INFORMATION NEEDED ON 304 SQUADRON AIRMEN

Another batch of 304 Squadron airmen and another appeal for information.  If you have information, documents or photographs on these men please contact me on nevillebougourd@gmail.com and help me create a good biography to perpetuate their memory.

RACH P/O

RACHUBA L/Ac Gabriel P-793638
RADOMAN F/O Roscislaw
RADON F/Lt Jaroslaw P-2344
RADZISZEWSKI Cpl Zygmunt P-703628
RAKOWSKI L/Ac Leon P-707744
RAPS Sgt Wladyslaw
RASZKOWSKI L/Ac Stefan P-708343
REKSZCZYC P/O Waclaw P-0348
RESMER F/Lt Brunon P-2326
ROBASZEK Cpl Zygmunt P-780613
RODZIEWICZ L/Ac Edward P-784449
RODZIEWICZ Sq/Ldr Lech Jan P792246
ROGALA-SOBIESZCZANSKI Sgt Jan
ROGALEWSKI F/O Waclaw P-3027
ROGOWSKI F/Sgt Adam P-780748
ROLECKI L/Ac Jan P794677
ROLINSKI F/Lt Stanislaw J P-0642
ROMANOWSKI Sgt Edward P-704324
ROMER F/Lt Jan Adam P-1932
ROSIAK L/Ac Wladyslaw P-703627
ROSTROWSKI F/Lt
ROZUMILOWICZ L/Ac Felicjan P704578
RUMAS Sgt Stefan P-706096
RUNTKOWSKI W/O Piotr P-703936
RUSIECKI Sgt Franciszek P-705036
RUSSA L/Ac Waclaw P-783953
RUSSER F/Lt Marian Leonard P-0594
RUSZEL Sgt Ludwik P794191
RUTKOWSKI Sgt Hubert P-781201
RYBAK F/Sgt Jozef Eugeniusz P-705719
RYBARCZYK F/Sgt Franciszek P-793176
RYMARCZUK Sgt Zygmunt P-784955
RYMARZ Sgt Adam Julian P-784780
RYSY F/Lt Wladyslaw Roman P-1771
RYZAK F/Lt
RZEPA F/O Stanislaw Wincenty P-0764
RZESZOWSKI L/Ac Kazimierz Jan P-792123
RZEWUSKI Sgt Mieczyslaw P-2277
RZOSKA L/Ac Marian P-708333
SABELL Ac1 13554119 (RAF)
SACHS Cpl Pawel Karol P-782426
SADOWSKI F/Sgt Albert P-706517
SADOWSKI Cpl Kazimierz Marian P-792632
SADOWSKI W/O Ryszard P-704327
SADOWSKI Sgt Waclaw P-705046
SADOWSKI Cpl Witalis P-784374
SAKOWICZ W/O Waclaw P-705046
SALAMON Ac1 Augustyn P-708342
SALAMON Sgt Boleslaw P-780617
SALEWICZ P/O Stanislaw P-794661
SALINSKI F/Sgt Wladyslaw P-781464
SALMONOWICZ L/Ac Jozef P-704572
SAMPOR Ac2 Wladyslaw P-707469
SANICKI Cpl Stanislaw P-784798
SANKOWSKI Sgt Adam P-703937
SANKOWSKI F/Sgt Alojzy
SAPETA L/Ac Mieczyslaw Wladislaw P-793454
SASAL Sgt Zygmunt
SAWA F/Sgt Czeslaw P-780989
SAWCZYNSKI Cpl Edward P-792860
SAWKO Cpl Michal P-704513
SAWOSKO Sgt Henryk P-794515
SCHULTZ F/O Adam Ludwik P0783
SCIESINSKI L/Ac Alojzy P-780918
SEKACZ W/O Aleksander P-704760
SEKULA Sgt Kazimierz P-781033
SEKUTOWICZ F/Lt Stanislaw
SEP-SZARZYNSKI Sgt
SERAFIN F/Lt Adam Mieczyslaw P-2327
SERAFIN Sgt Jozef
SERWINSKI W/O Waclaw P-782068
SEWERYN Cpl Jan P-784877
SIADECKI F/Sgt Edward Mikolaj P-792851
SICINSKI Sgt Walenty P-780137
SIECZKOWSKI F/Sgt Franciszek P-793287
SIEDLECKI Sgt Eugeniusz P-704777
SIEKIERKOWSKI W/O Jozef P-704151
SIEWRUK F/Lt Waldemar Jozef P-0834
SIKORSKI W/O Jerzy P-705755
SITEK Cpl Jan P-793473
SIUDA P/O Witold P-1444
SIUZDAK F/O Tadeusz Marian Mieczyslaw P-0184
SKARZYNSKI F/Lt Tadeusz Stanislaw P-76816
SKIBA L/Ac Ryszard Arkadiusz P-782320
SKIERKOWSKI F/O Tadeusz P-0978
SKIRMUNT L/Ac Sergiusz Stefan P-704408
SKLINSKI Cpl Franciszek P-794290
SKOP Cpl Edmund P-793301
SKOROBOHATY F/Lt Ignacy
SKORULSKI L/Ac Zygmunt P-706527
SKORUPA L/Ac Roman P-708113
SKOWRON L/Ac Jerzy P-704095
SKOWRONSKI Ac2 Roman P-708597
SKRZYPEK L/Ac Jozef Marian P-705770
SKULICZ Sgt Jozef Kazimierz P-792024
SKWAREK W/O Bronislaw P-705722
SKWARZYNSKI Sgt Edward P-784120
SKWIERCZ L/Ac Apoloniusz. P-708145
SKWIERCZYNSKI F/O Jan P-0917
SLAWINSKI L/Ac Krzysztof Wladyslaw P-706764
SLAWINSKI F/Sgt Waclaw P-703725
SLOJEWSKI Cpl Stefan P-705116
SLON L/Ac Jozef Serafin P-792217
SLOTWINSKI Cpl Karol P-703201
SLOWIK L/Ac Jozef P-708345
SLOWIK Sgt Stanislaw P-703874
SMOLINSKI Cpl Franciszek P-703692
SNIEZKO-BLOCKI Sgt Edward P-705045
SNIEZKOWSKI Sgt Ryszard Tadeusz P-784739
SOBCZAK Cpl Boleslaw P-794163
SOBIERAJ Sgt Zdzislaw Jozef P-780619
SOBIERAJSKI F/Sgt Telesfor P-708587
SOBOLEWSKI L/Ac Stanislaw P-794466
SOCHA Ac1 Wojciech P-707362
SOCHACZEWSKI L/Ac Jan P-783560
SOCHALSKI Sgt Jan Jozef P-780514

FOLLOWERS

It is nice to see that people are following this blog but I have lost the facility of contacting followers.  unless they leave a message on the blog itself - then the edit facility sometimes lets me make contact.  So I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Marc Doucet and to ask Anna Osborne to please contact me on this email address: nevillebougourd@gmail.com

FURTHER POLISH AIRMEN WITHOUT INFORMATION

The following men were all members of 304 Squadron at one time or another.  I have some wartime information on a few of them but virtually nothing on the majority.  If you can help, please contact me on
nevillebougourd@gmail.com

PAJKO F/Lt Czeslaw P-1220

PALCZYNSKI Cpl Jozef P-780284
PALEWICZ Sgt Jan P-782080
PANKOWSKI L/Ac Mieczyslaw
PANOWICZ L/Ac Wladyslaw P-783924
PAPESZ Sgt Wladyslaw
PAROBEK L/Ac Roman P-781972
PASIEKA Sgt Karol Stefan P-783096
PASIK Sgt Mieczyslaw P-792854
PASTWA Sgt Witold P-784869
PASYK Sgt Jan Michal P-794025
PASZEK L/Ac Stanislaw P-708460
PASZKIEWICZ F/Sgt Konrad Jozef P-783264
PASZKIEWICZ F/Lt Witold
PATEK Sgt Boleslaw Kazimierz P-792360
PATLEWICZ Sgt Wladyslaw
PATYK Sgt Edward P-704943
PAWLAK Sgt Jan P-2919
PAWLOWSKI W/O Ignacy P-705717
PAWLOWSKI L/Ac Piotr P-794287
PAWLOWSKI L/Ac Wincenty P-793965
PAWLOWSKI L/Ac Wladyslaw P-783297
PAWLUCZYK Sgt Mikolaj P-784106
PEKACKI Sgt Edmund Piotr P-705651
PELC W/O Edward P-794117
PELZ Cpl Franciszek P-784466
PERLOWSKI Sgt Zbigniew
PESKI F/O E P-782677
PEZCO F/O Stanislaw P-2446
PIASECKI Sgt Stanislaw Jan P-781301
PIATKOWSKI F/Lt Stanislaw P-0575
PIECHNA Sgt Kazimierz P-794042
PIECHOCKI F/Sgt Jan Antoni P-780341
PIECHOWIAK Sgt Zygmunt Stanislaw P-792815
PIECZYNSKI F/Sgt Zdzislaw Stanislaw P780342
PIEKARSKI Sgt Marian P-784131
PIEKLO Sgt Edward Jerzy P-709546
PIENIAZEK W/O Adam Jan P-780699
PIERZCHALO-PIASECKI Ac1 Olgierd Jerzy P-707373
PIETKIEWICZ Sgt Jozef P-794813
PIETLUCH L/Ac Bronislaw P-707629
PIETRASIEWICZ W/O Zygmunt P-780910
PIETRASZKIEWICZ Sgt Mikolaj P-704138
PIETRASZKO F/Sgt Witold P-706674
PIETRUSZEWSKI Sgt Wieslaw Leszek P-793339
PIETRYSZAK Sgt Jozef
PIETRZAK Sgt Wincenty P-782657
PIJANOWSKI F/O Waclaw Jan P-0051
PILAT Sgt Stefan P-794957
PILNIAK Sq/Ldr Boguslaw P-1249
PINIEWSKI Sgt Czeslaw
PIOTROWICZ W/O Henryk P-705035
PIOTROWSKI W/Cdr Witold Jacek
PIOTROWSKI F/Lt Wladyslaw P-0690
PISKORSKI Sgt Wladyslaw
PISKORZ Sgt Jozef P-792816
PIWKO L/Ac Julian P-781503
PIWOWAR W/O Wiktor P-792256
PIWOWAREK F/Lt
PIWOWARSKI W/O Zdzislaw P-704452
PLACEK Cpl Jozef P-782866
PLACHCINSKI F/Lt Stanislaw P-0309
PLESZYNSKI Cpl Konstanty P-782161
PLIS Sgt Henryk P-782026
PLONCZYNSKI F/Lt Marian Stanislaw P-1993
PNIEWSKI L/Ac Jan P-793629
PODKOWSKI L/Ac
PODSTOLSKI Ac2 Jerzy P-706818
PODZIEMSKI Sgt J P71767
POGODA F/Sgt Stefan P-792639
POKOJ F/Lt Wilhelm Jozef P-2151
POKRZYWA Sgt Rajmund Antoni P-782119
POLAK L/Ac Czeslaw P-707067
POLAKOWSKI Sgt Antoni P-782916
POLANIN Sgt Karol Jan P-2673
POLESINSKI Sgt Edward P-792693
POLOK Cpl Florian P-780609
POLONIECKI F/Lt Bernard P-1785
POREBSKI F/O Boleslaw P-0828
POSTOL Sgt Leonard Gabriel P-780954
POTASINSKI Sgt Roman P-703786
POTYSZ L/Ac Jan P-708467
POZIOMKA Sq/Ldr
PRAZMOWSKI F/Lt Jan P-0785
PRESSER F/O Kurt Jozef P-2922
PRETKIEWICZ P/O Marian
PROECHNER L/Ac Jan P-708423
PROMINSKI F/Sgt Jozef P-780788
PRONASZKO W/Cdr Mieczyslaw
PRONASZKO F/O Mieczyslaw P-76640
PRUSSKI L/Ac Czeslaw P-780735
PRYLINSKI Sgt Zygmunt P-703221
PRZEPIORA Cpl Tadeusz P-780737
PRZYBUJEWSKI Cpl Teodor P-782114
PRZYBYLA L/Ac Pawel Piotr P-706393
PRZYBYLOWICZ L/Ac Kazimierz P-704517
PRZYBYLSKI Sgt Stanislaw P-780198
PRYZGODA Cpl Piotr P-794094
PUCHALA Sgt Roman P-793808
PUCHEK Sgt Alojzy P-794873
PUCHLIK Sgt Edmund M P-704455
PUZILEWICZ L/Ac Jan P-704321
PYKA Sgt Zygmunt Marian P-704226
PYSZNY Sgt Jozef P-704630

MYSTERY FUNERAL

This photograph shows the funeral of a Polish Airman during WW2.  The airman on the extreme right is Sgt Marian Bogatek who was 304 Squadron ground crew from about 1942-1946.  That, and the building, form the only clues as to where and when the funeral took place.  There are no clues as to who was being buried but he could have been someone from another squadron.

Does anyone recognise the building or any of the faces in this photograph?  If you do, please contact me on nevillebougourd@gmail.com  If you leave a message on this blogsite, please include your email address as published messages cannot be replied to.  I will edit your email address out of the message before publishing it.                          

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.

JULIAN KAZIMIERZ DRESCIK

He was a mechanic and was born on 25th May 1918 in Bochnia, a small town in Southern Poland, about 35 kilometres from Krakow. His mother died when he was 3 years old and he had an unhappy relationship with his stepmother. He left school at 13 and took up manual labour. In 1936 he enrolled in the NCO School at Bydgoszcz and which moved to Krosno in 1938. Because of the impending war, his course was cut short by six months. He asked for, and was assigned to, the 2nd Air Regiment in Krakow and on the outbreak of war he was among the first to be hit by the Luftwaffe bombing campaign as his airfield was destroyed in bombing raids on 1st and 2nd September 1939.

He was sent to Lwow with the other ground crew where they were issued with rifles to defend the city. However, they were sent from there to Stanislaviv (now Ukraine) then on from there to the Romanian border. He crossed the border and was immediately interned and marched to a camp at Pitesti, a major city in the Wallachia region. After some time there, he heard that the British and French were recruiting air and ground crew and he made his escape. He was caught and returned to the camp where he was subjected to severe punishment.

He was moved to a camp at Komiszani from where he escaped again – but with help this time. A car was waiting for him and two others and they rode for some time in the boot until the driver stopped and told them to get out. They ran off and made their way to an apartment in Ploiesti where they met more escaping Poles and were fed by local women. They stayed there for about six weeks then made their way to Constanza on the Black Sea where he eventually boarded the Romanian vessel Transylvania. This ship took them through the Dardanelles, across the Aegean Sea and into the eastern Mediterranean to Beirut, Lebanon. The Poles spent about two months there and were housed in a former French Foreign legion barracks.

From there he went by sea to Haifa in Palestine (now Israel) and on to Alexandria in Egypt. Ultimately he made it to Marseilles and was posted to Le Bourg with many other Poles. Here he decided to join the British Army rather than the French and he was quickly accepted because of his experience serving in the 2nd Aviation Regiment - Britain was desperately short of airmen and ground crew. His next moves are unclear but he came to England by sea a few days after his enlistment and spent three months at RAF Eastchurch, learning English and doing initial training on British aircraft.

Initially he was sent to RAF Peterborough but was soon sent to the Polish Depot at RAF Blackpool and was allocated to 304 Squadron ground crew at RAF Syerston. He stayed with the squadron during most of its time in Bomber and Coastal Commands and transferred to 663 Artillery Observation Squadron, based in Naples, and later Eboli, in Italy, probably in the late summer of 1944. By this time he appears to have been aircrew although it is not certain whether he was a pilot or an observer, flying in unarmed Auster reconnaissance planes. He was unwilling to return to Poland and stayed in Italy until 1946 when he returned to Britain and was demobilised.

After the war he settled in Britain and worked in the motor industry for Perkins, the diesel engine manufacturers, in Peterborough where he stayed until 1960. He then worked for the British Motor Corporation until he retired in 1984. He frequently visited his family in Poland and is thought to have arranged for his burial to be in the family plot in Bochnia but I have been unable to confirm this. He died in Devon on 23rd November 2008, aged 90.

ANTONI MENTLAK - KNOWN COMBAT MISSIONS

Virtuti Militari awarded to 301 Squadron retrospectively (in 1966) for the Special Duties Missions to Warsaw

Antoni Mentlak - Known Combat Missions

F/O Jan Miszewski – first pilot

F/O Stanislaw Machej – second pilot

F/O Gebik – navigator

F/Sgt Janusz Antoniewicz – wireless operator

F/Sgt Marian Koc – air gunner

F/Sgt Pacut – despatcher

Sgt Antoni Mentlak – flight engineer

Mission 01    20/21 Feb 43       Poland

From RAF Tempsford on board Halifax DT726 NF-H.    They took off on Operation File at 18.52 and were over the primary target point 154 in Poland at 00.20; the secondary point 103 was not necessary as the crew clearly saw the recognition signal of 8 red lights and 8 white lights, one of which was flashing. They responded with the recognition code letter Z and dropped the 6 containers of supplies and four men – they had instructions to drop the men only (in a safe place) if they failed to get the correct signal at either point 154 or 103. The aircraft landed safely at RAF Middleton St George, County Durham – a long way from their home base – at 07.29 after a successful mission.

W/O Bolesław Hułas - first pilot

F/S Rzewuski Mieczysław - second pilot

F/L Malinowski Mieczysław - navigator

F/S Krzeczewski Eugeniusz – radio operator

F/S Miniakowski Stefan - front gunner

Sgt Mentlak Antoni – mechanic/flight engineer

F/S Dubiel Józef - rear gunner

Mission 02    16/17 June 43       France

Mission 03    17/18 June 43       France

F/O Sancewicz Zbigniew - 1st pilot

F/O Goszczyński Michał - 2nd pilot

F/O Krywda Władysław - navigator

Sgt Łuksza Tadeusz – radio operator

Sgt Mentlak Antoni – mechanic/flight engineer

The air gunners who usually flew in the crew were Sgt Andrzej Godecki and F/Lt Eligiusz Zaleski but sometimes there were different airmen taking their place on the flights.

Mission 04    15/16 July 43       France

Mission 05    22/23 July 43       France

Mission 06    24/25 July 43       France

Mission 07     08/09 Aug 43       Denmark

Mission 08     12/13 Aug 43       France

Mission 09     13/14 Aug 43       France

Mission 10     16/17 Aug 43       France

Mission 11     18/19 Aug 43       France

Mission 12     20/21 Aug 43       France

Mission 13     23/24 Aug 43       France

Mission 14     09/10 Sep 43       Poland 

Including F/Lt Zaleski and Sgt Godecki from RAF Tempsford on board Halifax JD-319 'A' Operation Flat 2 to Lichtarz 101 The pilot on this mission was F/O Zbigniew Sancewicz.

Mission 15     16/17 Sep 43       Poland

From RAF Tempsford on board Halifax BB378 ‘D’ Operation Neon 1 to Gurnek 103

Mission 16      21/21Sep 43       Poland

From RAF Tempsford on board Halifax LW276 ‘E’ Operation Neon 5 to Lustro 201

Mission 17     13/14 Oct 43       France

Mission 18     15/16 Oct 43       Poland

From RAF Tempsford on board Halifax JD171 ‘P’ Operation Cottage 55 to Zyto 1 801

Mission 19     18/19 Oct 43       Poland

From RAF Tempsford on board Halifax JD319 ‘A’ Operation Oxygen 1 to Chochla 507 The pilot on this mission was F/O Zbigniew Sancewicz.

After 1586 Flight was formed, Sgt Antoni Mentlak and his crew flew from RAF Tempsford (Overnight 6/7 November 43) via Gibraltar to RAF Sidi Amor near Tunis (The first place where the Flight was stationed after the movement, firstly to Tunisia and later to Brindisi in Southern Italy).

Mission 20    06/07 Nov 43       Tunisia

RAF Tempsford to RAF Sidi Amor, Tunisia via RAF Gibraltar classed as a combat mission/operational flight because their course took them over enemy territory.

Mission 21    15/16 Dec 43       Poland

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy on board Halifax JD319 ‘A’ on Operation Ohio 1 to Rybitwa-1 16 The pilot on this mission was F/O Zbigniew Sancewicz.

Mission 22    18/19 Dec 43       Poland

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy on board Halifax JD319 ‘A’ on Operation Ohio 2 to Tukan-1 12 The pilot on this mission was F/O Zbigniew Sancewicz.

Mission 23    13/14 Feb 44       Italy

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy to ...............in Northern Italy

Mission 24    17/18 Feb 44       Italy

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy

Mission 25    22 Feb 44            Jugoslavia

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy

Mission 26    24/25 Feb 44       Poland

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy on board Halifax JN956 ‘E’ on Operation Weller 5 to Wieszak 311 and with agents on board

Mission 27    03/04 Mar 44       Greece

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy

Mission 28    07/08 Mar 44       Greece

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy

Mission 29    17/18 Mar 44       Czechoslovakia

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy. This may have been the mission mentioned in Bienecki’s book, Polski Zaloga over Europe in which they dropped supplies to the Jugoslav partisans en route and were attacked by an enemy fighter but escaped by hiding in clouds

Mission 30    03/04 Apr 44       Poland

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy on board Halifax JP177 ‘P’ on Operation ................ to Zamek

Mission 31    06/07 Apr 44       Greece

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy

Mission 32    09/10 Apr 44       Poland

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy on board Halifax JP177 ‘P’ on Operation Weller 3 to Kaczka 127 with agents on board

Mission 33    12/13 Apr 44       Poland

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy on board Halifax JP177 ‘P’ on Operation Weller 15 to Lichtarz 223 with agents on board

Mission 34    15/16 April 44      Poland

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy on board Halifax JP177 ‘P’ on Operation ...................to Paszkot 239

Mission 35    16/17 Apr 44       Poland

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy on board Halifax JP236 ‘A’ on Operation Weller 15 to Obraz 318 with agents on board

Mission 36    25/26 Apr 44       Italy

In Polish Special Duties Flight 1586 flying from RAF Campo Casale, near Brindisi, Italy

There are five more missions, details of which I have not been able to find. If you can help please contact me on neville.bougourd@gmail.com and also if you have any more information on the missions listed above.

Special thanks to Frances Gates and Piotr Hodyra for the incredible amount of information they have supplied to make this chart possible.