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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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Bomber Command Crest
27.09.1943 No. 18 OTU Wellington III BJ645 F/O. Góźdź

Operation: Training exercise

Date: 27th September 1943 (Monday)

Unit: No. 18 Operational Training Unit

Type: Wellington III

Serial: BJ645

Code: Not issued

Base: RAF Finningley

Location: Everton, Nottinghamshire

Pilot: F/O. Czesław Góźdź P-1599 / 783455 PAF Age 24. Killed

Pilot U/T: Stefan Jerzy Majewski 783846 PAF Age 24. Killed

Obs: Sgt. Stanisław Łukasz Piórek 703858 PAF Age 29. Seriously injured

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Edmund Formaniewicz 783556 PAF Age 26. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Jan Duchaczek 704723 PAF Age 24. Slightly injured

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off on a training exercise to carry out feathering procedures.

During the flight the instructor ordered the pilot under training to feather the port airscrew - this he did but almost immediately the starboard engine failed.

This caused the Wellington to go into a steep dive during which it is understood that the instructor lost control attempting to restart the port engine.

The aircraft crashed at Everton at 16:05 hrs. Sgt. Piórek succumbed to his injuries the following day whilst the rear gunner, Sgt. Duchaczek suffered slight injuries. Sadly he was killed the following year whilst with 300 Squadron. Lancaster DV282 was shot down by a nightfighter on the 13th June 1944 killing all eight crew.

Burial details:

F/O. Czesław Góźdź. Newark-Upon-Trent Cemetery. Section K Grave 319. Born on the 02nd May 1919 at Kłosowice, Międzychód, Poland.

Sgt. Stefan Jerzy Majewski. Newark-Upon-Trent Cemetery. Section L Grave 319. Born on the 14th July 1919 at Olszówka, Pińczów, Poland.

Sgt. Stanisław Łukasz Piórek. Newark-Upon-Trent Cemetery. Section M Grave 319. Born on the 24th February 1914 at Laskowa, Limanowa, Poland.

Fl/Sgt. Edmund Formaniewicz. Newark-Upon-Trent Cemetery. Section N Grave 319. Born on the 03rd October 1916 at Bottrop, Germany.

Later:

Sgt. Jan Duchaczek. Breda Polish Military Cemetery, Netherlands. Born on the 15th June 1918 at Nagórzany, Ukraine.

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

KTY 21.08.2019

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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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