304 SQUADRON POLISH AIR FORCE IN EXILE

[archivist]

Sergeant Roman Puchala
He was a rear gunner and known to be in service on 16th December 1942 but later transferred to 138 Squadron (Special Operations). On 17th September 1943 his Halifax bomber BB309 was shot down at Slagille, Denmark on its way back from Poland. The mission was part of Operation Neon 3 which involved successfully dropping weapons and two agents into occupied Polish territory. They were detected by the German Radar Station “Seehund” and a Junkers Ju88 night fighter was scrambled and shot the Halifax down. It crashed into a house, killing three adults and two children but six other children miraculously survived.
Four of the crew were killed instantly, one died later of his injuries (severe burns) and another suffered a broken arm and leg but escaped from the hospital to neutral Sweden three weeks later. There was an immediate burial of the dead in shallow graves in the church yard without a service much to the chagrin of the local priest. He arranged for them to have a proper burial with a Christian service rendered in English. The expenses, including coffins and flowers, were covered by A.P Moller, a Danish shipping magnate.
The German fighter, flown by Lieutenant Richard Burdyna from IV/NJG3, also crashed. One report claims that it was hit by return fire from the Wellington, but the general consensus is that the aircraft was circling the wreckage and flew into power cables, killing the pilot and his two crewmen. The Polish dead are buried in Slagille Kirkegaard Cemetery, Denmark and the German crew were interred in Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen, Denmark..
Sergeant Puchala suffered only minor head injuries and escaped across the fields and was sheltered on a local farm, where he was captured after a few hours.. He was initially taken to Dulag Luft, a Luftwaffe transit camp near Frankfurt am Main, Germany for interrogation and then on to Stalag Luft VI Gross Tychow, near Tychowo, Poland.. Finally, he went to Stalag 357 at Fallingbostel in Lower Saxony, Germany.

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SZCZUROWSKI F/Lt Ryszard Z P-76788

He was a pilot, born on 3rd April 1915 and known to be in service on 5th January 1942 and promoted to Flight Lieutenant on 6th February 1942. He was killed on Z1088 which disappeared on a mission to Cologne on 28th April 1942. It is believed to have been shot down near Villers la Ville, Belgium. He is buried in Charleroi Communal Cemetery.

On 29th April 1942 he was recommended for a DFC:

“Pilot Officer Szczurowski has completed many operational sorties as captain of aircraft and has always pressed home his attacks with the greatest determination. On the 13th March 1942, when detailed to attack targets at Koln and Essen respectively, his aircraft was damaged by anti-aircraft fire before the target was reached. Despite this he pressed home his attacks successfully. Pilot Officer Szczurowski has displayed courage, skill and devotion to duty which have been a source of inspiration to his crew.”

The award was not granted but his Commanding Officer felt that he deserved recognition; had it been granted, it would have been posthumous as he was killed the previous day.

[archivist]

SZCZODROWSKI F/O Marian

He was born on 30th September 1916 at Krotoszyn, Poland. He graduated in May 1937 and then joined the army. In January 1938 he went to the aviation school in Deblin where he trained as a pilot on the P23 Karas. He was promoted to officer on the first day of the war and went to Romania where he was interned in the camp at Slatinie. He escaped and made his way to the Black Sea where he boarded a ship for Beirut, Lebanon. He made it to Marseilles and then, in January 1940, took a boat from Cherbourg to Southampton and was posted to RAF Eastchurch and finally moved, with the whole Polish contingent to RAF Blackpool.

In September of that year he transferred to 304 Squadron at RAF Bramcote from where he saw his first combat. On the night of 7th October 1941 he flew on his first mission to bomb the docks at Boulogne, France, beginning a campaign of bombing the French coastal ports.

On the night of 16th September 1941 he took off in R1064 on a mission to Ostend, Belgium. His aircraft was shot down by a German night fighter and was seen to crash into the sea about 30 kilometres from the Kent Coast. The whole crew perished and only four bodies were found; his was not one of them and he has no known grave.

[archivist]

ISZKOWSKI F/Lt Jerzy

He was born on 31st March 1914 at Nowym Saczu, Poland and joined the army in September 1933. He finally chose aviation and joined the aviation school in Deblin where he trained to fly and became a pilot instructor.

On the outbreak of war, he was evacuated to Romania where he was interned in camps at Frecatei, Slatinie and Effori. He escaped and made it through Jugoslavia to Greece where he boarded a ship to Marseille, France where he fought in bomber squadrons until he left for England where he first went to RAF Blackpool then, in August 1940, to RAF Bramcote.

He took part, as co-pilot, on their first operational night mission to bomb the fuel tanks at Rotterdam. He remained with the Squadron until 15th May 1942 and flew 48 operational missions, well above the required 30. During this time, he flew on a raid to Rostock (24th April 1942) on which the pilot and an air gunner were injured by machine gun fire from a German fighter and the aircraft was badly shot up. He took over the controls and successfully belly landed the plane at RAF Lindholme. He then moved on to 18 OTU as an instructor.

After leaving the Squadron, he trained in special operations and in the spring of 1944 he went to Poland, via Italy, where he joined up with the Armia Krajowa and took part in resistance activities.

He was arrested by the NKVD (KGB) and was sentenced to death. This was eventually commuted to ten years in prison – of which he served two. He spent the next few years trying to earn a living but he was politically questionable and was removed from key jobs.

He was awarded the Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari by Air Vice Marshall Ujejski on 21st November 1941, the Cross of Valour (four times) and the British Distinguished Flying Cross.

He died on 29th August 1962, aged 48, and is buried in the cemetery at Nowym Sacz.

[archivist]

The story of an ordinary Pole; a man who was responsible for maintenance of radio and Radar equipment, extracted from a much larger story on his perceptions of the war. In the main this is his story as told by him. An artisan not an academic but not a fool either.

GAWOR Edward P Ground crew (Radio telegraphy)

On the outbreak of war,he was posted to Warsaw-Okecie airport;he was already a trained soldier with a speciality in radio telegraphy. He was transferred to the airfield at Zielonka, near Warsaw, where there were two squadrons of fighters deployed to defend the city against aerial attack.. It was a hopeless situation with no back up aircraft, no spares and problems with fuel supplies. They could only expect to hold out for a few days, especially because of the sheer strength and technical superiority of the Luftwaffe, before they had to withdraw.

When the Russians invaded on 17th September, they retreated to Romania, where , in spite of prior assurances, their weapons and equipment were taken away and the men interned.

He was sent to the camp at Turgu-Jiu near Turnu-Severin in southern Romania. With help from British and French agents, he escaped and travelled through Jugoslavia and Greece and then by sea to Marseille, France.

He was assigned to the air force base at Lyon-Bron but was quickly disillusioned when he found they were short of beds, blankets and uniforms. Their living quarters were cold and without hot water; they had to wash their clothes in the river. The worst part of all was the boredom and inability to get back in the war to fight the Germans.. He was unimpressed with the French and did not believe that they could win the war.

With many others, he quickly volunteered to go to England to join a bomber squadron; he was selected and was posted to RAF Eastchurch where his first task was to learn rudimentary English. This was a large air force base but was not yet in operational use. He was happy that Poles who had gone before had organised all the things that were missing in the French base and he was more impressed with the organisation and discipline.

Some time in late 1940, he was sent to RAF Blackpool and later transferred to 304 Squadron where he worked on maintenance of radio equipment. In May 1942 he was moved to RAF Tiree in the Hebrides and shortly afterwards to RAF Dale.

In March 1943, he was given training in Radar, a new invention that had not previously been entrusted to “foreigners”. He was selected because of his existing radio skills and his good English. At this time Radar was so secret that the examination papers and course notes were taken away and destroyed as soon as the men passed the test.

In August 1944, he took part in a hunger strike organised by Poles to persuade their leaders to take action to support the Warsaw Uprising and for 304 Squadron to be involved.

In September 1944 he was transferred to RAF Benbecula in the Hebrides, where he suffered adverse weather conditions, discomfort and accommodation in Nissen huts and yet his only complaint was that he could not understand the local Scottish accents!

In March 1945 he transferred to RAF St Eval in Cornwall where he stayed until the Squadron was assigned to Transport Command.

He re-established contact with his family in Poland early in 1947 and returned home to Poland by sea from Edinburgh on 5th September 1947.

This may not be the most exciting story but it is the fullest that I have been able to uncover on the wartime experiences of any member of the Polish ground crew who were vital to keep the aircraft flying.

[archivist]

A message specially for Jaga

Thank you for the splendid way the Polish American Journal has handled my story on 304 Squadron and thank you for giving me the opportunity to write it. Reaching such an audience will certainly help to preserve the memory of these men. It is also gratifying that you are the first media person (of many) who expressed an interest in the story, then actually did something about it.

[archivist]

It has been a good day for me. They say that good things come in threes (well they do in Britain anyway). Today I've had my three:

1. I received a copy of the Polish American Journal which ran a story I had written on 304 Squadron; they edited the story but expanded it instead of cutting huge chunks out and rendering it meaningless; they used photographs wisely; they gave it good prominence and they actually used the material provided unlike several British newspapers and two radio stations in areas where we have large Polish communities. That made me feel like what I am doing is worthwhile.

2. I found the story of Edward P Gawor to represent the ordinary men who serviced the aircraft. This is the only really comprehensive story I have found on a member of the ground crew.

3. The Derbyshire Turist Authority have posted my story on Stanislaw Jozefiak on their website in the "Famous Derbyshire People" section. As a Pole, he doesn't really qualify, but he has lived there since the end of the war so he is an honorary Ram. (The Ram is the official symbol of Derbyshire - ther's even a song about it!). I have already posted his story on this forum, so if you want to read it just scroll back a bit.

Well, that's the three but just as a bonus, I have made contact with a living member of 304 Squadron so watch this space!

[archivist]

Today I have received a positive flood of photographs of the men and machines of 304 Squadron. I wish I could post them here for all to see, but I can't so you'll have to wait for publication of the final manuscript!

[archivist]

BOREK W/O Mieczyslaw P-704523

He was born on 20th September 1922 Smyga, Dubno Wolyn and was the eldest of five children. On the outbreak of war the family was taken to Siberia and on their release, they travelled to Palestine. He joined the Polish Army in September 1942 and escorted German Prisoners of War to the United States of America.

In October 1942 he transferred to the Polish Air Force and was assigned to 304 Squadron, who were then part of Coastal Command and based at RAF Dale in Pembrokeshire, South west Wales. Their primary function was submarine killing and convoy protection but they also harassed enemy shipping.

He survived the war and made the transition to Transport Command (still with 304 Squadron) where their new function was transporting food and medical supplies to Greece and Jugoslavia. Whilst doing this he was in an accident on a rotine training flight. On 18th January 1946 the Vickers Warwick in which he was flying caught fire on landing at RAF Chedburgh, Sussex.

The pilot, W/O Bojarczuk, was killed but W/O Borek and W/O Zurek survived. Mieczyslaw was pulled from the burning aircraft with his clothes on fire. He suffered a badly broken right leg and the tendons in his right ankle were severed. He was sent to a convalescent unit at RAF Colleton Cross in Devon. He remained there until his discharge from the Air Force on 11th April 1947 after which he became part of the Polish Resettlement Corps.

He married an English girl in 1952 and raised a family over the coming years. In 1955 he moved to Bristol where he trained as an aircraft engineer. In the mid 1970s he qualified as a teacher and followed that profession until he retired. Subsequently he did voluntary work as an interpreter for the United Nations in Bristol. He was one of those presented with Maundy Money by the Queen at a ceremony in Bristol Cathedral.

[Jaga]

Dear Archivist,

the information you are sharing with us is invaluable. Please, keep on posting. Eventually we can make a couple of articles from it.
Our forum has a very high rank on google, so even if nobody replies now, the information will spread about your research!

[archivist]

Thanks Jaga,

I have lots more. Tonight I stumbled across an official document from which I have extracted another 350+ names, all from 304 Squadron. I think this must be mostly the ground crew who rarely get a mention. So this is going to take an awful lot more research!

[archivist]

EVEN THE KIDS.........

CZWIENCZEK L/Ac Wilhelm P-708652

He was without a sociality and was born on 18th October 1927. Judging by his age, he must have joined the Squadron very late in the war, or after it ended, as he had not reached his twelfth birthday when war broke out, nor his eighteenth until after it ended.

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MAJEWSKI Jerzy

He was born on 11th March 1913 in Elizawetgradzie (now known as Kirowograd) near Odessa.The family left for Russia, because his father received a job there. Later the family returned to Poland, where he was educated.

As a soldier, at the beginning of the war, he was posted to the airport at Lvov. After the Russian invasion, he was evacuated to Romania where he was interned. He escaped on the first night and made his way, through Jugoslavia, to Marseille, France and on to the Polish base at Lyon-Bron then on to Normandy where he took on civilian work.

After the Fall of France, he moved into Vichy territory where he worked for two years as a tennis coach and worked his way through University. At this time, he was active in the French Resistance. At the end of 1942 he decided to return to the Polish military and, in mid-1943, he was sent to Canada for training. He trained as a gunner and bomb aimer on Avro Ansons and Bristol Blenheims at Jarvis, Ontario. Subsequently he went to Malton, Ontario for navigator training.

In October 1944 he returned to Britain and was posted to RAF Silloth, where he trained on Wellingtons. In December 1944 he was posted to 304 Squadron who were then at RAF Benbecula carrying out anti-submarine patrols. On his ninth mission, in April 1945, his crew attacked a U-Boat and was credited with probable damage. This was the last ever attack by 304 Squadron on a U-Boat.

He remained with the squadron until he was demobilised at the end of 1946. He was awarded the Cross of Valour and the Bronze Cross of Merit with Swords. He decided to return to Poland and arrived back in Gdansk on 23rd July 1947.

He settled in Krakow and worked as a designer of high voltage electricity grids and won the highly prestigious State Prize for the first 400Kv network near Wroclaw. He then worked as a university lecturer in the faculty of electrical engineering. He died in Krakow in March 1980 at the age of 67.

[archivist]

MAZURKIEWICZ P/O Michal P1706

Micha³ Mazurkiewicz was born on 29 September 1919 in Zamoœæ. He volunteered for the army in early 1937 And in January 1938, he trained at the School of Aviation in Deblin. On the outbreak of war, he crossed into Romania where he was interned in various camps for displaced Poles. On Christmas Day 1939 he managed to get on board a ship which was sailing to Beirut, from where he eventually got a ship to Marseille, France.

On the fall of France, he moved into Vichy territory and reached the port of St Jean de Luz, where he linked with more Polish airmen and sailed for Liverpool. Once in England he was placed in several camps, finally making it to the Polish Depot in Blackpool. From there he moved to the pilot training schools at RAF Peterborough and RAF Newton before being assigned to 18OTU at RAF Bramcote (after his promotion to officer on 1st January 1942.

At RAF Bramcote he trained on Wellington bombers before joining 304 Squadron at RAF Lindholme in April 1942. This was around the time that the squadron switched to anti-submarine warfare. He had flown 12 missions by July 1942.

On 11th July 1942 he took off on a training flight from RAF Bramcote to RAF Dale on Z1072 with a full crew and two passengers, one of whom was his cousin. The left engine failed and caught fire and the engine and wing caught fire, causing the aircraft to crash. He was killed instantly, his cousin died in hospital the next day. Of the others on board, four were injured and one was completely unhurt. He was buried in the Polish section of the cemetery at Newark on Trent. He was awarded the Cross of Valour.

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KOSIN Piotr

He was born on 29th May 1916 in Dabrowa Gornicza and, on leaving school in 1937, he took a job as a clerk. His father died young and there were several children to support but he was still conscripted into the army in 1938. He asked to join the air force and was posted to the second Air Regiment in Krakow. He trained as a ground radio mechanic and was assigned to a squadron of Karas but after war broke out he was evacuated to Romania where he was interned.

He escaped on the first day, crossed into Jugoslavia and reached the Polish Consulate in Belgrade. As a serving airman, they assisted him to travel to Greece and then on to France by sea from Athens to Marseille, where he arrived on 23rd October 1939 and was moved on to the Polish Air Force base at Lyon-Bron.

He was sent to Rennes to train as a radio telegrapher but was shipped out on the fall of France and went to Oran in Algeria. From there he went to Casablanca and got on board a British ship which took him, via Gibraltar, to Glasgow.

He went to the Polish Depot in Blackpool from where he did further radio training at RAF Benson, the signal school at Yatesbury and finally to RAF Stormy Down in Wales where he was trained as an air gunner. On his return to RAF Blackpool, he was posted to 18 OTU at RAF Bramcote. There he trained on Wellington bombers and was assigned to 301 Squadron at RAF Hemswell.

With them he flew several missions to bomb French and German ports and industrial cities. On one such mission, on 8th July 1942, his aircraft took off for Wilhelmshaven, Germany but one of the engines failed almost immediately and they crash landed at the air base. The aircraft was damaged but the crew were safe. For the next few weeks their targets were the industrial cities of Germany and these were the most heavily protected with night fighters and flak.

Late in August 1942, his aircraft had another engine failure and they had to turn back with a full load of bombs (which they would have preferred to jettison over the sea, for obvious reasons). The landing was hard and the aircraft lost its undercarriage and belly landed on the runway. Fortunately the bomb load did not explode and no one was seriously hurt.

Then it was back to normal with more missions to Germany and a few gardening expeditions. Gardening is air force slang for sowing mines in the sea lanes outside German controlled ports.

On the night of 6th December 1942, they were bombing Mannheim, Germany and were damaged by anti-aircraft fire. They were slowed down and were in the air almost seven and a half hours, which was too long for a Wellington. They ran out of fuel and were ordered to bale out before the Wellington crashed into the sea near the English coast. Kosina and two others survived but three of the crew died. The normal routine was to fly 30 missions before retiring from operational flying and this was his 31st flight but the two engine failures did not count and he had to fly one more. He flew the last mission in January 1943.

He worked on ground radio at RAF Hemswell until March 1943 when he moved to 18 OTU at RAF Finningley as an instructor, moving to 10 OTU at RAF Abington in the same capacity in December 1944. He later moved to RAF Faldingworth and RAF Snaith.

At the end of the war he transferred to 304 Squadron and remained with them until December 1946, flying on their unarmed transport fleet of Warwicks and Halifaxes. For a three month spell he was temporarily seconded to RAF Crosby on Eden where he trained on Dakota transports. The reason for this is not totally clear as he was already flying on transports and did not need the kind of conversion training necessary for pilots.

On demobilisation he took a civilian job flying between the UK, India and Pakistan but, for family reasons, he gave that up and went to work for British Railways as a senior technician controlling rail traffic on a large section of track near central London. He retired in 1983 and moved to Lincoln in eastern England. After the war he travelled to Poland several times and finally retired therein his home town in October 2002.