MILITARY RECORDS

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The following information has been collected and researched by Mr. Neville Bougourd who has very kindly offered to share his work with us on the Carlow IGP website.

The Pilots

PAWLUCZYK Sgt Mikolaj P-784106

He was born on 1st or 15th November 1914 (accounts vary) in Minsk, Russia and he joined the training school at Bydgoszcz in 1930 but appears to have failed the course as he was released after two years.  In August 1939 he was conscripted and sent to 6 Air Regiment in Lwow.  He was evacuated after the September Campaign and arrived in France in January 1940.  He stayed there until the fall of France and arrived in Britain on 27th June 1940.

After a period of training he was posted to 307 Fighter Squadron on 27th September 1940 at RAF Kirton in Lindsey in Lincolnshire.  He requested aircrew duties and began wireless operator training at the Blackpool Depot on 24th November 1941; he completed the course at 1 Signal School RAF Cranwell, Sleaford, Lincolnshire on 17th September 1942.  Next day he went to 8 Air Gunnery School at RAF Evanton, Invergordon, Scotland where he qualified on 16th October 1942.  On 16th December 1942 he went to 7 Signal School and then on to 6O TU at Silloth in Cumberland (now Cumbria) for operational training.  On 15th April 1943 he was posted to 304 Squadron at RAF Docking in Norfolk.

He was on board Wellington bomber HE304 on 17th July 1943 when it ran out of fuel on the return journey from the Bay of Biscay.  The whole crew baled out and landed safely at Carlow in the Irish Republic and the plane crashed near Ballickmoyler, County Laois.  He managed to send out an SOS and three aircraft were sent out to look for them but they failed to find the crash because they were unable to violate Irish neutrality and the visibility was so poor.

He returned to the Blackpool Depot and was later posted to RAF Morecambe Polish training wing in Lancashire on 16th November 1944.  Subsequently he was commissioned as an officer and transferred to 133 Wing as adjutant.  On 3rd September 1945 he received his final posting to RAF Dunholme Lodge in Lincolnshire which appears to have been a storage facility for Hamilcar gliders at this time.  He was awarded the Cross of Valour three times and the Air Medal. After his discharge he returned to Poland and was last heard of in 1947.

KIELTYKA Sgt Stanislaw P-784039

He was a pilot, born on 1st January 1920 and known to have been  in service on   8th July 1943 and on 17th July 1943 he baled out of Wellington Mk X  HE304 which crashed near Ballickmoyler, Co Laois in the Irish Republic.  He attacked a U–Boat on 12th February 1944.  He survived the war and died in Argentina on 26th July 2002.

DUSZCZAK Sgt Remigiusz P-794723

He was born on 9th September 1913 and was a radio operator/air gunner and known to be in service on 8th July 1943 and on 17th July 1943 he safely baled out of a Wellington Mk X HE304 which crashed near Ballickmoyler, Co Laois in the Irish Republic.  He was later commissioned as an officer and his service number changed to P-2897.  He is thought to have emigrated to Brazil in 1946.

PASIEKA Sgt Karol Stefan P-783096

He was born on 29th December 1919 and was a pilot, known to be in service 8th July 1943.  He is known to have survived the crash of HE304 near Ballickmoyler, Co Laois, Irish Republic.  It is thought that he was living in South Africa in 1956.

SALEWICZ P/O Stanislaw P-794661

He was born  on 2nd April 1909 and was known to be in service on 8th July 1943 as a navigator and on 17th July 1943 he survived the crash of HE304 in Ballickmoylar, Co Laois, Irish Republic.  Using the new Leigh Light, he attacked and damaged a U–Boat on January 2nd 1944. In every case his service number is the same but more than one record gives his forenames as Mieczyslaw Franciszek.  He survived the war and died in Harrogate, North Yorkshire on 11th May 1997.

KACZAN  Sgt Wladyslaw P-704211

He was an air gunner, born on 3rd July 1923 and known to be in service on 8th July 1943 and on 17th July 1943 he safely baled out of HE304 which crashed near Ballickmoyler, County Laois, Irish Republic.  He survived the war and was known to be living in Killingworth, Newcastle upon Tyne in 1981.

I am in contact with the grandson of Mikolaj Pawluczyk who does not even have a photograph of the man, but we are working on that!  He died about 25 years ago and is buried in Stettin, Poland.  All of his papers, medals etc have been lost over time, but I am trying to retrieve more information on him (and the crash).  If you would like to know more, I will keep you informed on what we find. 

Source: Neville Bougourd c.2012

Source of image: http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2001/01/stuff_eng_detail_wellington.htm

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