Polish Air Force Memorial

I have information on the owners of both photogrpahs. Please check your PMs.

http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=mFQYMXJcDsUiWypfGEcBWX8ToWGTsH5gT7BK3cd5btlWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d

I’ve just shown this to my Mother: she says that she (and her sister and brother) used that flying jacket as a rug in front of the fire when they returned to Poland. 🙂

Thank you: I am grateful for your help.

Your grandfather seems to have had the remarkable ability of being absent from 306 Squadron photographs during 1942. After a ;lot of searching I did manage to find one of him in the Polish historical aviation magazine Lotnictwo z Szachownicą 17. The last place I looked, nothing new about that. At least it is a good one. It was in a two part article about 306 Squadron. Give me some time and I will make some enquiries. The quality of the paper and printing does not allow a good quality scan but try this link and hopefully you will be able to save a copy. If it’s not very good then I can send you a jpeg. It doesn’t look too bad in Photoshop.

http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=mFQYMXJcDsUiWypfGEcBWX8ToWGTsH5gT7BK3cd5btlWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d

Do you have this one?

I have not seen this picture before – it is my grandfather. May I ask you where you got this from, and if you have any others of him / his squadron? He was a flight lieutenant and then flight commander in 306 where he was credited with the first Polish victory in a spitfire Mk IX (he shot down a Focke Wulf 190 on 2 Oct 1942). We have little documentation or pictures in the family as most of it was left behind in occupied Poland after the war when he escaped to Britain on the pretense of going on holiday.

Do you have this one?

Wladyslaw was my grandfather, and I don’t have many pictures of him – could you let me know where I can find a copy of this so that I might see it, please?

Many thanks.

Failing that, does anybody know this Mr Kubala, or how to contact him?

Another photo © Mr Kubala, showing the Officers’ Mess building a couple of years ago. And a group of Polish pilots relaxing in front of the same building in 1942, seated, left to right: Wladyslaw Walendowski, Pawel Niemiec, Marian Trzebinski, Stanislaw Bochniak. standing: Teofil Szymankiewicz.

Wladyslaw was my grandfather, and I don’t have many pictures of him – could you let me know where I can find a copy of this so that I might see it, please?

Many thanks.

Bert,

It is indeed real and verified as such, hence the hefty price tag. I have a number of WW2 Polish items & medals in my collection which I have purchased over the years and they either are or shortly will be displayed with the respect & honour that the Poles (and other foreign fighting nationals) have long deserved in “our” museum in the Isle of Man where a large number of Poles served, a number tragically losing there lives there.

Whilst the suggestion of loan or donation to Poland is a good one, there are practical as well as financial reasons why I have not done this.

If that medal for Feric is real, it should be rightly appreciated back in Poland…
You would make friends for life in Poland if you would permanently loan it to them

Bert

VoyTech, is Teofil Szymankiewicz the Szymankiewicz who was killed in a 316 Sqn Mustang in early 1945 ?

Yes.

VoyTech, is Teofil Szymankiewicz the Szymankiewicz who was killed in a 316 Sqn Mustang in early 1945 ?

Aah if only I had a fiver for every time I’ve driven past that memorial or those gates….. 😀

Last evening was the last time in fact…. :rolleyes:

Not been through the gates though since about 1982 or 83 probably. Had been a regular inside visiter for a number of years up to then. Spent many an evening releaxing in the RAFP dog unit ‘mess’ which IIRC was in one of the wartime Nissen huts over on the far western side of the airfield (over the bump) by the control tower and old fire dump.

if you are ever in leicester there is a display at all saints school wigston of a polish lancaster that crashed post war after being hit by lightening.i cant remember the crew details but it was on a cross country flight from faldingworth.it is only a small display but could be of interest

4 February 1946
Lancaster I PA269 BH-U of 300 Sqn
Pil. W/Cdr Romuald Sulinski 76647
Nav F/O Wladyslaw Ryszard Jedrzejczyk P-2516
BA W/O Michal Szwandt 794532
WOp/AG W/O Waclaw Brzezinski 793023
FE F/Sgt Feliks Mikula 783490
AG F/O Czeslaw Kazimierz Sulgut P-2930
all killed

Another photo © Mr Kubala, showing the Officers’ Mess building a couple of years ago. And a group of Polish pilots relaxing in front of the same building in 1942, seated, left to right: Wladyslaw Walendowski, Pawel Niemiec, Marian Trzebinski, Stanislaw Bochniak. standing: Teofil Szymankiewicz.

The hangars, as seen from in front of the Officers’ Mess (note the tennis court in the foreground, where a car park is now), and today (a bit closer, another photo © K. Kubala).

It took us five years to finish the investigation of a 300 sqn Lancaster. But we were successful in giving five former missing Polish aircrew a deserving burial at Breda, and they are no longer missing.

Yes, that was a great thing you have done!

skypilot62, some shots inside Northolt, then and now, for you.
First, the Station HQ in 1944, prior to a decoration ceremony (from the collection of Edward Jaworski who was with 317 Sqn at the time), and a couple of years ago (photo © Krzysztof Kubala).

polish lancaster post war

if you are ever in leicester there is a display at all saints school wigston of a polish lancaster that crashed post war after being hit by lightening.i cant remember the crew details but it was on a cross country flight from faldingworth.it is only a small display but could be of interest

It took us five years to finish the investigation of a 300 sqn Lancaster. But we were successful in giving five former missing Polish aircrew a deserving burial at Breda, and they are no longer missing.

Cheers

Cees

Good on you! I’d love to hear the full story or a link to it if you get a chance.

It took us five years to finish the investigation of a 300 sqn Lancaster. But we were successful in giving five former missing Polish aircrew a deserving burial at Breda, and they are no longer missing.

Cheers

Cees