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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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300 Squadron Crest
23/24.07.1944 No 300 Squadron Lancaster III LM488 BH-D Fl/Sgt. Antoni Ostrowski

Operation: Kiel, Germany

Date: 23/24th July 1944

Unit: No. 300 Squadron (Polish)

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: LM488

Code: BH-D

Base: RAF Faldingworth

Location: Schlesen, Germany

Pilot: Fl/Sgt. Antoni Ostrowski 794545 PAF Age 27. Killed

Nav: P/O. Eugeniusz Horwacki P-2410 PAF Age 25. Killed

Fl/Eng: W/O. Józef Tomiec 780750 PAF Age 27. Killed

Air/Bmr: Fl/Lt. Mieczysław Ostrowski P-2119 PAF Age 27. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Bohdan Grudziński 794849 PAF Age 26. Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Jan Stefan Tadeusz Zatloukal 783237 PAF Age 24. Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Stanislaw Rymaszewski 704796 PAF Age 21. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Part of a raid consisting of 519 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes and 10 Mosquitoes to attack the German city of Kiel.

Plt.Off. Mieczyslaw Ostrowski standing 6th from the left (courtesy Krzysztof Chris Ciesielski)

It is claimed that a huge amount of damage was done on this raid with all parts of Kiel hit including an important U- Boat yard and naval facilities were also hit. 315 people on the ground were killed and a further 439 injured. The damage to the other parts of the city meant that the people had no water for 3 days, no trains or buses for 8 days and no gas for cooking for 3 weeks.

The crew left RAF Faldingworth at 22:51 hrs. It is understood that LM488 was hit by flak the pilot tried to force land on the banks of the Dobersdirfer See at 01:10 hrs when the bomb load exploded.

Burial Details:

The crew were all buried locally but since they have all been reinterred in Hamburg Cemetery.

Fl/Sgt. Antoni Ostrowski. Hamburg Cemetery. 4A.E. Grave 1-7 (Coll.) Born 04th August 1913, Grajewo, Poland.

P/O. Eugeniusz Horwacki. Hamburg Cemetery. Born 12th November 1919 Przemyśl, Poland.

W/O. Józef Tomiec. Hamburg Cemetery. Born 19th February 1917, Smółki, Poland.

Fl/Lt. Mieczysław Ostrowski. Hamburg Cemetery. Born 11th May 1917, Poland.

Sgt. Bohdan Grudziński. Hamburg Cemetery. Born 21st June 1918, Michnów, Russia.

Fl/Sgt. Jan Stefan Tadeusz Zatloukal. Hamburg Cemetery. Born 12th December 1920, Bielsk, Poland.

Fl/Sgt. Stanislaw Rymaszewski. Hamburg Cemetery. Born 16th August 1922, Poland.

Aircrew Remembered would like to thank Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wojcik and Josef Zielinski for the use of some of these photographs. We highly recommend their publications regarding WW2 Polish Air Force and are happy to provide other researchers information where they can be purchased. Thanks to Krzysztof Chris Ciesielski for the image of the No. 8 Polish Course Officer School for Plt.Off. Mieczyslaw Ostrowski.

RS 10.05.2019 - Addition of Officer school photograph

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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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