouds and the action was broken off.  He was killed on R1413 which was shot down by three Junkers Ju88 German fighters of V/KG40 on 16^th October 1942, whilst on patrol over the Bay of Biscay.

The fatal blow was delivered by Uffizier Steurich on the second attack after R1413’s rear gunner had knocked out one engine on the first attack by  Leutnant Dieter Meister, putting him out of the combat.

JOZEF NILSKI

He was born on 10th January 1919 at Warsaw and he served with the 4th Air Force Regiment from 30th September 1937 until 18th September 1939 – the day after the Russian Invasion of Poland and fought in the Polish campaign.  After this he crossed the Romanian frontier and made his way to France where he joined the Polish Air Force under French Command and was sent to the Polish Air Force Reserve Depot at Lyon-Bron. He was assigned for service in the United Kingdom and arrived on 7th March 1940 and, two days later, joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve at RAF Eastchurch in Kent.  After the surrender of France, in June 1940, the Polish Air Force was formed under British command and he joined it with effect from 6th August 1940.  He was a wireless operator and air gunner and was under training as a navigator. On 16th July 1940 he was posted to the Polish Air Force Training Centre at RAF Hucknall and then, on 10th October 1940, he was assigned to 304 Squadron at RAF Bramcote, transferring with the Squadron to RAF Syerston in December 1940 and then on to RAF Lindholme in July 1941. On the late evening of 27th May 1941, his crew took off for a bombing mission to Boulogne and on the return journey one engine was hit by flak and the plane went out of control and plunged several thousand feet.  The pilot gave the order to bale out and one crew member did so, over the English Channel.  His body was never found and he has no known grave.  A little later the pilot again gave the order but no one jumped as they were still over the sea.  Gradually they limped back to England and the order was given again; two of the crew jumped and were both injured.  The aircraft crashed very shortly afterwards, near Hastings, killing the three remaining crew members.  In the ensuing fireball the pilot was burned beyond recognition and the other two crew were also badly burned. Reports vary on the injuries sustained by Sergeant Nilski and his fellow survivor but both were out of action for several months.  After breaking his ankle and being hung up in a tree, Sergeant Nilski made his own way to a Police Station some two and a half hours after the crash.  He was taken to hospital in Tonbridge Wells in Kent. He married ten days later. On 30th August 1941 he was transferred to the Polish Air Force Depot at RAF Blackpool, which was quite normal for injured airmen who were not ready to return to active duty. He was never to return to active flying but remained in the PAF as a Leading Aircraftman (ground crew).  The remainder of his service was as follows:

 

5th October 1941	300 Squadron at RAF Hemswell
18th December 1941	305 Squadron atRAF Lindholme
10th January 1942	301 Squadron at RAF Hemswell
21st November 1942	50 Group at RAF Watchfield
7th November 1942	301 Squadron at RAF Hemswell and, from 19th April 1943, at RAF Tempsford
22nd November 1943	5091 Mobile Signals Unit at RAF Chigwell
28th February 1944	84 Group at RAF Northolt. As far as I can find out, 5091 MSU was part of 84 group which had, by then, become part os 2TAF (Second Tactical Air Force) made up mainly of squadrons of the RAF and RCAF (about 2,000 aircraft) under joint command with the army.  They spent the first half of 1944 training to assemble and dismantle fully operational, but temporary, airfields to move at the speed of the advancing armies and therefore always able to operate from forward positions. On 15th November 1943 2TAF was formed as part of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force which was under the command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory and was formed as a precursor to  the invasion of Europe.  It was a very successful force and in its last few days of operational activity (early May 1945) its aircraft – Typhoons and Tempests devastated Axis shipping in the Baltic and destroyed many transport aircraft and fling boats which were trying to make a Dunkirk style evacuation of Norway.  A further 141 aircraft were claimed as destroyed during its operations against shipping in the Baltic.  On 16th July 1945 2TAF re-grouped and reformed as the British Air Force of Occupation in Germany.  Sgt Nilski and his former crew mate, Sgt Jozefiak, were both involved in this force.
1st August 1944	Back to 5091 Mobile Signals Unit on posting to France (Second Tactical Air Force) supporting the Invasion forces after D_Day
14th January 1945	10 OTU in the UK
23rd February 1945	Air Crew Training Centre at RAF Hucknall
22nd June 1945	Polish Initial Training Wing at RAF Croughton
8th November 1946	Demobilised from the PAF and enlisted in the Polish Resettlement Corps
10th July 1947	Honourably discharged into civilian life with a conduct rating of very good.

As well as his various British and Polish campaign medals, he also won the Polish Cross of Valour.  Although his injuries kept him from operational flying, he never ceased to make the effort and to make his contribution to the war effort.  He remained in England and sadly he died on 23^rd April 1974 at the young age of 55.

Photo © Zyg Nilski