View Single Post
  #7  
Old 2nd June 2015, 16:38
VoyTech VoyTech is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 198
VoyTech is on a distinguished road
Re: RAF Casualties Northolt 6 Oct 40

Chris,
The story is bit confused.
According to 'Historia Dyonu' (a document in Polish roughly equivalent in scope to the RAF ORB Form 540), four men were nominated for the award of Krzyż Walecznych (Cross of Valour) for their actions on 6 October:
1. Sgt Józef Mikołajczyk, who was about to perform gun harmonisation on Hurricane RF-A when the attack commenced, and who stayed with the aircraft under attack, trying to save the aircraft and the pilot Siudak who was inside the aicraft.
2. Cpl Władysław Roubo, who was about 10 metres from the place where the bombs fell, working with Sgt Mikołajczyk to prepare RF-A for gun harmonisation, and who risked his life to save the aircraft by switching the contacts off and stopping its engine at the moment of explosion.
3. F/O Wacław Wiórkiewicz (P.1380), the squadron EO, who was upervising the preparation of RF-A for gun harmonisation, and remained in place during the attack, his example and orders saving equipment from destruction.
4. Sgt Antoni Siudak, who was at the Hurricane RF-A and lost his life while saving it.

It is noteworthy that Mikołajczyk was nominated for the award for saving Siudak who was inside the aircraft, while Siudak was posthumously nominated for attempting to save the aircraft while he was at the Hurricane not in it, and Roubo (not Siudak) was nominated for switching the engine off. I don't think you needed a pilot in the cockpit for gun harmonisation, so presumably Siudak jumped into the cockpit in an attempt to scramble it, but was hit by shrapnel, so it was Roubo who switched the engine off, while Mikołajczyk attempted to rescue the pilot.

Sgt Józef Mikołajczyk was 793411.
W/O Antoni Mikołajczak 793340 was a different man.
Reply With Quote