LOSS OF WELLINGTON HE103 (V)

At 10.02 am on 8th February 1943 Wellington Mk 1c HE103 (V) took off from RAF Dale on an anti submarine patrol.  The patrol itself was uneventful but strong winds, heavy rain and low cloud took their toll on the fuel supply and the crew was forced to abandon the aircraft.  They baled out and all were safe relatively speaking.  The Airfield Controller had declined to divert them because the bad weather was not expected to last 

The plane carried on and eventually crashed into high ground at Parc Llwydiarth in a remote area known as the Dyfnant Forest in near Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire (now Powys), Wales.

This is a small market town but boasted a Royal Observer Corps post and the headquarters of a Home Guard Company and was six miles from the crash site.  The first indication of the crash was debris found by  Private Watkin Jones of the local Home Guard platoon.  There were also reports of German parachutists from various points, one of whom had landed near the Lake Vyrnwy Dam at Boncyn Celyn.  It was the co-pilot, F/O Dobrowalski, and he had broken his leg and was in severe pain and was speaking in Polish.

Local Constables and Home Guard platoons picked up the rest of the crew in a line that stretched some eight miles eastwards.  The pilot F/O J Wroblewski had injured his arm and the rear gunner, Sgt Stanislaw Malczyk's parachute had been caught up in a tree and he had hung there all night and had to be treated for shock and exposure.  The rest of the crew (F/O Zbigniew Jaroszynski, Sgt Emil Walukiewicz and Sgt Konstanty Krajewski were uninjured. 

The descending plane had sliced the tops off a swathe of trees and created a clearing sixty yards across when it hit the ground.  The full load of bombs and depth charges were placed on a lorry and driven away but had to be taken to a remote spot when it was realised that they had not been made safe at the time.  They were blown up in a controlled detonation which still caused minor damage to local houses.  The stained glass leaded windows of the local church were bowed but not broken in the blast.

There was a fanciful story that a lot of Norwegian Krone had been found in the clearing and this gave rise to  a panic story about a German invasion from Norway.  There is a very interesting and more expansive account of this incident in the book Wings Across The Border - A History of Aviation in North Wales and the Northern Marches Volume 3 by Derrick Pratt and Mike Grant (Bridge Books, 2005) and I am grateful to Jeff Spencer of Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust for bringing it to my attention.

LUDWIK SWIERZB

He was born on 26th February 1900, the son of Jan and Wiktoria (nee Pula) at Dabrowa Tarnowska near Krakow and was listed as a fitter in civilian life.  He joined the Polish Army in 1918 and fought as a soldier in the Russo-Polish War of 1918-1920; he was in the 16th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Company.  He saw action in the Ukraine and in the battles at Cieszyn and Vilnius, during which time he was awarded the Cross of Valour and promoted to corporal. 

After the war, he stayed in the army serving as a mechanic with the 2nd Air Regiment at Krakow until he was placed on the reserve list and returned to civilian life in 1923.  He is known to have attended training courses at 1st Air Regiment based at the Warsaw garrison but the duration is unknown  He met and married Maria Wodka and they had five children during the peacetime years that followed.

Ludwik's wife, Maria Wodka

Still being on the reserve list, he was called up for service as the crisis with Germany continued and he was back in uniform when the War broke out on 1st September 1939.  He was involved in the September Campaign but was evacuated to Romania on 18th September 1939 - the day after the Russians attacked Poland from the rear.

Once in Romania, the Polish forces were disarmed and interned but the Romanian authorities were sympathetic and escape from the internment camps was easy once the Polish Embassy had provided false ID, money and travel documents.  There is no detail on the route he took - either overland through Jugoslavia and Italy or by sea from one of the Black Sea ports but the latter is most likely as he arrived at Marseilles on 3rd February 1940 and was transferred to Lyon-Bron two days later.  He was lucky and was employed there because of his trade skills.

After the Capitulation of France, it is most likely that he was one of those who arrived at St Juan de Luz, on the Spanish border, and was taken off as one of the last evacuees before the German and Vichy authorities took over.  At any rate, he arrived in England on 2nd July 1940 and remained at the Blackpool Depot until he was transferred to 304 Squadron on 23rd August 1940.

He was a mechanic who later specialised as a rusznikarz (armourer) and did a specialist training course on Fraser-Nash gun turrets  at No 10 School of Technical Training at RAF Kirkham near Blackpool.   This was particularly important to his work with Wellington Bombers.  On 1st march 1946 he was given the permanent war rank of Sergeant.

During his time with 304 Squadron he was posted to RAF Bramcote (Warwickshire), RAF Syerston (Nottinghamshire), RAF Lindholme (Yorkshire), RAF Isle of Tiree (Inner Hebrides), RAF Dale -twice - and RAF Talbenny (both in Pembrokeshire), RAF Docking (Norfolk), RAF Davidstow Moor and RAF Predannack (both in Cornwall), RAF Chivenor (Devon), RAF Benbecula (Outer Hebrides), RAF St Eval (Devon) and RAF North Weald (Essex).

He was to remain with 304 Squadron throughout the War before transferring to RAF Faldingworth then moving to RAF Skipton-on-Swale in Yorkshire with the rank of Corporal on 28th October 1946. It is not clear what he was doing there but he remained there after joining the Polish Resettlement Corps on 2nd May 1947.  He later moved to the PRC Camp at RAF Framlingham, Suffolk.  During his war service, he was awarded the British Defence Medal, the War Medal and the Polish Air Force Medal, which was for courage not in the face of the enemy and was probably for risking his life fighting a fire on board a Wellington Bomber and saving two others.  After the war he received a second, third and fourth award of this medal for unspecified actions during the war.  He also received a Bronze Cross of Merit for his actions prior to May 1942 - this was most likely for outstanding work rather than courage.  Few ground crew received so many awards.

On 17th December 1948 he was discharged from the PRC to take up a 3 year contract as a mechanic with the emergent Pakistan Air Force.  He continued to send money home to his family but then it suddenly stopped and I have been unable to trace his whereabouts in Pakistan or elsewhere, since that time in the very early 1950's. 

If anyone, particularly my readers in Pakistan, can help with further information please contact me on nevillebougourd@gmail.com

Photographs courtesy of Alicja Morawiec

 

MIKOLAJ PAWLUCZYK

He was born on 1st or 15th November 1914 (accounts vary but his military records show the date as 1st November 1914) in Minsk, Russia and he joined the training school at Bydgoszcz in 1930 but appears to have failed the course as he was released after two years. From 1933 to 1935 he was called up for National Service with 5th Air Regiment in Lida and afterwards was placed on the Reserve List.

On 26th December 1936 he married Weronika Jefimick at Brzesc (now Brest, Belarus).  He was working as a telegraph clerk at the time.  They had a daughter, Krystina on 5th January 1939.

On 27th August 1939 he was conscripted and sent to 6 Air Regiment in Lwow where he was posted to 63 Eskadra, flying as an observer and rear gunner in the brand new RWD 14b Czapla  aircraft which were perfect for their task but hopelessly inadequate against modern Luftwaffe fighters.  His main task was to photograph enemy positions and to protect the aircraft with a single Vickers K machine gun.  His task was in support of the ground troops in the Lwow area.

 

RWD 14b Czapla (Heron)

He was evacuated to Romania on 18th September 1939 and was interned there until 11th October when he escaped and made his way to Balcic (now Bulgaria) where he stayed until 17th December 1939.  On 18th December he boarded a ship to Beirut in the Lebanon and on 16th January 1940 he took another ship to Marseilles, France.  At first he was sent to a military camp at Carpiagne but then, on 24th January 1940 he was moved to Septfonds which was originally just a transit camp in WW1 and then became a settlement camp for Spanish Civil War refugees.  It was an awful place without running water and with only the most basic sanitation.  It was an inhospitable place with little or no heating and was very poor shelter through the winter; he remained there until 20th February 1940 until he moved to the air base at Lyon-Bron.

Like all the other airmen, he was under used and must have felt really frustrated and pleased to leave France for Great Britain, known to the Poles as the Islands of Last Hope.  He was evacuated from St Jean de Luz, a French port almost on the border with Spain.  He must have arrived on the Batory, the Sobieski, the Ettrick or the Arandora Star which left on the last day of the evacuation and arrived in Britain on 27th June 1940.  Just a few days later on its very next journey, the Arandora Star was torpedoed  and sunk with the loss of 805 lives

After a period of training and learning the King's Regulations - and learning to speak English - he was posted to 307 Fighter Squadron on 23rd September 1940 at RAF Kirton in Lindsey in Lincolnshire and later at RAF Pembrey at Carmarthen in Wales.  He was grounded, probably because of malaria picked up in the Danube Delta, and spent a lot of time in No 1 Aircrew Convalescent Depot in Blackpool and various hospitals over the next few years.

He requested aircrew duties and began Wireless Operator training at the No 1 Signals School at RAF Cranwell North, Sleaford, Lincolnshire on 13th May 1942; he completed the course on 17th September 1942. Next day he went to 8 Air Gunnery School at RAF Evanton, Invergordon, Scotland where he qualified on 16th October 1942. After a few weeks back at the Polish Depot, on 16th December 1942 he went to 7 Signals School  at South Kensington, London where he learned care and maintenance of advanced radio equipment and then moved on to 6 OTU at RAF Thornaby on Tees in County Durham for operational training.  The Squadron ORB incorrectly states that he was posted in from 6 OTU at Silloth.  On 15th April 1943 he was posted to 304 Squadron at RAF Docking in Norfolk.

He was on board Wellington bomber HE304 on 17th July 1943 when it ran out of fuel on the return journey from the Bay of Biscay. The whole crew baled out and landed safely at Carlow in the Irish Republic and the plane crashed near Ballickmoylar, County Laois. He managed to send out an SOS and three aircraft were sent out to look for them but they failed to find the crash because they were unable to violate Irish neutrality and the visibility was so poor.

I have not been able to trace his immediate movements after this, perhaps he was detained in Ireland for a while.  However, I have traced a further 38 missions flown with 304 Squadron between July 1943 and June 1944, from December 1943 with a regular crew:

The normal crew referred to in this partial reconstruction of his missions was as follows: F/O L. Krempa, Sgt J. ZienSgt J. Zientek,  P/O S. SawicP/O  S. Sawicki,  Sgt W. SzerszSgt W. Szerszun,  Sgt M. Pawluczyk and Sgt J. Gumiński Sgt J. GumińskiSgt M. Pawluc
2 Jul 43 Wellington X HZ258 - S Anti-submarine patrol	Flying out of RAF Davidstow Moor Sgt S Kieltyka, Sgt KS Pasieka, S/Ldr Korbut, Sgt E Duszczak, Sgt M Pawluczyk, Sgt W Kaczan
8 Jul 43 Wellington X HZ258 - S Anti-submarine patrol	Flying out of RAF Davidstow Moor Fully surfaced U-Boat sighted from a height of 500 feet and engaged with machine gun fire.  Aircraft dropped to 50 feet and released 7 torpex depth charges across the swirl.  All exploded and some wreckage seen. Sgt S Kieltyka, Sgt KS Pasieka, Sgt M Salewicz, Sgt E Duszczak, Sgt M Pawluczyk, Sgt W Kaczan
Wellington X  HZ258 - S which was the first 304  Squadron aircraft in which Mikolaj Pawluczyk flew
16 Jul 43 Wellington X HE304 - C Anti-submarine patrol	Flying out of RAF Davidstow Moor Aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed in the Irish Republic.  All crew baled out and safe.  Repatriated to England.  Sgt S Kieltyka, Sgt KS Pasieka, Sgt M Salewicz, Sgt E Duszczak, Sgt M Pawluczyk, Sgt W Kaczan
12 Aug 1943 Wellington XIII HZ573 - C Anti-submarine patrol	Flying out of RAF Davidstow Moor F/Sgt S Czekalski, Sgt E Jaworski, F/Lt E Stanczuk, F/Sgt E Siadecki, Sgt B Szpinalski, Sgt M Pawluczyk
15 Aug 43 Wellington XIII HZ645 - F Anti-submarine patrol	Flying out of RAF Davidstow Moor Attacked by Junkers Ju88 - rear gunner returned fire and plane reached safety of cloud cover. F/Lt J Ochalski, F/Sgt S Kieltyka, F/O J Borzych, Sgt R Duszczak, Sgt M Pawluczyk, Sgt S Wisniewski
17 Aug 43 Wellington XIII HZ644 - 2E Anti-submarine patrol	Flying out of RAF Davidstow Moor F/Sgt S Kieltyka, F/Sgt W Kasprowicz, Sgt M Salewicz, Sgt R Duszczak, Sgt M Pawluczyk, Sgt L Winkiel
21 Aug 43 Wellington XIII HZ577 - 2J Anti-submarine patrol	Flying out of RAF Davidstow Moor F/Sgt S Kieltyka, F/O J Glebocki, Sgt M Salewicz, Sgt R Duszczak, Sgt M Pawluczyk, F/Sgt E Muszala
26th/27th Aug 43 Wellington XIII HZ577 - 2J Anti-submarine patrol	Flying out of RAF Davidstow Moor Sgt S Kieltyka, Sgt KS Pasieka, Sgt M Salewicz, Sgt R Duszczak, Sgt M Pawluczyk, Sgt Z Gustowski
2 Sep 43 Wellington XIII HZ762 - 2G Anti-submarine patrol	Flying out of RAF Davidstow Moor Sgt S Kieltyka, Sgt KS Pasieka, Sgt M Salewicz, Sgt R Duszczak, Sgt M Pawluczyk, Sgt P Kaczan
4 Sep 43 Wellington XIII HZ577 - 2J Anti-submarine patrol	Flying out of RAF Davidstow Moor Sgt S Kieltyka, Sgt KS Pasieka, S/Ldr C Korbut, Sgt R Duszczak, Sgt M Pawluczyk, Sgt P Kaczan
6 Sep 43 Wellington XIII HZ551 - A Anti-submarine patrol	Flying out of RAF Davidstow Moor Sgt S Kieltyka, Sgt E Jaworski, Sgt M Salewicz, Sgt R Duszczak, Sgt M Pawluczyk, Sgt P Kaczan
19 Dec 43 Wellington XIV 2E (HF1982E (HF198) Anti-submarine patrol (Percussion T.3 extended to 49.30N)	T.3 Percussion extended to 49.30N Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack   None of the crew on this mission were on board this aircraft when it crashed into the sea, for unknown reasons, on a training flight between RAF Predannack and Cardigan Bay (Wales), less than four weeks later, on 14th January 1944.  All five crew were killed.
13/14 Jan 44 Night 13/14.01.Wellington XIV 2F (HF499) 2F (HF199) Wellington XIV Anti-submarine patrol	T.3 Percussion Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack
20/21.01.194420/21 Jan 44 Night Wellington XIV Wellington XIV 2R (HF275) 2R (HF275) Anti-submarine patrol	M.3 Percussion Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack
28/29 Jan 44 Night Wellington XIV 2V (HF121) Anti-submarine patrol	N.1 Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack   None of the crew on this mission were on board this aircraft when it was shot down on the night of 7/8 April 1944 whilst on patrol over the Bay of Biscay.  The crew managed to send off an SOS call but all were killed.  This was the second off last 304 Squadron plane to be lost to enemy action.
05/06 Feb 44 Night Wellington XIV 2F (HF199) Anti-submarine patrol	M.2 Percussion Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack
08/09 Feb 44 Night Wellington XIV 2G (HF202) Anti-submarine patrol	M.1 Percussion Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack
20/21 Feb 44 Night Wellington XIV 2H (HF200) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol No 2 Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack
24/25 Feb 44 Night Wellington XIV 2D (HF196) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol No 3 Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack
28/29 Feb 44 Night Wellington XIV 2P (HF181) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol No 2 F/O Ejbich replaced Sgt Zientek Bohdan Ejbich settled in Canada – he became a novelist and PAF Historian   Flying out of RAF Predannack
02/03 Mar 44 Night Wellington XIV 2H (HF200) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol No 3 F/O Ejbich replaced Sgt Zientek Bohdan Ejbich settled in Canada – he became a novelist and PAF Historian   Flying out of RAF Predannack
Wellington XIV  2H (HF200) He flew in this aircraft twice; both times piloted by F/O Ludwik Krempa
04/05 Mar 44 Night Wellington XIV 2R (HF275) Anti-submarine patrol	T.2 Percussion Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack
07/08 Mar 44 Night Wellington XIV 2R (HF275) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol B Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack
10/11 Mar 44 Night Wellington XIV 2C (HF179) Anti-submarine patrol	R.2 Percussion Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack
15/16 Mar 44 Night Wellington XIV 2R (HF275) Anti-submarine patrol	S.1 Percussion Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack
19/20 Mar 44 Night Wellington XIV 2P (HF181) Anti-submarine patrol	S.4 Percussion Normal crew Flying out of RAF Predannack or RAF Chivenor.  19th March 1944 was the official movement date to the latter RAF Station.
22/23 Mar 44 Night Wellington XIV 2A (HF188) Anti-submarine patrol	R.1 Percussion Normal crew Flying out of RAF Chivenor   None of the crew on this mission was on board this aircraft when it was shot down by German fighters on a patrol over the Bay of Biscay, less than three weeks later on 11th April 1944.  The crew managed to send off an SOS but all were killed.   This was the last 304 Squadron plane to be lost to enemy action.
25/26 Mar 44 Night Wellington XIV 2A (HF188) Anti-submarine patrol	T.3 Percussion Normal crew Flying out of RAF Chivenor   Shot down over the Bay of Biscay on 11th April 1944 (see previous entry)
05/06 Apr 44 Night Wellington XIV 2B (HF185) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol A Normal crew Flying out of RAF Chivenor
27/28 Apr 44 Night Wellington XIV 2N (HF330) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol No.2 Normal crew Flying out of RAF Chivenor
Wellington HF330 - 2N, another of his aircraft, seen here with battle damage
30 Apr/01 May 44 Night Wellington XIV 2K (HF388) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol No.2 Normal crew Flying out of RAF Chivenor
06/07 May 44 Night Wellington XIV 2D (HF386) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol No.4 Normal crew Flying out of RAF Chivenor
11/12 May 44 Night Wellington XIV 2M (HF334) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol No.4 Normal crew Flying out of RAF Chivenor
16/17 May 44 Night Wellington XIV 2M (HF334) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol No.4 Normal crew Flying out of RAF Chivenor
23/24 May 44 Night Wellington XIV 2M (HF334) Anti-submarine patrol	Box 1 patrol Normal crew Flying out of RAF Chivenor
09/10 Jun 44 Night Wellington XIV 2Q  (HF420) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol V Normal crew Flying out of RAF Chivenor
14/15 Jun 44 Night Wellington XIV 2Q  (HF420) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol No.52 Normal crew Flying out of RAF Chivenor
21/22 June 44 Night Wellington XIV 2K (HF388) Anti-submarine patrol	Patrol Y Normal crew Flying out of RAF Chivenor

He returned to the Blackpool Depot and was later posted to RAF Morecambe Polish training wing in Lancashire on 16th November 1944. Subsequently he was promoted to Warrant Officer and transferred to 133 Wing as adjutant. He is known to have served in the Polish Army Officer training facility at Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland.  On 3rd September 1945 he received his final posting to RAF Dunholme Lodge in Lincolnshire which appears to have been a storage facility for Hamilcar gliders at this time but it was also a Polish Resettlement Corps site. He was awarded the Cross of Valour three times and the Polish Air Medal as well as British campaign medals.

On 16th July 1947 he was discharged from the Polish Air Force and the Polish Resettlement Corps at his own request.  After his discharge he returned to Poland and later joined the Merchant Navy, travelling the world until his death from a heart attack on 6^th December 1975; he is buried in the Central Cemetery in Szczecin, Poland.