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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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138 Squadron crest
12/13.04.1943 No. 138 Squadron Halifax II BB340 NF-D W/O. Stanisław Jensen VM DFM

Operation: SOE

Date: 12/13th April 1943 (Monday/Tuesday)

Unit: No. 138 Squadron

Type: Halifax II

Serial: BB340

Code: NF-D

Base. RAF Tempsford

Location: Douvres-la Délivrande, Calvados, France

Pilot: W/O. Stanislaw Jensen 780044 VM DFM PAF Age 37. PoW No: 42736. Camp: 9C

Pilot 2: F/O. Boleslaw Korpowski VM DFC P-0982 PAF Age 32. Evaded capture.

Nav: Sgt. A.N. Dent RAF Evaded capture.

Obs: Fl/Lt. Jan Piotr Izycki VM P-1275/794811 PAF Age 30. PoW No: 42737 Camps: 9C/L3

Air/Bmr: Sgt. G. Evans RAF Evaded capture

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Jan Leśniewicz VM 792916 PAF Age 24. Killed

Air/Gnr: W/O. Leszek Władysław Zaborowski VM 794270 PAF Age 32. Evaded capture PoW No: 222566 (1)

Air/Gnr: W/O. Lech Hieronim Urbanśki VM 781255 PAF Age 24. Evaded capture. PoW No: 222561 (2)

Agents:

Louis Lee-Graham PoW. Codename 'Surgeon'. Survived the war.

Clement Marc Jumeau PoW. Codename 'Reporter'. This was his second mission. Died during captivity from TB. lack of medical care and maltreatment. (with thanks to Nick Fox for this information - submitted August 2015). See Vitz Archive War Crimes

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off from RAF Tempsford and was hit, outbound by flak and crash landed at Douvres-la Delivrande, Calvados, France.

Sgt. Jan Leśniewicz was killed when flak entered his wireless compartment. F/O. Boleslaw Korpowski escaped back to England via Gibraltar on the 1st June 1943. Both W/O. Stanislaw Jensen and Fl/Lt. Jan Izycki underwent brutal interrogation by the Gestapo before being handed over to PoW camps

(1) Initially evaded capture after the crash landing, captured near the French/Spanish border 3rd June 1943.
(2) Initially evaded capture after the crash landing, captured on the 2nd June 1943.

Left: Grave of Sgt. Jan Leśniewicz VM.Burial Details:

Sgt. Jan Leśniewicz VM La Délivrande War Cemetery, Douvres, France. Grave 7. From Skierniewicach, Warsaw, Poland. (Douvres-la-Déliverande church shown above)

Thanks to Robert Gretzyngier, Woitek Matusiak, Waldemar Wojcik and Josef Zielinski for the use of the Halifax BB340 photographs. Nick Fox for updated agent information. Other sources as quoted below.

Notes:

Fl/Lt. Bolesław Korpowski P-0982: Born on the 28th December 1910 in Wieluń, Poland. Died on the 24th June 1983 - Sydney, Australia.
Fl/Lt. Jan Piotr Izycki P-1275/794811: Born 28th August 1913 in Warszawa, Poland. Died 13th April 1958 - England.
Sgt. Jan Leśniewicz 792916: Born 23rd October 1919 Skierniewice, Poland.
W/O. Leszek Władysław Zaborowski 794270: Born 11th May 1923 in Łódź, Poland. Died 10th February 1994 - Nożyno, Poland.
W/O. Lech Hieronim Urbanśki 781255: Born 11th June 1919 in Grudziadz, Poland. No further details.

KTY Updated 25.08.2015 SY 2019-03-01 added Church image

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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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