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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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72 Squadron Crest
10.07.1941 No. 72 Squadron Spitfire Vb W3411 F/O. Godlewski

Operation: Circus 42

Date: 10th July 1941 (Thursday)

Unit: No. 72 Squadron (motto: 'Swift')

Type: Spitfire Vb

Serial: W3411

Code: RN-?

Base: RAF Gravesend, Kent

Location: English Channel off France

Pilot: F/O. Jerzy Marian Tadeusz Godlewski P-0597 PAF Age 24. Missing - believed killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

During a Circus (escorting Bomber Command) on an operation to Saint-Omer heavy opposition was encountered with Me109s.


Three were lost from the Squadron - all missing believed killed. Probably coming down in the English Channel.

The others:

Sgt. Charles Leslie Harrison 936721 RAFVR Age 23. Flying Spitfire Vb P8604 RN-L (Jamshedpur Golmari - presentation Spitfire)
Sgt. Allan James Casey 748049 RAFVR Age 33. Flying Spitfire Vb P8600 (Lady Linlithgow - presentation Spitfire)

Burial details:

F/O. Jerzy Marian Tadeusz Godlewski. Polish War Memorial. Born 17th October 1916 at Lwów, Ukraine. No further details - are you able to assist?

Sgt. Charles Leslie Harrison. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 44. Son of Wilkes and Edith Harrison, of Otley, Yorkshire, England.

Sgt. Allan James Casey, Runnymede Memorial. Panel 41. Son of William Casey, and of Elizabeth Maud Casey, of Hull, Yorkshire, England.

For further details our thanks to the following sources shown below.

KTY 07.02.2019

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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 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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