TWO MORE LOSSES

W5627 (NZ-B) 28^th April 1942

This Mk 1c, flying out of RAF Lindholme, was shot down whilst returning from a bombing mission to Cologne. The aircraft crashed near Chatel-Censoir in France; Sgt Lipski was made a Prisoner of War, P/O Wacinski and Sgt Woznial were both injured and taken to local hospitals and presumably evaded capture or became Prisoners of War; no record of injury to Sgt Polesinski. There are reports that two of the crew were killed but there is evidence that all but Sgt Lipski evaded capture and returned to England. The pilot, F/O Julian Morawski walked into the village of Montillot was hidden by the locals and taken to a remote village, Charbonniere, where he remained until the Resistance took him through the Free French Zone and into Spain. He was interned in the camp at Miranda but escaped and returned to England. He subsequently transferred to 307 night fighter squadron and then 138 Special Duties squadron. He was killed on 13th July 1943 when Halifax JD155 was shot down during a supply drop to the Resistance in Normandy. He is buried in the Grainville-Langannerie cemetery.

DV781 31^st May 1942

This Mk1c was lost on an anti-submarine sweep from RAF Tiree. It made a forced ditching in the sea due to the failure of both port and starboard engines; the crew took to their dinghy and were picked up 6 hours later by the Royal Navy Destroyer HMS Boadicea. There were no fatalities and the known crew were: F/O Waclaw Waltera and Sgt Jonski.

LOSS OF Z1088

This picture shows Z1088 (NZ-D) in difficulty at an unknown date and place before it was shot down. Photo courtesy of the Aircrew Remembrance Society.

Z1088 (NZ-D) 28^th April 1942

This aircraft disappeared on a bombing mission to Cologne, Germany, without any radio contact, mayday message etc. It is believed to have been shot down near Villers la Ville (Brabant), 14 kilometres from Nivelles in Belgium. The crew of five were all killed. They were: F/Lt Edward Kowalski, F/O Ryszard Szczurowski, F/Sgt Zdzislaw Stanislaw Pieczynski, Sgt Stefan Ferenc and Sgt Wincenty Garbacz.

GREMLINS

Appropriately, for an Air Force Blog, I find the Gremlins have got into the system. (Younger readers may not know that Gremlins were an air force invention meaning bugs in the system and not stars of a Hollywood movie).

The last post was not actually omitted but only partly printed and it has taken me more than a dozen attempts to get it right.

Ah well................. back to the story.

OMITTED FROM PREVIOUS POST

X9764 6th April 1942

Whilst on a bombing mission from RAF Lindholme to Cologne, this Mk 1c aircraft was shot down by a night fighter near Geetbetz, (Brabant), 28 kilometres ENE of Leuven, Belgium. None of the crew survived and all were buried at St Truiden. P/O Assman had previously survived being shot down by flak in W5720 on 26th October 1941. Luftwaffe records show that it was shot down by Oberleutnant Heinrich Petersen and Fw Leidenbach of 6/NJG1 Geetbets 10 KM North West St. Trond at 02.28hrs.The dead were: F/O Zygmunt Natkanski, P/O Ludwik Karol Assman, P/O Alfred Osadzinski, P/O Kazimierz Ziemianski, Sgt Zdzislaw Babraj, Sgt Dominik Marian Grajnert.Oberleutnant Petersen was injured when his Messerschmidt Me110 was in a mid-air collision with a Short Stirling, R9314 (OJ-T) on the night of 5th June 1942. The Stirling lost its rear turret but Oblt Petersen’s aircraft was lost and he baled out. He survived the war and was credited with 2 kills.

STILL MORE LOSSES

R1230 (NZ-E) 11th April 1942 This Mk Ic aircraft was on its way, from RAF Lindholme to bomb Essen, Germany, when it was hit by flak (or possibly a night fighter) near Kessel, Germany. One of the crew was killed but the others baled out and were taken prisoner. Sergeant Jozef Janik was buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. The survivors were: F/O Piwowarek, Sgt Z Klus, Sgt T Moszynski, Sgt Jerzy Solecki and Sgt Walukiewicz. The aircraft was one of the Squadron’s original issue and was on its 31st mission.

DV437 12th April 1942 This Mk Ic, flying out of RAF Lindholme, on a mission to bomb the Krupps works at Essen, was attacked by two Messerschmidt Me110 night fighters near the target area. The starboard engine died whilst the pilot was attempting evasive action, but he managed to get home on the remaining engine. He still managed to drop his bomb load on a Luftwaffe aerodrome at Dinant, France. Unfortunately the second engine overheated and failed and the aircraft crash landed at Milton School Farm near March, Cambridgeshire. The whole crew survived and only two of them needed treatment for minor injuries. The Sqadron ORB records:”excellent work by rear gunner during attacks by enemy aircraft.” The survivors were: Sgt A Lozowicki, Sgt M Straczek, P/O J Wacinski, Sgt Ludwik Gibas, Sgt Czeslaw Piniewski and Sgt Wincenty Garbacz.

X9687 13th April 1942 This Mk Ic aircraft was shot down by flak on its way to bomb Essen, Germany. One crew member was killed but the others baled out and were taken Prisoner of War. Flight Lieutenant Edward Jerzy Mlynarski was buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. The survivors were: P/O Misiakiewicz, Sgt Bratkowski, Sgt Broda, Sgt Graczyk and Sgt Niewolski.

X9829 (NZ-O) 24th April 1942 During a raid on Rostock, Germany, this Mk Ic aircraft was shot down by a night fighter near the estuary of the River Ems, close to Manslagt, Germany. Luftwaffe records show that it was shot down by Hauptman Hans-Georg Schutze. He flew with 4/NJG2; shot down and confimed Wellington 304 squadron X9829 at 03.37 hrs over the River Ems near Pilum, 15 kilometres North West of Emden. Hauptman Schutze was killed shortly afterwards in air combat on the 17/18th May 1942. He was credited with 5 kills, this Wellingtom was his 4th. The entire crew were killed and their bodies were eventually washed ashore and buried in the Sage War Cemetery, Oldenburg, Germany. The deceased airmen were: F/Lt Stanislaw Marian Wojcik, F/O Jan Tadeusz Kwak, F/O Stanislaw Zieleniewski, P/O Lech Stanislaw Dzierzbicki, Sgt Wladyslaw Jankowski and Sgt Lucjan Jan Wozniak.

R1697 24th April 1942 All crew survived the crash landing of R1697 at RAF Lindholme on 24th April 1942. The aircraft jettisoned its bombs from 16,500 feet over Flensburg, Germany following a surprise attack by a Messerschmidt Me110 fighter. The aircraft was damaged and the pilot (Squadron Leader Czetowicz) and rear gunner (P/O Apanasik) were struck by bullets but all survived. The crew were: Sq/Ldr Kazimierz Czetowicz, F/Sgt Ziolkowski, F/Lt BF Lewkowicz, F/Sgt Jozef Apansewicz, F/Sgt Witold Paskiewicz and P/O S Apanasik.

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.

LIKE THE PHOENIX FROM THE ASHES.......

It has been several months since I posted here; at first I stopped because I was disheartened by a whole series of people who promised information, photographs etc and then let me down badly. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself but then I did a huge amount of research and spent weeks writing up my notes.

After three computer crashes and a spell of illness I got back into the swing of things and I'm ready to kickstart this blog again. So if there is anyone out there - watch this space. If not then I'll just talk to myself!