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Post by archivist on Jul 12, 2009 3:21:15 GMT -7
Sydneyvila,
I forgot to mention that a Wellington Bomber only had two engines and when one was taken out the other had a tendency to overheat very quickly. So bringing the aircraft all the way back from Bremen on only one engine was an achievement in itself. John Trzebski is known to have said that the Wellington was simply the best plane ever built; it was certainly able to stay in the air after absorbing enormous punishment from fighters or anti-aircraft fire. One example returned home safely after having two thirds of the fabric shot away from its fuselage and wings and is known as the flying sieve. Its major failing was a top speed of only 234mph so any fighter could catch it easily. It took guts to fly in a Wellington.
Neville
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Post by sydneyvila on Jul 12, 2009 8:16:00 GMT -7
Hello Neville, My name is Barbara Hooper and my father was Janusz Trzebski. The information you have about his flying heroics and his life are correct. He and my mother Jadwiga did own Morton Manor on the Isle of Wight. My mother died in 2000 and my father died in 2003. They left the house and gardens which were open to the public to my brother Jan. Jan unfortunately died last year and since then Morton Manor has had to be sold. I had an older sister who died 21 years ago so now it is just myself and my younger sister Yolanda who are left. My mother and father kept us well informed about our family history so there are lots of memories. We are left with many photographs and memorabilia from my fathers flying days during the war. I recently gave his medals to my nephew to take care of together with his flying log. I am in the process of donating in our family name, his uniform to the Sikorski Institute in London. I am unsure about what I should do with the photographs as I do know that there will be a lot of interest from in them from researchers. I even have a full 16mm film of General Sikorskis funeral. I am not sure how to download the images, but I will have a go. It would be interesting if anyone else using your forum remembers my father. I know poles who were friends of his but nobody from his squadron. The only people I remember from 304 were his rear gunner Konrad Paszkiewicz and his commanding officer Zex Kurzempski (bad spelling of this name!). I do have a couple of names of pilots still alive but not of 304. I would love to know more if anyone has any more to say about them. I am so proud of all the heros. They were such brave young men. Barbara  |
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Post by sydneyvila on Jul 12, 2009 8:42:20 GMT -7
I forgot to mention, that I only found your forum site yesterday. I am trying myself to research my roots, and at the same time to find our more about the items of my fathers that I have. I unfortunately have no stories to share and so wish that I had asked more questions when dad was alive. As a child I was raised to be English. Many times I have regretted this, but I do understand my parents reasoning for wanting us to fit in! Post war the Poles were not wanted and it was something that both my parents felt unhappy about until the day they died. I still consider myself to be first generation Pole and although I have only visited Poland, it is where my heart is. Barbara
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Post by hollister on Jul 12, 2009 10:37:13 GMT -7
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Pawian
European
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Post by Pawian on Jul 13, 2009 13:13:30 GMT -7
Did 304 Squadron fly missions to insurgent Warsaw in 1944? I have dug up two photos from a memorial site in southern Poland where a plane with a Polish crew crashed in 1944. All crew members died, their names are unknown, that`s what the plaque says.   |
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Post by archivist on Jul 15, 2009 15:19:05 GMT -7
PAWIAN,
304 Squadron were not involved with these flights, which were carried out by 301 Squadron and special duties flight 1586 but several experienced crews transferred from 304 for these special operations. I am surprised that they are unidentified and I believe they could be if I had the exact date and location of the crash. It may yet be possible to identify them - if this is an isolated crash, it may just have been overlooked. It would be nice to honour them with a new plaque bearing their names.
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Post by archivist on Jul 16, 2009 12:44:11 GMT -7
PAWIAN,
I can find records of British, Australian and New Zealand special duties aircraft lost all over Europe - but not Poland. Also several Polish aircraft lost on special duties flights in September 1944 but all were shot down over Hungary or Jugoslavia and one made it back to Italy before crashing. So this is a mystery. Can you tell me exactly where this monument is and have you any idea of the exact date of the crash?
For 7 casualties it would probably be a Liberator or a Lancaster - Wellingtons only carried 6 crew.
I am intrigued now and will have to follow this up
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Post by archivist on Jul 16, 2009 15:57:14 GMT -7
PAWIAN,
This is driving me crazy! Check out these losses for September 1944:
Polish bomber squadrons:
300 None in Poland
301 None in Poland
304 None in Poland
305 None in Poland
1586 Special Duties Flight None in Poland – see losses below for missions to Poland
2 Sep 44 Halifax DP180 shot down over Hungary 7 killed
11 Sep 44 Halifax JP288 shot down over Jugoslavia 7 killed
13 Sep 44 Liberator KH101 shot down over Hungary 7 killed
23 Sep 44 Halifax JP222 hit by flak and crashed in the sea off Italy 8 killed
3 or 4 other crashes with some survivors (therefore not 7 bodies) – none in Poland
C Flight (138 Squadron Polish Section) No recorded losses this month
RAF Special Duties (all squadrons) None in Poland
RAF Bomber Command (all squadrons) None in Poland
RAF Coastal Command (all squadrons) None in Poland
In all of the above there were no aircraft lost without trace that were flying anywhere near Poland.
It is vaguely possible that one of the first three in 1586 might have limped as far as Poland before crashing but it is known that JP288 crashed in Jugoslavia as the wreckage was located in 1946. That leaves DP180 and KH101 but contemporary reports suggest that they crashed immediately after they were hit.
Is there any local source that might give any more details on this crash? Anything at all. Perhaps the crash happened earlier and the wreckage was found in September. Can you tell me the exact location and how far it is from Warsaw?
Christian or Jewish, these brave men deserve a memorial plaque with their names on and I will do anything I can to make that happen and to let their surviving family members know their fate.
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Pawian
European
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Posts: 3,266
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Post by Pawian on Jul 17, 2009 0:36:19 GMT -7
Archivist, this is a very intriguing story. There is a mystery indeed, partly about the Polish airmen`s indentity, and partly because there were two similar crashes in southern Poland, and the villages where they took place in changed their names over time. For a long time researchers got those two crashes mixed up and the story has been straightened recently. First one connected to the monument, the village of Banica (today called Krzywa), near the village of Sękowa. It was believed that Liberator EW275 from 1586 Squadron crashed there on 16/17 August 44. Crew: porucznik (F/0) Tadeusz Jencka nawigator), kapitan (F/l) Zygmunt Pluta (I pilot S. sierżant (W/0) Brunon Malejka (II pilot), kapral (F/Sgt) Józef Dudziak (radiotelegrafista), plutonowy (F/Sgt Bernard Wichrowski (bombardier), plutonowy (Sgt) Jan Marecki (mechanik pokładowy), plutonowy (F/Sgt) Jan Borkowski (strzelec). However, the excavation in the area of Banica proved that Halifax II crashed there. The names of the crew and plane`s identity are unknown till today, though some hypothesis exist: JP180 "A" podporucznika nawigatora Michała Baworowskiego,
JP288 "G" podporucznika nawigatora Tadeusza Lacha, JP295 "P" kapitana nawigatora Franciszka Omylaka. The monument bears the date: September 1944. It would suggest the plane JP 295 of Omylak. So, what about Liberator? In fact, it crashed in the village of Olszyny on 17 August. I found the info here: www.sekowa.info/index.php?go=17&id1=3&ido=164 the article by Tomasz Sikorski, a historian. There are many other sites where people dicsuss the mystery: TV programme: ww6.tvp.pl/15035,20080220661881.strona Forum: www.beskid-niski.pl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=406 |
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Post by archivist on Jul 17, 2009 12:21:18 GMT -7
PAWIAN,
Omylaka's aircraft seems the most likely but there were 2 B17's shot down on Warsaw support missions around the same time. These were USAAF support flights but B17s had a crew of 10 and these 2 were lost in August 1944 - as was Omylaka's aircraft (on the night of 27/28 August). The B17s were crewed by Americans so that makes a difference. Were the bodies so badly damaged that there were no dog tags? Or were there no significant human remains found in the wreckage?
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Pawian
European
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Posts: 3,266
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Post by Pawian on Jul 17, 2009 13:02:59 GMT -7
PAWIAN, Omylaka's aircraft seems the most likely but there were 2 B17's shot down on Warsaw support missions around the same time. These were USAAF support flights but B17s had a crew of 10 and these 2 were lost in August 1944 - as was Omylaka's aircraft (on the night of 27/28 August). The B17s were crewed by Americans so that makes a difference. Were the bodies so badly damaged that there were no dog tags? Or were there no significant human remains found in the wreckage? Historians and researchers found identifiable remains of a Halifax plane at the crash site in Banica and its parts in some nearby houses. So it couldn`t be B-17. As for dog tags and other stuff to identify the crew, nothing like that has been found yet. |
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Post by archivist on Jul 17, 2009 14:31:28 GMT -7
PAWIAN,
This remains a mystery but Omylaka's aircraft is still the best bet. Marks on the aluminium sheeting are unlikely to be helpful but if there are any parts with serial numbers, they might be traceable - especially engine parts. Anything known in this respect?
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Post by archivist on Jul 18, 2009 15:45:28 GMT -7
PAWIAN,
I cannot read Polish but I believe this excerpt may help. I have had a gist translation but this is the original Polish text which I am sure will mean more to you than the translation does to me.
Kapitan (Squadron Leader) Franciszek Omylak zosta³ odznaczony Krzy¿em Walecznych, Polow¹ Odznak¹ Obserwatora oraz Krzy¿em Komandorskim Orderu Odrodzenia Polski. Z powodu b³êdów pope³nionych podczas ekshumacji zw³ok oraz na skutek mylnej identyfikacji za³óg 1586 eskadry przez wiele lat przyjmowano, ¿e zagin¹³ w Morzu Adriatyckim, zaœ pod Banic¹ rozbi³a siê za³oga kpt. pil. Zygmunta Pluty na Liberatorze VI GR-R (EW275). Tymczasem w 2006 r., po przeprowadzeniu badañ archeologicznych w miejscu upadku samolotów ustalono z ca³¹ pewnoœci¹, ¿e w Banicy zginê³a za³oga por. Widackiego (z nawigatorem kpt. Omylakiem), zaœ Liberator Pluty spad³ noc¹ z 16 na 17 sierpnia 1944 r. w miejscowoœci Olszyny ko³o Biecza. Z powodu tych zawi³oœci do dzisiaj Omylak nie posiada podpisanego imiennie w³asnego grobu.
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Post by archivist on Jul 25, 2009 3:43:36 GMT -7
DYDZIUL Sgt Marian Jozef P-0190
He was born on 5th March 1905 at Filipowo near Suwalki, Poland. In September 1939 he was a tactical officer in the Polish 10th Bomber Division and he was involved in two missions dedicated to attacking German armoured divisions. Following the invasion of Poland he escaped to France and subsequently England. Once here, he was allocated to 12 OTU and then transferred to 18 OTU in December 1940 and the following month he trained as a navigator at the Air Observer and Navigator School. He returned to 18 OTU in September 1941.
He was posted in to 304 Squadron on 1st April 1942, as an observer, from 18 OTU RAF Bramcote and he was killed on DV441, flying out of RAF Lindholme, which was shot down over the sea by a fighter, during a raid on Bremen on 26th June 1942. His was the only body found from this aircraft and it has been suggested that he was given a military burial at sea (perhaps he was picked up by an outbound German vessel?). I have seen several reports that his body was recovered but I cannot find him in any of the military burial sites, so this story may well be true.
The ORBs from 300 Squadron suggests that he flew three missions with them between February and April 1941.
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Post by archivist on Jul 25, 2009 3:47:01 GMT -7
PAWIAN,
I have just seen a brief note on recent work at the crash site which states that an aluminium plate has been found at the crash site and it bears the words HALIFAX II. So I believe it must have been Omylaka's aircraft.
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