Polish Airmen.

[Martin Gleeson]

Hallo all, especially my Polish colleagues,

I would like to obtain the correct names and spellings for the following Polish airmen. Also can anyone please confirm their service numbers or identify their duties on board the aircraft ? All force-landed safely in Ireland in 1941 and 1943, but only the first two were interned.

F/O Kazimierz Baranowski P0557 Pilot 4 B&GS

F/Sgt Stanislaw Karniewiski '793306' Pilot SFPP

F/Sgt Stanisaw Kieltyka ? Pilot 304 Sqn
Sgt R. Duszczak P794723 ? 304 Sqn
Sgt P. Kaczan P784211 ? 304 Sqn
Sgt K.S. Pasieka ? ? 304 Sqn
Sgt M. Pawluczyk P783096 ? 304 Sqn
Sgt M.F. Salewicz P794661 ? 304 Sqn

Any help will be much appreciated. The above are the best I can do from the contemporary Irish Defence Forces records and Royal Air Force ORBs. Am I correct in believing there is no Polish equivalent of the Commonweath War Graves Commision or London Gazette ?

Regards,

Martin Gleeson.

[Franek Grabowski]

Martin
Here you are data on the airmen as extracted from a book - evidence of PAF personnel 1940-1947 by T.J. Krzystek.

F/O Kazimierz Baranowski P0557 Pilot 4 B&GS

PAF-INDEX P-0557 Baranowski Kazimierz 20.02.1900 kpt. / F/Lt Pilot 2006 no data

F/Sgt Stanislaw Karniewiski '793306' Pilot SFPP

PAF-INDEX 793306 Karniewski Stanisław 08.05.1902 chor. / W/O Pilot 2006 no data

F/Sgt Stanisaw Kieltyka ? Pilot 304 Sqn

PAF-INDEX 784039 Kiełtyka Stanisław 01.01.1920 + 26.07.2002 82 st.sierż. / W/O Pilot died in Argentina

Sgt R. Duszczak P794723 ? 304 Sqn

PAF-INDEX P-2897 Duszczak Remigiusz 09.09.1913 ppor. / F/O Radio operator 1946 Brasil (promoted to officer hence different s/n)

Sgt P. Kaczan P784211 ? 304 Sqn

PAF-INDEX 704211 Kaczan Władysław 03.07.1923 sierż. / WO Strzelec pokładowy living in UK in 1981 (NE12

Sgt K.S. Pasieka ? ? 304 Sqn

PAF-INDEX 783096 Pasieka Karol Stefan 29.12.1919 st.sierż. / W/O Pilot 304DB 1956 RSA

Sgt M. Pawluczyk P783096 ? 304 Sqn

PAF-INDEX 784106 Pawluczyk Mikołaj 01.11.1914 st.sierż. / W/O Radio-operatopokład. 304DB 1947 Poland

Sgt M.F. Salewicz P794661 ? 304 Sqn

PAF-INDEX 794661 Salewicz Mieczysław Franciszek 02.04.1909 st.sierż. / W/O Nawigator 304DB
2006 no data

[Ex Shack]

Hi Martin
The CWGC is responsible for many hundreds/thousands of Polish war dead who gave their lives in WW2 all over the world fighting on the side of the Western Allies, but because they mostly fought in "exiled" Polish formations their names are not accessible via the CWGC website(even Polish citizens who were in Commonwealth Units were still most often part of the Polish Army/Navy/Air Force). The CWGC policy is that they will put on their website the details of Commonwealth Citizens, but will also include non-Commonwealth citizens who enlisted directly into a UK or Commonwealth Armed Service and that rules out most of the exiled personnel. They do hold on file all the names for whom they are responsible and it might be possible to obtain details through a direct request to them.
Regards
Dick

[Martin Gleeson]

Hallo Franek and Dick,

Thank you both for your valuable assistance. Only 16 Polish airmen arrived in (neutral) Ireland during WW2, 7 of whom died in crashes.

The book by T.J. Krzystek seems like a wonderful resource. Unfortunately I suppose it will never be published in English ?

Franek, I have a few queries arising out of the information you supplied.
Concerning service numbers allocated to Polish airmen in the UK. While I have Aces High, Vol. 2 by Christopher Shores the relevant part does not cover all aspects of Polish service numbers.
Did Polish AF officers only receive a Polish service number (e.g. P-0557) and no Royal Air Force number ?
Did enlisted men and NCOs receive only a Royal Air Force service number (six digits, with a 'P' prefix ) ?
For K.S. Pasieka, does ' 1956, RSA' indicate he emmigrated to the Republic of South Africa in 1956 ?

Thanks once more, Regards,

Martin.

[edwest]

Polish airmen in Scotland:


http://www.ostrycharz.free-online.co...hAirForce.html




Ed