I am looking for information about P/O W. M. M. Ciechanowski, RAF service no. 126082, killed on 2 December 1942 in no. 19 Sqn RAF. He is listed on the CWGC website, and the ‘Additional information’ entry is ‘Of Poland’:
http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2441522
Can anyone tell me where/when he was born, and if he was a Polish citizen who joined the RAF, or a British subject of Polish parentage? His service no. is well outside the range allocated to Polish Air Force personnel in Britain.
By: VoyTech - 25th August 2004 at 11:56
JDK,
This number, 126082, is in a range allocated to RAF VR entries during the war. I do not have the exact time frame at hand, but I recall it is something like 1941 on. By that time every Polish officer in Britain had a service no. in a separate block of four-digit numbers preceded by a letter ‘P’. The only Poles to have RAF VR service nos. were those who arrived in Britain prior to June 1940. All their numbers where in an earlier range of five-digit numbers (vast majority in the 76000 range).
Technically it was possible that a Pole would voluntarily join the RAF in a distant place at a later date, being commissioned in the RAF VR before obtaining a transfer to the Polish AF. So far I was only able to identify one such case: Bozydar Nowosielski was initially commissioned with RAF VR (service no. 156564), and upon transfer to the PAF his no. was changed (P.2728). (I think this is mentioned in a book on 315 Sqn published recently in English.) The mystery with P/O Ciechanowski is that he is listed in some records (including Polish ones) as a Pole serving with the RAF, like many PAF officers and NCOs did, but there seem to be no personal files for him. Which might mean that in fact he was a British subject of Polish parentage, like a number of others (such as an RCAF pilot by the purely Polish name of Wozniak who is often mistaken for a Polish officer).
Now, if you want more info on the allocation of RAF, Commonwealth and allied service nos., grab a copy of Chris Shores’s “Aces High” vol. 2, where he explained it in great detail.
By: JDK - 25th August 2004 at 11:32
Your field VoyTech, not mine, but I assume from your statement that most Poles in the RAF were given a number in a sequence – was that a block ‘allocated’ to the Poles, or would it be date of ‘enlistment’ into the RAF, in which case someone who arrived in Britain later might get another number?
Some elaboration would be interesting!
Cheers
By: VoyTech - 25th August 2004 at 11:29
Thanks, I have now asked the same question at the RAF Commands forum.
By: paulmcmillan - 25th August 2004 at 10:54
Sorry no info on this man but he was flying Spitfire F.Vb EP749. Which flew into hill near Mary Tavy, Devon 02.12.1942. Plt Wladyslaw Ciechanowski (Polish) of 19 Sqn killed
also ask on here:
http://www.rafcommands.com
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August 25, 2004 at 10:42 am