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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.
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16 SFTS Master III DL941 W/O. Popek VM CV & 2 Bars

Operation: Training

Date: 14th January 1944 (Friday)

Unit: No. 16 (Polish) Service Flying Training School

Type: Miles Master III

Serial: DL941

Base: RAF Newton, Lincolnshire

Location: Tollerton airfield, Nottingham.

Pilot: W/O. Mieczyslaw Edmund Popek CV 2 bars, VM 782474 PAF Age 27. Killed

Pilot 2: None - although some sources name a Fl/Sgt. Tadeusz Bubess 793841 PAF (1)

His son contacted us in May 2017 - further details follow.

REASON FOR LOSS:

Very little is known regarding the accident, but W/O. Popek, serving as an instructor with 16 S.F.T.S. collided with another Master III EM385 on the ground at Tollerton airfield in Nottingham.The two crew members of EM385, Sgt. Stanisław Jerzy Drażek 781327 PAF and P/O. Zygmunt Malinowski escaped injury. W.O. Popek was killed.


(1) W/O. Tadeusz Bubess KW. 793841 PAF of 316 Squadron, from Lwów, Poland (now Ukraine) survived the war, passed away on the 09th May 1988 at Newark-on-Trent.

Note: Sgt. Stanisław Jerzy Drażek died on the 06th January 1975 aged 62. P/O. Zygmunt Malinowski died on the 16th June 1992 age 68.

Burial details:

W/O. Mieczyslaw Edmund Popek CV 2 bars, VM. Newark Cemetery. Grave 319. Son of Matthew and Sabina (née Rećko) of Lublin, Poland. Born on the 30th October 1916.

Researched for relatives of these crews with thanks for additional information to Richard Young, son of the pilot who contacted us in May 2017, Peter Sikora, Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Aircrew Remembered own Archives.

KTY - 01.05.2017 Further details added

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Acknowledgements
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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.
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