Date: 6th February 1942
Unit: No. 300 Squadron (Polish)
Type: Wellington IV
Serial: Z1282
Coded: BH-F
Location: Blackhorse Gardens, Exeter
Pilot: F/O. Henryk M. Kracinski (Age 28) P-0159 P.A.F. Seriously injured. (His injuries were so serious he did not return to active service. He retired from the Air Force in 1947 when 300 squadron disbanded and died on the 13th August 1998, aged 83.
Pilot 2: P/O. Wojciech Veit (Age 25) P-1630 P.A.F. Killed (Kijowie, Ukraine.)
Nav: F/O. Jan Chomka (Age 41) P-1261 P.A.F. Seriously injured (His injuries were so serious he did not return to active service. He died on 19th January 1992, aged 91.)
W/Op: Fl/Sgt. Czeslaw Bialy (Age 41) 792267 P.A.F. Killed (Warsaw, Poland. Fl/Sgt. Czeslaw Bialy was a holder of the Polish Cross of Valour and Bar.)
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Stefan Niczewski (Age 27) 784833 P.A.F. Killed (Kielcach, Poland)
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Zygfryd Blachowski (Age 28) 781526 P.A.F. Survived (1) (Returned to operations with 300 Squadron. At 2340 hrs on 4 September 1942, Wellington Z1320 "BH-K" flown by Sergeant L. Szychowiak took off to bomb Bremen, Zygfryd Blachowski was the assigned rear gunner. From the start, all contact was lost. The aircraft failed to return and was presumed to have crashed into the sea, and sadly, no trace of either the aircraft or crew was ever found. The crew members have no known graves, but are commemorated on the Polish Memorial at Northolt. Sgt Blachowski was the holder of the Polish Cross of Valour and three bars.)
REASON FOR LOSS:
At approximately 1715 hours on the evening of 6 February 1942 a force of nine Wellington bombers from 300 Squadron took off from RAF Hemswell in Lincolnshire. They were part of a main force totalling 57 Wellingtons and three Stirlings. One such aircraft was Z1282 "BH-F" (F-Freddie) from Hemswell flown by Flying Officer H M Kracinski. The targets were the German capital warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which were sheltering at the time in Brest harbour, France.
The most obvious route for the 300 Squadron Wellingtons would have been to approach the target from the east via Cherbourg. Captain H M Kracinski and navigator J Chomka elected to avoid this route as they had already encountered heavy flak concentrations on previous missions and decided that an approach from the west Atlantic side along the Cornish peninsula was a safer option. A direct route from Cornwall over the occupied Channel Islands was ruled out, because of fighters based there. After a long curving sweep over the Atlantic they began their run-in. While over the French coast they came under a heavy flak concentration and it was first thought by the crew that this unwanted attention was coming from the ships making good their escape. (This was not the case as the battleships did not leave until 12 February when they made their now historic daylight break from Brest heading eastwards up the English Channel towards the safety of German ports). It is almost certain that the heavy concentration came from either flak ships anchored out to sea, or from German naval units which were part of an escort assembling to protect the capital ships prior to their break-out.
Stefan Niczewski, Air/Gnr. Czeslaw Bialy Wireless Operator. Zygfryd Blachowski Air/Gnr - survived, but killed on another operation later on in this year(✵)
The weather on that February night was appalling and as the Wellingtons passed through a marked frontal system over the target area the bombs were released and the aircraft headed for home. The crew of Z1282 were unaware that during the release of their bombs, a photoflash flare had failed to drop and remained hooked up in the bomb rack, this was almost certainly due to the flare release mechanism icing up during the aircraft's passage through the frontal system. The bomb doors now closed, the crew were unaware of their potentially lethal passenger as they made their way home across the English channel towards the south-west of England. The pilot decided to drop below the bad weather belt in order to obtain a radio navigation fix from RAF Exeter before heading north-east back to Hemswell via Abingdon where another fix could be obtained should they need it.
Shown left: F/O. Henryk M. Kracinski
(Courtesy of Liz Tattersall - daughter of Henryk)
The aircraft had for some time been flying through a warmer air mass, causing the selection gear to thaw and become active. It was while over the south-west coast, as the pilot made a tight turn to get onto a bearing, that centrifugal force induced the aircraft to release the flare on to the closed bomb bay doors with disastrous consequences: it ignited and the explosion blew out the astrodome and tore away fabric as far back as the tail.
Further details will be added to this page very soon.
With air now passing through the exposed geodetic frame the captain was having to fight with the controls in order to keep the crippled bomber in the air. The crew did not want to ditch into the sea for risk of drowning, so they elected to make an emergency landing at RAF Exeter. The pilot, owing to the extreme difficulties, missed his first approach and while attempting to go round again the aircraft stalled and crashed in a two-acre garden narrowly missing houses in the tiny hamlet of Blackhorse Gardens.
Three of the crew were killed outright - the air gunner, the second pilot and the wireless operator. The pilot received serious facial injuries but despite this was able to climb out of the cockpit escape hatch unaided, and slide down the side of the aircraft. He was taken to the nearby cottage before going to hospital.
The navigator broke his left arm and hip and shattered his left knee. The rear gunner remained in his turret through the ordeal and fare better than the rest. After the crash he was able to walk away from the aircraft shocked but amazingly unscathed.
(Courtesy of Liz Tattersall - daughter of Henryk)
Burial Details:
Wojciech Veit Grave 307. Section. O. Polish War Cemetery, Newark.
Czeslaw Bialy Grave 308. Section. N. Polish War Cemetery, Newark.
Stefan Niczewski Grave 307. Section. N. Polish War Cemetery, Newark.
(1) Zygfryd Blachowski Missing - commemorated at the Polish War memorial Northolt.
With thanks to Liz Tattersall, daughter of the pilot Henryk M. Kracinski and also thanks to Adrian Leek who wrote this article and also assisted greatly in having a memorial plaque placed in Exeter Airport to honour the memory of the men who were serving with Polish 300 Wellington Bomber Squadron. At the same time, a second plaque was also unveiled to honour men of the three Polish fighter squadrons who served at the airport - then RAF Station, Exeter - 307, 308 and 317. Wing Commander Stanislaw Andrzejewski who commanded 307 squadron attended the ceremony with the father of Liz Tattersall. It was reported in the Express & Echo on Friday May 28 1993. It is not known if the plaque is still there! Perhaps a reader will verify and take an up to date picture for the website?
The Aircrew Remembrance Society would like to thank Robert Gretzyngier, Woitek Matusiak, Wadldemar Wojcik and Josef Zielinski for the use of some of these photographs. We highly recommend their publications regarding WW2 Polish Air Force and are happy to provide other researchers information where they can be purchased. See "here"
