A couple of photos of 300 Sqn Lancasters. I know the round marking on the nose is gas patch and they were applied by 1 Group. What I cannot find out is why. They are a different colour and shape from the ones at the beginning of the war which implies that they may have been for a different type of gas. It doesn’t seem likely that a Lancaster would encounter poison gas at 20,000 ft over Hamburg and they are not in a position where the crew could see them. Does anybody know what their purpose was and why they seem to be confined to 1 Group?
By: komunikant - 3rd March 2024 at 12:07
Antoni, I think my father may be in on of those photos of 300 squadron you’ve posted – how can i contact you directly?
By: antoni - 20th January 2008 at 10:58
Antoni,
I don’t suppose you would happen to know who the people are in the photograph? My best friends grandfather flew Lancasters with 300 Sqn. Obviously it’s a VERY slim chance that he would be in the photo, but you never know… stranger things have happened!!!
Unfortunately I don’t have any names for the two photos. I would very much like to know myself. I have plenty of others. Send me your email address if you want to see them (pdf docs).
The first lanc, with the girl stating on the moon, is ME470 BH.F. The second, bomb with Hitler’s face and a woodpecker (I think) is PB705 BH-B jak Buś (pronounced boosh). B is for Buś? Both took part in the Berchtesgaden raid on 25th April 1945.
No. 300 Squadron Duty Roster for the raid:
BH-L (PA261) – Jarkowski (CO), Suwała, Buczkiewicz, Lasota, Prusiecki, Kowalik, Nogty, Wieczorek.
BH-A (NN718) – Adamowski, Kurman, Dauman, Jarosz, Motyka, Kułakowski, Turek
BH-B (PB705) – Buś, Dzięcioł, Wolfram, Brettler, Bohdanowicz, Żółciak, Tolicz
BH-D (PD387) – Gierejkiewicz, Kikut, Ichniowski, Langer, Małecki, Dubiel, Spaczyński
BH-F (ME470) – Schlichtinger, Kozak, Hanczakowski, Was, Szułkowski, Kuzniecow, Schmidt
BH-E (SW279) – Pruszyński, Michalik, Szarek, Borkowski, Kardasiewicz, Szczepulski, Derbicz
BH-J (PA233) – Karpiński, Sitarek, Garnowski, Gajda, Szymczak, Ziętkiewicz, Reinke
BH-K (NG269) – Kozubski, Jaworski, Micko, Kościukiewicz, Perlak, Łuksza, Szyc
BH-R (PB730) – Gryglewicz, Marguła, Miterski, Dziuś, Roman, Jeronim, Sterynowicz
BH-? (?) – Toruński, Krawiec, Zieniewicz, Szypowski, Czernek, Pawlak, Strzelecki
BH-U (PA269) – Warchołek, Skibiński, Nowak, Szumski, Pietrzak, Antoszczyszyn, Janowicz
BH-V (NG265) – Wierzbowski, Stawicki, Blicharski, Frączek, Krzewinski, Sołtyś, Kołtonowski
BH-Z (PD383) – Witkowski, Kończyk, Piaskowski, Sadura, Oziewicz, Marczyk, Pupa
BH-X (PA262) – Abramski, Siwik, Brodziński, Lukaszewicz, Jaciów, Najberg, Teliga
Crews in consecutive order: pilot, flight engineer, navigator, air bomber, wireless operator, mid-upper gunner, rear gunner and sometimes an extra navigator or radio op.
By: antoni - 20th January 2008 at 10:32
Just thinking outloud. Have you checked the role No. 1 group was supposed to play in the event of chemical warfare? I´ve seen these patches on photos of Lancs, but never thought any more of it. Is it possible that No.1 group was the only group cleared to carry chemical weapons, and the patch was to alert ground crew about leakage of the weapons? Like I say, just a stab in the dark, I do not know.
Interesting suggestion. Fairey Battles were seen at Newton practicing mustard gas attacks against the invasion barges being assembled in France. They were fitted with spray bars. Aniseed was sprayed on to disc markers that registered the spray density during low-level flypasts. The allies had supplies of gas weapons available but only to be used in retaliation. There was an incident in Italy when a munitions ship carrying mustard gas shells was attacked and a lot of people were contaminated with the stuff. The whole episode was kept quiet for obvious reasons.
By: VX927 - 20th January 2008 at 00:24
Antoni,
I don’t suppose you would happen to know who the people are in the photograph? My best friends grandfather flew Lancasters with 300 Sqn. Obviously it’s a VERY slim chance that he would be in the photo, but you never know… stranger things have happened!!!
By: galdri - 19th January 2008 at 23:58
Just thinking outloud. Have you checked the role No. 1 group was supposed to play in the event of chemical warfare? I´ve seen these patches on photos of Lancs, but never thought any more of it. Is it possible that No.1 group was the only group cleared to carry chemical weapons, and the patch was to alert ground crew about leakage of the weapons? Like I say, just a stab in the dark, I do not know.
By: antoni - 19th January 2008 at 23:35
300 Squadron was Polish squadron and Poland was not at war with Japan so no chance of them going east. Their Lancs were hand-me-downs from other squadrons and the gas patches probably arrived with them. Not all aircraft have them. They seem to only be found on Lancs belonging to 1 Group so it is interesting that they occur on other aircraft. But why did they think they were needed so late in the war?
By: Seaking93 - 19th January 2008 at 20:49
Not knowing anything about 300Sqdn, could they have been applied for a possible mission in the Far East, as the Corsair at FAAM has them applied for this reason, much smaller of course.
By: jeepman - 19th January 2008 at 17:15
For the groundcrew – when servicing the airframe
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January 19, 2008 at 3:28 pm