460118 - Unaccounted Airmen - 18-01-1946

[Alex Smart]

Hello,

460118 - Unaccounted Airmen - 18-01-1946

From Henk's List -

Nil

From CWGC, Krzystka's & Geoff's Sites -

AUSTRALIA
KEARNEY, John Joseph - LAC - 72678 - RAAF - Botany General Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia.

GERMANY
CHAN, Oswald - F/Lt( Pilot) - 116430 - RAFVR - Munster Heath War Cemetery, Nordrhein, West Falen, Germany - [ Mosquito FB.6 - RS638 - 4 Sqdn - LAC Maude died on the 23rd ].

UK
BOJARCZUK, Romauld - Starzy Sierzent Podchorazy ( W/O - Pilot ) - 783111 - PAF - Honington ( All Saints) Churchyard, Suffolk - [ Warwick III - HG273 - 304 Sqdn ].
BRUNNING, Norman Charles - Sgt(Pilot) - 1585056 - RAFVR - Pinhoe (St. Michael) Churchyard, Devon - [ Wellington X - LR125 - 17 OTU ].
BUTLER, Alfred Frederick - Sgt(A/G) - 3033600 - RAFVR - Tottenham Cemetery, Middlesex - [ Wellington X - LR125 - 17 OTU ].
BUTTON, Geoffrey Sydney - F/O(Nav) - 166725 - RAFVR - Sittingbourne Cemetery, Kent - [ Wellington X - LR125 - 17 OTU ].
CRABB, Lawson Terence - Sgt (WoP-A/G) - 3025459 - RAFVR - St. Stephen's - By - Saltash ( St. Stephen) Churchyard, Cornwall - [ Wellington X - LR125 - 17 OTU ].
HARDS, Alan Frederick - GRP/Capt (Pilot) - DSO - RAF - Woking ( St. John's) Crematorium, Surrey - [ Dornier 335 - AM223 - RAE ].
KINNAIR, William Spence - F/Sgt(Nav/Air Bomber) - 572774 - RAF - Harrogate ( Stonefall ) Cemetery, Yorkshire - [ Wellington X - LR125 - 17 OTU].
STRATTON, John Peter Houghton - AC2c ( U/T Pilot) - 3002689 - RAFVR - Cranwell (St.Andrew ) Churchyard, Lincolnshire - [ Harvard II - FX228 - 19 FTS - Pilot Wattleworth died on the 19th ].

Alex

[wwrsimon]

Alex

HARDS, Alan Frederick - GRP/Capt (Pilot) - DSO

From the Aberdeen Press and Journal, January 19th 1946:

Secret Nazi Plane Crashes Near School
Two minutes before 300 children were due to leave school at Cove, Hampshire, yesterday for the mid-day break, a "secret" German fighter plane, with engines at the nose and tail, crashed in front of the schoolhouse, scattering burning debris.
The pilot of the plane, Group Captain A. F. Hards, test pilot and commander of the R.A.F. establishment at Farnborough, from which the plane had taken off a few minutes previously, was killed.
The plane, a Dornier 335, was the only one of its type in England. The latest German single-seater fighter, it was only in the experimental stage when the war ended. Intended for night and bad weather flying, its top speed was reckoned to be 470 miles an hour.
Four children and a father who was meeting his daughter were slightly injured.

BRUNNING, Norman Charles - Sgt(Pilot) - 1585056 - registered Merioneth East
BUTLER, Alfred Frederick - Sgt(A/G) - 3033600 - registered Merioneth East
BUTTON, Geoffrey Sydney - F/O(Nav) - 166725 - registered Merioneth East
CRABB, Lawson Terence - Sgt (WoP-A/G) - 3025459 - National Probate Calendar states that he died at Llandrillo
KINNAIR, William Spence - F/Sgt(Nav/Air Bomber) - 572774 - National Probate Calendar states that he died at Corwen, Merionethshire

From the same article, continued:

Five Killed
The entire crew of five of a Wellington bomber, based at Silverstone, Northamptonshire, lost their lives when their plane crashed in a field at Llandrillo, Monmouthshire, yesterday.
The plane did not catch fire, and the cause of the crash is unknown.

BOJARCZUK, Romauld - Starzy Sierzent Podchorazy ( W/O - Pilot ) - 783111

and again, from the same article, continued:

A Warwick R.A.F. machine crashed and burst into flames at Chedburgh, Suffolk, yesterday while taking part in landing exercises: Warrant Officer Bojarczuk, Polish Air Force, is missing.
Two other warrant officers dragged from the plane before it was burnt out are injured and in hospital.

The Western Daily Press of January 19th names the two other two men as Misczyslaw Borek and Stanislaw Zurek.

STRATTON, John Peter Houghton - AC2c ( U/T Pilot) - 3002689 - National Probate Calendar states that he died at Cranwell

Regards

Simon

[COL BRUGGY]

Hello,

AUSTRALIA - 72678 LAC John Joseph KEARNEY RAAF.

72678 LAC John Joseph KEARNEY RAAF, was officially discharged from the RAAF on 1-2-1944. He succumbed to the effects of Tuberculosis in the Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, on 18-1-1946. He was 48 years of age.

Col.

[archivist]

Hello Simon,

BOJARCZUK, Romauld - Starzy Sierzent Podchorazy ( W/O - Pilot ) - 783111

and again, from the same article, continued:

A Warwick R.A.F. machine crashed and burst into flames at Chedburgh, Suffolk, yesterday while taking part in landing exercises: Warrant Officer Bojarczuk, Polish Air Force, is missing.
Two other warrant officers dragged from the plane before it was burnt out are injured and in hospital.

The Western Daily Press of January 19th names the two other two men as Misczyslaw Borek and Stanislaw Zurek.

Can you please give me the location of this newspaper. I would like to acquire a copy of this article.

Many thanks
Neville

[archivist]

BOJARCZUK crash:
BOREK W/O Mieczyslaw P-704523

He was born on 30th September 1922 at Smyga, Dubno Wolyn (now Ukraine) 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 a serious accident on a routine 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 2MRU (Medical Rehabilitation Unit) at RAF Collaton 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. He was known to be living in Cadbury Heath, Bristol in 2009.

He died, peacefully in his sleep, on Sunday 4th March 2012.

There are pictures to go wth this report but I am totally unable to post pictures on this site.

Neville

[wwrsimon]

Neville

I'll drop you an e-mail with some more info.

Regards

Simon

EDIT - I used the e-mail address in your profile, and unfortunately my mail bounced back with 'bad destination mailbox address', whatever that may mena...? Can you either PM me or drop me an e-mail?