Missing Short Stirling over Poland?

[Stig Jarlevik]

Our friend Geoffrey Sinclair offers his opinion here:

Bomber Command records indicate Stirling furthest east mine operation appears to be Swinemunde, only Lancasters to Gdynia.
138 Squadron started losing Stirling IV in August 1944, Denmark operation the furthest east loss. Similar for 161 squadron.

Geoffrey Sinclair

[Alex Smart]

This may help ?
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase...na=&yr=&page=1

Or better still -

Only one.
W7514 - 15 Sqdn lost 26 /04/1942 - Crewman died a POW on 29/07/1944 in Poland.

However What was the fate of the Stirling captured and flown by the Luftwaffe ?

[RSwank]

Fate of Stirling flown by the Luftwaffe (N3705):
https://captured-wings.fandom.com/wiki/N3705

"The aircraft was photographed, in colour, by the German propaganda magazine Signal when its flying days were over. Three of the engines had been removed, and it appeared to be in the far corner of Rechlin, having suffered another crash landing,[7] and was presumably scrapped."


List of planes lost on Special Operations (shows no Stirlings lost in Poland).

https://harringtonmuseum.org.uk/wp-c...-20.5.2022.pdf

[FrankieS]

http://www.flensted.eu.com/194211.shtml

[Alex Smart]

Thank you Frankie,
Your post confirms the death of Stephen that he was hit by lightning whilst a POW in Poland.

[Alex Smart]

This is 100% Short Stirling because its component, which we found near Danzig, was identified by the people working on the Stirling restoration

Question - Is it known which actual mechanical part is said to have come from a Stirling. Further were those parts fitted into other aircraft ?

[Blitz45]

Originally Posted by Alex Smart

This may help ?
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase...na=&yr=&page=1

Or better still -

Only one.
W7514 - 15 Sqdn lost 26 /04/1942 - Crewman died a POW on 29/07/1944 in Poland.

However What was the fate of the Stirling captured and flown by the Luftwaffe ?

28-AUG-1943 Short Stirling Mk III EF451 620 Sqn RAF 5 missing
only about this one there is no information, does anyone know what mission it performed?

[Blitz45]

Originally Posted by Alex Smart

This is 100% Short Stirling because its component, which we found near Danzig, was identified by the people working on the Stirling restoration

Question - Is it known which actual mechanical part is said to have come from a Stirling. Further were those parts fitted into other aircraft ?

This is a component from the bomb ejector, which was not present on the Lancasters that took part over Danzig and Gotenhafen.

[Blitz45]

Thank you to all the contributors to the thread for the effort you are making to clarify this story. My special thanks go to Carsten Petersen for the material provided.

[Blitz45]

On one Polish forum I found such an entry: , ‘My grandfather and his family lived on a peninsula on Lake Mezowski near Kartuz during the war. My mother recalls that during the war, in their house, which was situated on the outskirts of the village, English airmen from a downed plane were probably hiding. It is not known for how long, but in the vague recollections of my mother, who was a toddler at the time, they hid in the attic and sometimes went down to listen to the radio news. The story seemed so incredible that no one took it seriously...".
Unfortunately, I cannot verify this information as this person's grandfather died a long time ago.
I can perfectly understand why he did not tell the story after the war. He could have suffered severe consequences from the communist authorities of the time for his contacts and assistance to the English. The location would fit in this story, and it is certainly not about the pilots from the downed Lancaster PB723, which took part in the raid on Gotenhafen on 18/19 December 1944.