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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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303 squadron badge
06.05.1942 No. 303 Squadron Spitfire Vb BL375 RF-Y Fl/Lt. Domański

Operation: Rodeo 21

Date: 06th May 1942 (Wednesday)

Unit: No. 303 Squadron (Polish)

Type: Spitfire Vb

Serial: BL375

Code: RF-Y

Base: RAF Northolt, Middlesex.

Location: English Channel off Gravelines, France

Pilot: Fl/Lt. Witold Domański P-0741 Polish Air Force Age 24. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off at 12.10 hrs together with 11 others from the Squadron on a sweep over France. The route was to take them over Clacton, crossing the French coast at Gravelines, down to Saint Omer - returning over Manston and back to base. 

                    

Flying at 14.000 ft. over England and then climbing to the operational height of 25.000 ft over the Channel his aircraft was seen to dive into the sea and it is considered 'probable' that his aircraft suffered an oxygen failure making the pilot unconscious. No aircraft or body was recovered.

The remaining aircraft arrived back at base at 13.45 hrs.


Left: No. 17 Course Squad 1 58 O.T.U. Grangemouth

Front row: Sgt. Hardy, F/O. Kuzniar, P/O. Jelinski, P/O. Hoben, S/Ldr. Hyde, F/O. Tigler-Wybrandi, F/O. Klink, F/O. Domanski, Sgt. Sayers. 

Rear row: Sgt. Holbert, Sgt. Wood, Sgt. Karczmarz, Sgt. Bondarcuk, Sgt. Lucyszyn, Sgt. Bonde, Sgt. Thompson, Sgt. Mildeau, Sgt. Evans.


Burial Details:

F/O. Witold Domański. No known grave - remembered on the Polish Memorial at Northolt and the Polish Memorial to Airman in Warsaw, Poland. Born on the 11th January 1918 in Kalinówka, Russia.

Acknowledgments:

The Grangemouth Air Cadets and the Grangemouth Spitfire Memorial Trust who provided me with so much information and assistance during my visit, Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945' Jerzy Bogdan Cynk - 'The Polish Airforce At War' Vol's 1 and 2. Polish Squadron O.R.B. 'website'.

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Acknowledgements
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 MWO 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', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, 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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