AR banner
Search Tips Advanced Search
A A

• Kracker Archive
• Allied Losses
• Archiwum Polish
• Paradie Canadian
• RCAF
• RAAF
• RNZAF
• USA
• Paul McGuiness RAAF Archive
• Searchable Lists

Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
Check our Research databases: Database List

We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via the Helpdesk.
61 Operational Training Unit Spitfire Va P8237 P/O. Heilman-Rawicz, RAF Rednal, accident, Oswestry

Operation: Training

Date: 09th December 1943 (Thursday)

Unit: No. 61 Operational Training Unit

Type: Spitfire Va

Serial: P8237

Code: Not known

Base: RAF Rednal, Shropshire

Location: Rhos-Fach Farm, southwest of Oswestry, Shropshire

Pilot: P/O. Jan Heilman-Rawicz P-2312 / 793993 PAF Age 22. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Aircraft first flew in early May 1941 as a MK.IIa - covered in September 1941 to a Va when fitted with the Merlin 45 engine.

Aircraft flew into high ground at Rhos-Fach Farm, 1.5 km. southwest of Oswestry, Shropshire at 12:00 hrs killing the pilot.

Burial details:

P/O. Jan Heilman-Rawicz. St Mary the Virgin Churchyard. Row 22 Grave 2. Born on the 20th November 1921 at Grodno, Poland (now Belarus). Next of kin details not available - are you able to assist?

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Krzystka List, other sources as quoted below:

KTY - 20.12.2017

Explore related reports: 1943 Fighter Command OTU Poland Supermarine Spitfire Training
Pages of Outstanding Interest
History Airborne Forces •  Soviet Night Witches •  Bomber Command Memories •  Abbreviations •  Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination  •  Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis •  SOE Heroine Nancy Wake •  Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
Acknowledgements
We are an Amazon Associate and receive a small commission on any sales made through our Amazon link
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
Click any image to enlarge it

 Click to add your info via ticket on Helpdesk •Click to let us know via ticket on Helpdesk• Click to explore the entire site
  You can show you value this content by offering your dedicated research team a coffee!  

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. — Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2026 Last Modified: 02 Nov 2026 18:39