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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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308 Polish Squadron crest
29.11.1943 No. 308 Squadron Spitfire F.IX MA584 ZF-V P/O. Adolf Pietrasiak VM. DFM.

Operation: Ramrod 339

Date: 29th November 1943

Unit: No. 308 Squadron (Polish)

Type: Spitfire F.IX

Serial: MA584

Code: ZF-V

Location: English Channel

Pilot: P/O. Adolf Pietrasiak VM. DFM. P-2093 PAF Age 27. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Combat over Dunkirk in the morning of the 29th November, following this, collided with his wingman and crashed into the channel.

He had escaped an earlier combat during a Circus on August 19th 1941. Flying Spitfire IIb P8318 when he was shot down. Baling out, wounded, he managed to evade capture, returning to England via Spain and Gibraltar. Arrived back in England in November 1941.

Burial Details:

None, body not recovered - commemorated on the Polish War Memorial at Northolt and also the Polish Memorial for missing airman, Warsaw, Poland. Name also inscribed on the family tomb in Ryki, Poland (shown below). 

Born on the 17th November 1916 in Kosminie, Poland. His parents owned a small farm. 

Attended a public school in Ryki, then at the School of Aviation for Young Persons in Bydgoszcz, which he joined in 1932. After four years graduated with a degree assigned to the 122 fighter squadron in Krakow. 

June 27th 1940, he arrived in the United Kingdom. Trained in 58 OTU at Grangemouth, assigned to Squadron 303, then to 92 Squadron RAF (92 squadron). In July 1941 destroyed seven and half Bf109. 23rd July 1941 transferred to 308 Squadron. From 24th August 1942, he flew with 317 Squadron. On January 1st 1943, he was promoted to P/O.

Research by Peter Sikora (April 2009)

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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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