STANISLAW MAZUR VEL BUTYNSKI

Stanislaw Mazur vel Butyński was born on 12th October 1915 in the village of Zablocie just across the river from the town of Strumien in Cieszyn, Poland.  He was the son of Jozef and Zofia (nee Czuban) Mazur vel Butynski.  His father was killed in the First World War and his mother died of an infection on his sixteenth birthday so he did not have an easy start to life. 

Stanislaw's home town - Strumien

Stanislaw's school photo and below a detail from it

 

 

Stanislaw's school band photo and below a detail from it

 

 

Even in his early teens, summer holidays meant work. 

Here he is shown, with his uncle, bringing in the harvest.

 

After finishing his education in Oswiecim (on the outskirts of which the German occupiers would later create the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau Extermination Camp, now a memorial and museum) at the age of 19, he was conscripted into the army and served with 5th Air Regiment in Lida where he trained as a pilot around 1936.  In 1939, when war with Germany was imminent, he was mobilised and rejoined his regiment.  The photograph above shows him wearing the Pilot's Gapa and the badge of the 5th Air Regiment.

Detail from a poster in the secondary

school in Strumien depicting him as a pilot

 

At a very early stage in the war, he was sent to Romania to collect fighter aircraft shipped from Britain.  Unfortunately, on 17th September 1939, Russia attacked Poland and those aircraft were diverted elsewhere.  Being in Romania his group were interned and disarmed and they were sent to a camp in the Danube Delta, probably Tulcea.

 

Whichever camp he was sent to, he managed to acquire a forged discharge certificate which showed that he was a former Polish soldier and therefore now a civilian.  This was a great advantage as it allowed him to live openly as a non-combatant in a Polish School in Bucharest.  It was also a bit risky because the name he adopted was his mother's maiden name.

False Army Discharge Papers forged in the Internment Camp

However, that was a short lived advantage because he picked up a serious illness in the Delta and he was transferred from the internment camp at Tulcea to the healthier camp at Campulung Muscel where he was treated for a severe bout of malaria.  He almost died but eventually recovered and was then able to take part in a carefully staged escape plan supported by the Polish Embassy and sympathetic Romanian Officials.

Security in the camps was very lax but they were being surreptitiously monitored by German agents who were aware of the efforts being made to evacuate Polish fighting men to France.  He was supplied with a genuine Romanian identity card which had been provided to the Polish Embassy pre-stamped with official Romanian seals and issued in a false name.  He was also provided with money and travel documents.  He had the insignia stripped from his uniform and the uniform itself was altered to resemble a civilian suit.

Front and reverse of fake "genuine" Romanian ID

His method of "escape" was to simply walk out of the camp at a pre-arranged time and jump onto the running board of a passing car.  He was driven to Bucharest but through an area of German sympathisers and they had to drive through a road block and were fired upon but with his forged papers and civilian suit, once in Bucharest he was able to live openly. 

His next initial destination was the Black Sea port of Balcic where he stayed for about a month whilst waiting for his travel arrangements.  Later, he travelled the 70 miles or so to Constanta where he embarked on the Romanian ship "Transilvania" bound eventually for Beirut.  The vessel sailed on 21st December 1939 and took six days to reach Beirut.

 Military open air Mass at Balcic, Romania (now Bulgaria)

 

Stan's souvenir postcard of the Transilvania

The route taken was almost certainly via Istanbul, Piraeus (Athens) and on to Beirut where they changed ships, possibly to the SS Warszawa, and travelled to Marseilles via Tripoli in Libya.  Once in France they were placed in the military transit camp at Camp de Carpiagne before eventually being moved to the Polish camp at Lyon-Bron.

 

Camp de Carpiagne - overall view

Camp de Carpiagne - Hut 13 (front left) was Stan's barracks

 

 

Internal and external views of his Armee de l'Air ID

 

In due course he was moved to the Polish Depot at Lyon-Bron but he did not particularly enjoy his time there as he was not put to work in any significant way except digging trenches and other menial tasks - a situation mirrored by many Poles in France.  His main complaints were the poor living conditions within the barracks such as sleeping on the floor on a straw palliasse, poor rations, lack of hot water and an infestation of rats during the night.  He did get the occasional trip to Paris to cheer him up.

 

 

Stan and friends in Paris 1940

 

However, he was a trained pilot from his National Service days and he was selected by the RAF for pilot training in England and transferred there in early 1940. 

 

 

Stan (marked by red arrow) and fellow pilot trainees in London 1940

 

As a trained pilot he was expected to quickly learn the differences between handling British and Continental aircraft.  The main ones being that most British aircraft had retractable undercarriage and the controls were totally different and in different positions.  They also had to learn King's Regulations and they were expected to have a reasonable standard of English.  Unfortunately, it was discovered that he had malaria and was not fit to fly so he was very quickly transferred back to France - much to his dismay.

 

He was returned to a transit camp at Bressuire, which he jokingly referred to as a prison, on 29th April 1940 but he was only there for four days before returning to Lyon-Bron.  It was barely worth the journey back as the French capitulated only six weeks later and the Poles were evacuated to the small port of St Jean de Luz just on the French side of the border with Spain.

 



 Stan's party en route to St Jean de Luz

 

This was a much less publicised evacuation than Dunkirk, a couple of weeks earlier, but almost as many men were taken off and brought back to England.  It was no walk in the park as they were constantly harassed by the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine's U-Boats and many lives were lost just getting to the ships.  Eventually, Stanislaw boarded the Arandora Star which was heavily overloaded, carrying three or four times as many men as she was designed to do. 

She had to sail far out into the Atlantic in order to avoid the German U-Boats and the long range Condor aircraft.  It took three days to reach Liverpool but she arrived safely and disembarked all the rescued men.  She was torpedoed on her very next voyage and went down with enormous loss of life - mostly German POWs and Italian internees. The following is a selection of photos of the journey from St Jean de Luz to Liverpool where they arrived on 27th June 1940.

 Stanislaw is on the left in the above picture

 

 Overcrowded but not defenceless

 

 

 

Once off the ship they were moved to a transit camp the location of which is unknown but was probably quite close to Liverpool as the vessel did not dock until late afternoon and it would take a considerable amount of time to get them all through the basic immigration procedures, fed and prepared to move on to Blackpool Polish Depot for airmen.  The following photographs show that it was not really prepared for such an influx of servicemen and was still, at that early point in the war, tented accommodation, although it appears to be in the grounds of a prominent property - a stately home or castle.

 

 Washing at stand pipes

 

 Issue of the most basic equipment

 

 Tented accommodation

 

New arrivals checking out the location

 



Stanislaw (Still in French uniform) with two RAF friends

26th July 1940

He had not long been in England when he had a quite serious recurrence of his malaria in the form of Blackwater Fever.  This is a nasty complication which basically causes red blood cells to burst and can lead to kidney failure.  He spent some time in hospital and, as part of his convalescence, he was invited to the home of one of his fellow patients in Chopwell, County Durham.  This was a pleasant experience for him and, as he waited for a bus to return to duty, he met a young lady named Margaret Stamp and fell for her instantly.  He had enjoyed his time in Chopwell and now he had a reason to come back!

 

Stan and Margaret in Chopwell, 1940

Once he had returned to duty, Stanislaw set about practising his English, polishing up on his trade and getting down to work learning all the new aspects of his work on British aircraft.  There was a war on and malaria had put paid to his hopes of flying but there was much work still to do.  In the initial stages he was attached to the Polish Depot at Blackpool and the technical training schools at RAF Weeton and RAF Squires Gate, which were all part of the same complex. 

The Barracks at RAF Weeton - not luxurious but heated,

with proper beds and comfortable

Once this was completed, on 12th September 1941, he was posted to 304 Squadron who were then based at RAF Lindholme, Yorkshire.  At that time he would be engaged on maintaining the Wellington Mk 1c bombers which were, at that time, part of Bomber Command and heavily engaged in bombing mainland Europe.

 

Record of his arrival at 304 Squadron

 

On 10th May 1942, by this time in Coastal Command, the Squadron moved to RAF Tiree in the Outer Hebrides where they had to spend very long hours flying over featureless ocean and therefore relied on the ground crew to keep their aircraft in top condition. 

304 Squadron Movement Order to RAF Tiree

 

They were only there for a few weeks until 13th June 1942 when they transferred to RAF Dale in Pembrokeshire, Wales.  The targets were the same, as were the long over-sea flights; only the locations differed.  During their time at RAF Dale, they were also detached to RAF Talbenny, also in Pembrokeshire, for a month but Stanislaw would have missed all or most of that period because of a long and persistent recurrence of his Blackwater Fever.

 

He was admitted to the County Hospital at Haverfordwest on 9th November 1942 and immediately transferred to Pembroke Woodbine hospital which became a small emergency hospital for the armed forces.  After a further seventeen days he was transferred to Scolton Convalescent Hospital where he remained for another eleven days.  He continued to suffer the effects of this illness until well into the 1950s.

 

He continued his service with 304 Squadron and moved with them to RAF Docking, Norfolk on 2nd April 1943.  Shortly afterwards he was sent to No 2 Armament Practice Camp at RAF Thorney Island near Chichester in Sussex but the reason is not clear.  It would probably be on loan to service the electrics on their gun platforms or, more likely, to carry out electrical work necessary to move their equipment to RAF Docking - where it would be part of his job to service that equipment.

 

On 7th June 1943 the Squadron moved to RAF Davidstow Moor in Cornwall where he was responsible for the servicing of the electrics on Wellington Bombers that were patrolling the Bay of Biscay and the Western Approaches to the English Channel and were more likely to be fired upon by shore batteries, naval ships and fighters.  From 14th-28th October he was sent to RAF Angle in Pembrokeshire, presumably on an appropriate training course at the Coastal Command Development Unit.

 

In December 1943 the Squadron moved to RAF Predannack in the far south of Cornwall and in March 1944 to RAF Chivenor in Devon.  Then on 21st September 1944 on to RAF Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides for one of the worst winters on record.  In this place they worked up to twenty hours a day in appalling weather conditions and slept in damp and cramped Nissen huts.  There was a guide rope fixed to the ground to give them anchorage and protection against ferocious winds as they walked up the slope to the hangars.  This information came from the family of Sgt Marian Bogatek who, as a sergeant electrician, was probably Stanislaw's immediate superior.  At this time they were transferred (on paper only) to 8304 Service Echelon.

 

Benbecula in the snow

 

Even skilled men do guard duty!

 

On 24th September 1944, Stanislaw returned to Chopwell and married Margaret Stamp at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Chopwell. Because of the difficulties of spelling and also pronouncing his name he was always just known as Stan Mazur.  In fact his son Michael tells me that he was about ten years old before he knew the rest of his name!

 

The wedding of Stanislaw Mazur vel Butynski and Margaret Stamp

 

 

Press announcement of the wedding

 

Stan and Margaret in civvies

 

In March 1945 the Squadron moved to RAF St Eval in Cornwall where their main duties were to protect the Western Approaches to the English Channel.  This was particularly important since the invasion of Europe was in full swing and the constant flow of men and materials across the Channel had to be protected from U-Boats coming in from the Atlantic.  During his time there he would most probably have worked on the Wellington Bomber piloted by Rudolf Marczak who had the distinction of sinking the U-321, which was the last U-Boat sunk in British coastal waters in the Second World War.

 

The War in Europe ended on 8th May 1945 and Stanislaw was transferred, with what was left of the Squadron to RAF Chedburgh in Suffolk.  This marked the transfer of the whole Squadron to Transport Command.  Their duties from this point included transporting much needed supplies around Europe including freshly minted currency to replace the worthless currency issued by the German Generale Gouvernment and also to ferry released Prisoners home.  It was also a new challenge to the ground crew including Stanislaw.  They now had to maintain Vickers Warwicks and Handley Page Halifaxes.

 

From here they moved to RAF North Weald in Essex on 8th July 1945 until 6th September 1945 on which date they made their final move to RAF Chedburgh in Suffolk.  For Stanislaw this became simply routine maintenance of aircraft that spent a few months flying around Europe then were relegated only to training flights.  This was effectively the end of his service; on 15th January 1947 he visited No 4 Polish Resettlement Unit at RAF East Wretham where he signed up for the two year PRU course.

 

Stan's last meal ticket in the service

in the name of St. Mazur! 

Front and rear views

 

This gave him the security of pay at his current rank plus a place to stay whilst he retrained and improved his English and stayed as a non-active member of the RAF.  He actually only stayed until 19th April 1947.  He did not wish to return to Poland under Russian and/or a puppet Polish Communist government so he decided to settle in his wife's home town of Chopwell in County Durham.

 

Together they opened S & M Mazur, a general dealer's store in the village and kept it for many years until he retired.  The first shop was in Blyth Street shortly after the War but he moved to South Road around about 1960. 

 

Stan Mazur's first shop in Blyth Street, Chopwell taken about 1957; the girls are (from left to right) Ann Sutherland, Joan Anderson, Mary Raine and Winnie Sawley

 

Stan serving a customer from the mobile shop

 

He also ran a mobile shop for those in outlying areas  The business was then passed on to his daughter who continued to run it for a long time but it is no longer in the family.

 

Stanislaw died on 28th May 1998, in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital at Gateshead, at the age of 82.  He was cremated and his ashes were buried in St John's churchyard in Chopwell.

 

By way of an epilogue, what follows is a montage of documents relating to his military service and some photographs of the Air Force equivalent of trench art which he made during his spare time.

 

 

 

 

Stanislaw's genuine military release document

 

 Stanislaw's Official Record

 

Stanislaw's Naturalisation (British Citizenship)

from The London Gazette 17th December 1948

 

Support document for Stan's  naturalisation papers and his

British Nationality

 

 

With thanks to Michael Mazur vel Butynski for all his insights, the use of his personal family archive and his personal comments and advice whilst I have been working on this story 

IN HONOUR OF THOSE WHO DIED

 

In honour of all those who died and those who lived.  And in spite of the disrespectful politically correct and the idiots at FIFA.  We WILL remember them.

WACLAW SLAWINSKI

 

According to his military records he was born on 11th September 1919 but his family tell me that he was born on that day but in the year 1920 at Antonowka near Kielce in Poland, the son of Jozef Slawinski and Maria Slawinski (nee Kozlowska).  After completing his education he trained as a fitter/mechanic before joining the Polish Army for his National Service on 28th August 1936. 

He trained with 1st Air Regiment (Warsaw Regiment) and saw active service with them from the very first day of the September Campaign following the German invasion of Poland on 1st September 1939.  He fought through that campaign until 28th September 1939 when he was taken prisoner by the Russians at the defence of Warsaw.  Following this he was shipped to the USSR and held prisoner in Siberia until 27th September 1941 when he was released to join the Polish forces in the Middle East, under the flag of General Anders' Army following the negotiated release by Churchill and Sikorski. 

From wherever he was held in Siberia, he made his way to Krasnovodsk and joined one of the heavily over laden tramp steamers to take him across the Caspian Sea to Pahlevi in Persia (now Iran), where he joined the British forces. 

The following extracts from a much larger story will give some idea of the suffering they went through.  They are reproduced with full acknowledgement to Ryszard Antolak and Pars Times to show the condition of the Poles on and after reception in Persia (Iran).

A makeshift city comprising over 2000 tents (provided by the Iranian army) was hastily erected along the shoreline of Pahlavi to accommodate the refugees. It stretched for several miles on either side of the lagoon: a vast complex of bathhouses, latrines, disinfection booths, laundries, sleeping quarters, bakeries and a hospital. Every unoccupied house in the city was requisitioned, every chair appropriated from local cinemas. Nevertheless, the facilities were still inadequate.

At this time there were only 10 doctors and 25 nurses in the whole of Pahlavi.

In the clean area, the arrivals were channelled into a series of tents where their clothes were collected and burned. They were then showered, deloused, and some of them had their heads shaved in the interests of hygiene. As a result, women began to wear headscarves to conceal their baldness. Finally, they were given sheets, blankets and fresh clothes by the Red Cross and directed to living quarters.

Food provision was inappropriate. Corned beef, fatty soup and lamb, distributed by the British soldiers, caused havoc with digestions accustomed only to small pieces of dry bread. They could not tolerate the rich food, and a large number died purely from the results of over-eating.

Weakened with illness and badly undernourished, he survived all this and was fed, properly clothed and given medical attention in a tent city on the beach - the healthiest place due to the clean air and fresh breezes which discouraged the build up and spread of infections.  Here he came under British command on 1st April 1942 and was selected for the Air Force and shipped to Britain, reaching the Polish Depot at Blackpool on 10th July 1942.

He was posted to the Polish Technical Training School, probably at RAF Weeton which was part of the Blackpool complex, on 6th August 1942 and stayed there until 10th September 1942 when he was transferred to No 8 Air Gunnery School at RAF Evanton near Invergordon, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland to complete his training as an air gunner.

On 16th October 1942 he completed the course and was sent to 18 OTU (Operational Training Unit) where he was to learn British operational tactics and to form up with and familiarise with a crew with which he would work closely and build up trust over the following tour of duty.  Later, on 14th November, they were moved to 6 OTU at Thornaby on Tees to complete the course.  Finally, on 30th January 1943, the crew, Captained by Sgt S. Franczak, were posted to 304 Squadron at RAF Dale and, after a week's leave, took up their posting on 6th February 1943.  Three months later on 11th May 1943 he was awarded his Field Service Badge in recognition of ten active service missions.

As with all Coastal Command aircrews, he spent many long hours flying over featureless seas and this was as risky as it was boring.  Crews had to maintain concentration as these long flights were often at very low level.  They rarely made sightings of U-Boats but their presence kept these ships underwater and dramatically reduced the likelihood of torpedo attacks.

In spite of this, he had his fair share of excitement and danger: on 5th September 1943 his aircraft, Vickers Wellington NZ-M, was attacked by four Junkers Ju88 fighters and was badly shot up but none of the crew were seriously injured and all survived the wheels-up crash landing.  The following is the Official Squadron write up:

"The aircraft of which F/S F. Rybarczyk was first pilot encountered four Junkers 88's, one of which, in a combat which lasted 10 minutes, was severely damaged and was last seen diving in flames through the clouds.  This aircraft was claimed as destroyed.  The remaining three enemy aircraft attacked repeatedly but the Wellington maintained violent evasive measures and succeeded in reaching cloud cover.  Although extensively damaged, the aircraft made a successful belly-landing at base.  None of the crew was injured either in the combat or in the crash-landing, except that the Navigator, F/L A. CHOMKA, received a slight facial wound from a splinter from the astro dome."

On the night of 28th/29th January 1944 his aircraft came across a fully surfaced U-Boat and illuminated it with their Leigh Light before running in to the attack.  In the face of machine gunfire and heavy flak Waclaw (rear gunner) and the front gunner expended about 2,500 rounds whilst the pilot lined up to release six 250 lb torpex depth charges, the last two of which straddled the stern quarter of the vessel.  All return fire ceased and the submarine disappeared from the radar within about 20 seconds.  The nearer  of the two was seen to explode an estimated 10 feet from the vessel.  If not a fatal blow, this would have caused significant damage - no U-boats were reported sunk in that area on that night and it was too dark to see any evidence of debris.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Official report to Admiralty on the attack on a U-Boat

His military career came to an end on 4th May 1944 (not 12th May 1944 as shown in his military records) when he was involved in a serious motorcycle accident in North Devon and was admitted to Tiverton General Hospital and was transferred the next day to the Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Hospital in Exeter.  On 25th May 1944 he was transferred again to the RAF General Hospital at Wroughton, near Swindon, Wiltshire and on 18th June 1944 he was posted back to RAF Chivenor near Barnstaple, Devon but it was a brief respite as he was re-admitted on 21st June 1944 to RAF General Hospital at Church Village, Pontypridd, South Wales.  Subsequently he was transferred to No 4 Polish General Hospital at Ormskirk in Lancashire where he stayed until he was finally re-posted to the Polish Depot at Blackpool on 1st August 1945.  After this he was discharged to the Polish Resettlement Corps where he spent two years training for civilian life.

He met Thelma Partridge in Birmingham, just outside the Cathedral, and eventually they married and had four sons - Roy, Adrian, Jan and Alan.  After leaving the Air Force he went to work as a storeman for Electrical Power Engineering in Birmingham.

During the course of his military career he was awarded the Cross of Valour, the Virtuti Militari and the Polish Air Medal as well as British campaign medals. 

 

Award of the Virtuti Militari by Air Vice Marshal Izycki

 

In 1998 he was posthumously awarded the Military Combat Cross of the Polish Armed Forces in the West.  This Cross was established on 17th May 1989 for award to former members of the Polish Armed Forces of the Exiled Government in London.

 

Post-war honour for courage

 

Sadly, he died in Birmingham on 24th February 1972 and his interment took place at the Yardley Crematorium.

With many thanks to Alan Slawinski for access to family records and Krzystek's List for the portrait photo.

A MOTTO FOR MILITARY BLOGGERS

I found this on the Internet and thought about just how true it is.  Roald Dahl is a famous writer but he was also a WW2 fighter pilot.

Lukewarm is no good!

HALIFAX CRASH AT LAWSHALL, SUFFOLK

This Transport Command Handley Page Halifax crashed during a training flight at Green Farm, Lawshall, Suffolk.  Pilot error was the reason given and the entire crew died, they were: F/Lt Zygmunt Dabrowski, F/Lt Nikodem Matylis and F/Sgt Stanislaw Michalak.  The pilot lost control of the aircraft at low altitude and low airspeed in the circuit and the aircraft dived into the ground.

 

This photograph shows the extent of the damage; the rear part of the fuselage lying upside down.  The wings and front section are missing.

 

Contemporary press report from the Bury Free Press & Post

 

A contemporary newspaper report suggests that the aircraft was in difficulties before it became obvious that it was going to crash: "Farm workers busy in the harvest field observed the machine flying low and noticed that it was making a peculiar noise and spluttering.  Suddenly flames burst from the plane, which then dived straight into the ground."

 

Two of the witnesses, Ernie Hill and Stan Armstrong were members of the local Home Guard and they attended the scene and helped recover the bodies from the fiercely burning aircraft.  They, and a German Prisoner of War, were commended for their courage and coolness in the face of the flames and further explosions within the burning aircraft.

Lawshall Home Guard with Ernie Hill and Stan Armstrong shown

 

With thanks to Elizabeth Clarke and the Lawshall Archive

 

 

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