304 SQUADRON POLISH AIR FORCE IN EXILE

[archivist]

The comment by tuftabis that he has not heard much about 304 squadron is precisely why I want to record their memory. I could write an encyclopaedia on individual acts of bravery (on all sides). I just want to leave something for posterity on the ordinary people of this squadron who were sent out to do an extraordinary job. And did it well. For your information, tuftabis, the Squadron was so badly battered by mid 1942 that they could barely muster six aircraft and crew at any one time (that's about a quarter of normal operational strength). In all they lost about 106 men in direct combat and a similar number in accidents and others, mainly ground crew) in air raids. At this point they were transferred to Coastal Command for anti-submarine warfare. I think they deserve to be remembered.

Neville

[redneck]

Archivist,
These links may be something you,ve already been through. If so, I post them for others to enjoy. Thank you for your work. Tim.

Operations record books:
orb.polishaf.pl/304sqn/1940/1940-10-no-304-squadron-f540

Video tributes:

[archivist]

Thank you, Tim, I have regularly visited these sites. The ORB site is occasionally expanded so I recommend people to visit more than once. There is much yet to be published and the organisers of this site are doing a great job. The only other way to see this information is to go to London (and pay through the nose to search the records in the National Archives). This is not easy for me as I am a working man and live 300 miles from London.

Neville

[tuftabis]

Neville, I would love to hear more about this specific squadron. Could you please tell more, especially why did you choose this squadron to commemorate. Is it purely accidental – the plane crash close to your home village, or is it something more. As a specialist you know there were many Polish squadrons in RAF during WWII, the 303 mentioned by Jaga the best known, well, famous in fact. I guess that is partly due to the fact the fighters in action are much more spectacular than bombers, and that is how the interest of the public, the historians, an most of all the media goes. How do you compare the heavy looses of squadron 304 with other RAF squadrons, were they just 'average' or lost more or less men and machines – it is known that the main problem of RAF at certain time was having not enough pilots, was it the case with 304? And how would you compare the training of a fighter pilot versus the bomber one – do they go through the same cycle of training or are there specializations.

And here are some more useful information for you, if you haven's found it yet -


A set of photos related to squadron 304. At the end you'll notice the names of Piotr Giecewicz, Zbigniew Majewski, Bolesław Ruda, Jan Wołosewicz, Mariusz Zejdler. These are the owners of the orginal photos and probably the well-informed persons.

www.polishairforce.pl/dyw304zdj.html


A monography on the squadron with ISBN. If you'll able to contact Mariusz Konarski you'll be at home:

Konarski, Mariusz. 304 Squadron. Sandomierz, Poland/Redbourn, UK: Mushroom Model publications, 2005. ISBN 83-89450-18-6.

[archivist]

To tuftabis

The initial story I found on 304 Squadron just didn't have the ring of truth. I checked it out (and that was hard work) and after I destroyed the errors, I found out just how much the Brits owed to the Poles. OK, we went to war wnd honoured our obligations ( That's the Brit stiff upper lip attitude) but we were way beyond our abilities; we didn't have the big guns to follow up the threats. A million or so British deaths sort of prove that. But like you Americans, nobody out there cared about British casualties. I think the Americans are (unreasonably) hated around the world and the Brits come a close second! But then, the good guys are always painted black by the bad guys. (THAT IS NOT A RACIAL COMMENT). I am a local historian and I took an interest in the story and followed it up with a great deal of interest and research. The research showed me just how much we Brits owed to the Poles. OK, we went to war for them, but they paid us back in spades. It was too much to expect of one ordinary working man to honour the entire Polish effort, so I chose 304 Squadron because one of their aircraft fell out of the sky near my home village (creating a local interest) and the heroism of the pilot saved the lives of people I grew up with. This is his story:

R1268 NZ – T Vickers Wellington Mk1c Medium Bomber
It was early afternoon, around 1.30 pm, on 14th December 1940, a Wellington bomber which had reportedly got lost over the North Sea ploughed into trees on high ground near West Edmondsley Farm, five miles North West of Durham. Well, planes do come down in wartime, but not usually on this sleepy little hamlet. The impact point was in the woods close to the Wardle’s Bridge Inn.

Out of fuel, the plane was seen to make a hard right turn to avoid the farm, a Grade II listed building dating back to 1751, and the people in it. At the crash scene the Wellington’s back was broken and the nose area, presumably the Perspex front gun turret was broken open and in the stream. The pilot was still strapped in his seat.

There were four crew members aboard, unusual as a Wellington normally carries six, and all were injured, three of them quite badly but all were alive. The alarm was raised and the injured were taken to the farm dairy, using an old door as a stretcher. They were given morphine and first aid by Dr Mukerji, the local GP from Craghead. They were then taken to Chester-le-Street Hospital and later transferred to York Military Hospital.

The crew were Flying Officer M. Kostuch, Flying Officer Jan Stanislaw Waroczewski (the pilot), Sgt J Boczkowski and P/O Stanczuk. Flying Officer Waroczewski was later to become something of a hero, as will be explained later.

There were various reports of this accident and most were generally accurate but a few errors had to be sorted out before the real picture emerged. The aircraft was said to be a Mark III Wellington from 604 Squadron flying out of RAF Syerston. But 604 was a fighter squadron (flying de Havilland Mosquitoes, Bristol Beaufighters, Gloster Gladiators and Bristol Blenheims) and did not fly out of RAF Syerston and the Mark III did not come into service until six months after the crash, nor did 304 Squadron ever fly Mark IIIs. However, 304 Squadron had just moved to RAF Syerston and flew Mark Ic Wellingtons.

It was actually on a cross country training mission, not a bombing mission, as reported. 304 Squadron did not fly operational missions (i.e. bombing raids) until the following April. The circumstances were that the pilot had selected an emergency landing site but his wings iced up and his windows iced over at 3,500 feet and he lost sight of his chosen landing ground. It must be remembered that this was one of the worst winters of the 20th Century. The pilot saw the farm at the last minute and his evasive action caused him to hit the trees on slightly higher ground.

Mindful of security, the only crew member able to walk, collected up maps and documents before allowing himself to be treated for his injuries. Judging by the injuries sustained, this was likely to be Flying Officer Kostuch.

Once this was established, I tried to track down the crew. I still could not identify the two unnamed crew members and M Kostuch does not appear in any further records I have seen, except an entry in the Squadron’s Operational Record Book which says that he returned to the squadron on 17th March 1941. A fellow amateur researcher found more details and passed them on; the two missing crewmen were Sergeant Boczkowski and P/O Stanczuk, who was also killed later in the war in a road accident.

The Squadron Operational Record Book is blank for the day of the crash but it was recorded in the Operational Record Book of RAF Syerston and the injuries were given as follows: “The captain of the aircraft F/O WAROCZEWSKI sustained a fractured wrist and laceration of the face and the injuries to the remaining members of the crew were F/O KOSTUCK (sic) damaged wrist and laceration of face, F/O STANCZUK fractured leg and laceration of face and chest, and Sgt BOCZKOWSKI injury to chest and laceration of face.”

Jan Stanislaw Waroczewski was born on 25th December 1911 at Suchiednow in the Province of Kielci, Poland. In spite of his injuries, he returned to the squadron and was, sadly, killed in another Wellington (R1392) on 28th May 1941. His aircraft was severely hit by flak, knocking out one engine, whilst he was on a bombing raid over Boulogne. He ordered his crew to bale out and one of his crew did so, over the target zone or over the sea, but was killed and his body was never found, or was buried as unidentified. The pilot (Waroczewski) struggled valiantly and regained control of the aircraft and managed to get it back to England on the other engine but fire in that engine sealed the fate of the aircraft. Because of his heroic actions another two crew members baled out and survived with only minor injuries, but the plane crashed at Darwell Hole, near Brightling, Sussex. Flying Officer Waroczewski and the two remaining crewmen were killed. Their bodies were taken back to RAF Syerston (Nottinghamshire) and they were buried in Newark Cemetery – he was twenty nine years old. He is also remembered on Panel 75 of the War Memorial at RAF Northolt.

Researching that incident started off this whole project.




This is a modern picture, taken in 2004, of West Edmondsley Farmhouse, which was saved from destruction by the evasive action taken by Flying Officer Waroczewski during the crash landing of R1268 on 14th December 1940. Photograph courtesy of Durham County Council (The Durham Record).

The following is an eye witness account from one of two teenage boys (Tom and Jacky Lamb) who were present at the time of the crash; this is a verbatim account and all spelling and grammatical mistakes have been faithfully copied except that the original was in block capitals and contained a sketch of the scene. The author, Tom Lamb, went on to become a very well respected pitman artist.

“It was December 14th 1.30pm 1940.
My brother and I were in Millwood to gather holly for Xmas. We suddenly heard a sound. It’s a plane. There she is Jacky shouted, coming over our village just above the trees. It seemed to be coming straight above us rocking from side to side and losing height. We became aware the huge bomber was heading for West Edmondsley Farm. It was a very dark colour except for the very bright ring markings in the dull light of the December afternoon.

The pilot turned a hard right to avoid the farm, and with, a loud crash dropped into a wooded riverine with a stream running through. ‘Wardels Wood’. My stomack felt sour as I remembered the last plane crash. Oh please don’t let them die! We soon arrived at the crash. A sorry sight met us. The first thing we saw was the huge tail fin. The plane had brocken its back, leaving the tial- fin and the main part of the fuselarge on the slope of the [deletion] riverine its wings spreading out in the valley, and its nose broken open in the stream, with the pilot strapped in his seat, open to the air. Only one of the four airman could walk. He had injured his forhead. The others were alive but badly injured.

Jacky and the farm workers carried the airmen to the farm house, using an old door, as a stretcher. The airman who could walk got the maps and other various documents from the plane, and came up the slope towards where I was standing near the tal-fin. He turned and looked back at the crash. He asked me, where are we? I told him County Durham. I walked with him to the farmhouse, and was met by Mrs Lawton who said the doctor had arrived, and was given morphian to the other airmun, and dressing their wounds. The airman was in a state of shock and mumbling that they were on a training flight and got [deletion] short of fuel.

Soldiers arrived from their camp at Edmondsley to guard the aeroplane. And to take the airmun to Chester-le-Street Hospital. The Polish airman all survived. The bomber was a Vickers Wellington No R1268 604 Sqn. [error should be 304] Some of the ladys of the village would visit the airmun in hospital.”

All in all, this is an excellent, and mainly accurate, description – not sensationalised (as you might expect) by a teenage boy. The sketch is also very good and clearly shows the geodetic framework. Unfortunately, the copy I have is a very poor quality photocopy and cannot be reproduced here.

All spelling and grammatical mistakes have been faithfully reproduced: what you see is the original.

So, tuftabis, I hope this explains things for you.

Best regards

Neville

[archivist]

Tuftabis,

I forgot to mention that I am in correspondence with Mariusz Konarski, I have his book and I have studied it well. I have not yet written my manuscript, but the notes are very well presented and if you would like a copy, I will mail it to you. There are over 100 pages, so it is too big to e-mail. Contact me privately at [e-mail] with a mailing address and I'll send it to you.

Best regards

Neville

[archivist]

Tuftabis

The names of the owners (copyright hoders) of the photographs are well known to me, but contacting them for permission to use the photographs is not easy

Best Regards

Neville

[archivist]

To Jaga,

The information you gave me on Newark Cemetery was wonderful but please can you explain the abbreviation KSOVM which appears in green in many places. Is this something to do with the Virtuti Militari?

Neville

[wayneprice]

Neville,

Yes it does in fact have to do with holders of the Virtuti Militari, and translates in Polish as: Krzyż Srebrny Orderu Virtuti Militari - KSOVM. In English it would be: Silver Cross of the Order of the Virtuti Militari.

Hope that helps

Wayne

[redneck]

Neville,
The U.S.A.F. Museum is located here where I am currently living in Ohio.
Perhaps you could contact them for information. They may have access to some records without cost. If it takes a "in person" visit I would be more than happy to do it for you.
Tim.

www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/

[archivist]

Wayne,

Thank you for that information - it really does help.

Tim,

Thanks for your information and your very kind offer. I have had a quick look at the website and they make it very clear that they are only open to postal enquiries for research purposes.
So it looks like I'll have to write them a letter. Old fashioned but I'll give it a go. Judging by the layout of the site, they are pretty well organised and they just might have something; the allies did share airfields (or stations as the RAF call them). Worth a try.

Thanks again to both of you.

Neville

[tuftabis]

Hi Neville, thank you. The story and the background of your interest are interesting per se. Thanks for the book offer, but no thanks. Frankly it would have to wait for too long on the 'to be read' pile.
But since you've come here for information. You're so advanced that hardly anyone in any open forum will be able to provide any, I'm afraid. But what came to my mind is providing the names of other people that may know something you'd like to know.

Zofia Gawryś and Krzysztof Paleski, the editing authors of a book 'The Poles on the Battlefronts of the Second World War' ( ISBN: 8311101639)

Rafał Korbal - same title. ISBN: 83-7212-218-0


And phone number to Department of XX Century History, Institute of History, Warsaw University. There are several persons there specializing in 'Poles in WWII'

phone [phone]


Last but not the least, I stongly believe Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud, the authors of the mentioned 'Question of honour' will have some information for you. The book is dedicated to Squadron 303, but there's a chance they will have some unpublished data on 304, since they must have done extensive study on the subject. (The 304 is mentioned in their book only once, though)

Good luck and thanks for sharing!

[archivist]

Tuftabis'

Thanks for the information , which I will check out. But you are wrong! Yesterday a Polish lady asked me for help and, I'm pleased to say, I was able to give it. But one small detail she mentioned led me to six members of the Squadron I had not previously recorded. Nobody is perfect and even after intensive study, there is still a lot for me to learn. When your "to be read" pile disappears, let me know.

Thanks again

Neville

[archivist]

I have read a great deal about Poland and the Polish people and I have become a Pole-ophile (if such a clumsy word is understandable to all you people of Polish extraction!). I have more or less given up hope of finding hard information on this forum but I will continue to post stories of Polish (304) heroism on this site if you have no objections. Please let me know if you think this is not the proper place, or if you would like me to stop. Anyway, here's the next one:

MIECZNIK F/Sgt Tadeusz

He is known to have served in 304 Squadron but transferred to 138 Squadron, flying covert missions for the SOE; he was awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari Silver Cross, 5th class. On one such mission, on 18th September 1943, Halifax BB309, flying out of Tempsford in Bedfordshire, was picked up by the German Radar station “Seehund” at Tybjerg, Denmark and shortly afterwards it was attacked by a night fighter. The crippled aircraft made a forced landing and crashed into a house. Three adults and two of the children were killed in the house; miraculously six other children survived. Five of the crew were also killed and one other taken prisoner. Flight Sergeant Miecznik suffered a broken arm and leg and was taken to hospital but later escaped to Sweden.

The night fighter, a Ju88, was flown by Lieutenant Richard Burdyna from IV/NJG3 and he was so preoccupied with the carnage that he circled to watch then struck power lines, killing himself and his two crewmen.

The bodies of the dead Polish crew were buried by German troops in shallow graves in the churchyard and without ceremony. Next day the horrified priest had the bodies exhumed, placed in coffins and buried properly, with a Christian service and they all now lie in Slagille Cemetery. The funeral was paid for by A.P. Moller, a local ship owner.

F/Sgt Miecznik was taken to Ringsted Hospital and when the Doctor thought he was well enough to travel he contacted the local resistance who placed a ladder at his hospital window and helped him to get out. He was taken overland to Copenhagen and then, in a small boat, to Sweden.

Hope you appreciate that, brave Danes as well as brave Poles

Neville

[archivist]

And here's another one:

LADRO Sq/Ldr Edmund

He was awarded the Polish Krzyz Walechznych (Cross of Valour) on 21st November 1942 by Air Vice Marshal Ujejski, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. On 26th October 1941, W5720 was hit by flak and crashed into the sea. After many hours in the water, all but one of the crew was rescued; this flier survived the crash but F/O Stenocki was killed. By 5th January 1942 (F/O) Ladro’s rank is reported as P/O and he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant on 6th February 1942. On February 9th 1943 he was jumped by 4 Junkers Ju 88s and successfully evaded them for almost an hour; his rear gunner accurately fired into the attackers (even though he was wounded) and their distress signals were picked up and a group of Bristol Beaufighters arrived and shot down at least 3 of the German aircraft. This battle was fought almost at sea level and the aircraft was riddled with machine gun bullet holes and was hit by a single 20mm cannon shell which ripped away a 6 foot section of the starboard wing. He was awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari Silver Cross, 5th class.

The Poles just don't know how to give in: In Shakespeare's work, Othello said "If you cut me, do I not bleed?" In WWII, the Poles said: "Cut me and I'll bleed, give me a transfusion, I'll go back and fight again and maybe bleed some more."

Neville

PS I had to fit that one in before you tell me to stop.