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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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316 Squadron Crest
22.03.1946 No. 316/126 Squadron Mustang III HB841 Cpl. K.J. Socha

Operation: Taxying

Date: 22nd March 1946 (Friday)

Unit: No. 126 / 316 Squadron

Type: Mustang III

Serial: HB841

Code: Not known

Base: RAF Hethel, Norfolk

Location: At airfield RAF Hethel

Pilot: Fl/Lt. Ian Graeme Handyside DFC 134127 RAFVR Survived

Ground crew: Cpl. Kazimierz Jan Socha 782145 PAF Age 26. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Whilst taxying at RAF Hethel in Norfolk, Fl/Lt. Handyside DFC was directed away from construction works adjacent to the perimeter track.

During the attempt to keep clear of the works the wing of Mustang HB841 clipped a petrol bowser on which Cpl. Socha was working - killing him instantly - the Mustang was written off, the pilot escaped injury

Burial details:

Cpl. Kazimierz Jan Socha. Norwich Cemetery. Section 54. Grave 226. Born on the 22nd March 1919 at Dębica, Poland. No further details - are you able to assist?

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to Peter Clark for grave photograph, Colin Cummings ‘Final Landings’ - A Summary of RAF Aircraft Accidents and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 Published by Nimbus Publishing (1 Sept. 2001) ISBN: 978-0952661948, other sources as quoted below:

KTY - 04.09.2017

Pages of Outstanding Interest
History Airborne Forces •  Soviet Night Witches •  Bomber Command Memories •  Abbreviations •  Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination  •  Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis •  SOE Heroine Nancy Wake •  Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
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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