Polish Air Force Operations Record Books 1940-1947

1941-08-01

Weather - Wind 15 – 20 mph. Cloud variable 4/10ths – 8/10ths. Visibility Fair. Slight haze throughout period and also showers.
F/O KRANC returned from LECONFIELD.

1941-08-02

Weather – Wind 5 – 10 mph. Cloud variable throughout period. Fair to fine. Visibility moderate to good.
F/L MILEWSKI left for BLACKPOOL with LAC COMPER for conservations with the Polish Depot. F/O KWAK returned from MILDENHALL on completion of Blind Approach Training Course. Four Aircraft Nos. 5688, 2852, 1602 and 1215 captained by F/O ISZKOWSKI, SGT ZYKOW, P/O RACH and F/L ONOSZKO took part in Task 50 and began their flight from FINNINGLEY at 22.37 hours. Thick mist over HAMBURG prevented accurate bombing, but all aircraft unloaded in the target area.
SGT ZYKOW returned to LYMPNE owing to shortage of petrol and F/O ISZKOWSKI crash landed for the same reason at HEMSWELL, which on account of bad visibility, he had not realised was an aerodrome. Both crews returned later unharmed to base.

1941-08-03

Weather – Wind 5 – 10 mph. 10/10 ths Cloud early. Visibility poor improving through day too good. Cloud decreasing to 5/10ths – 7/10ths. Fine.
F/Lt. MILEWSKI and LAC COMPER returned from BLACKPOOL.

1941-08-04

Weather – Wind 10 -15 mph. Cloud 6/10 ths – 8/10 ths. Intermittent showers. Visibility moderate to good about 1500 – 2000 through period.
F/O LEWALT-JEZIERSKI arrived on posting from BRAMCOTE for aircrew (Observer) duties. F/Lt. MILEWSKI left for Administrative Course at LOUGHBOROUGH.

1941-08-05

Weather – Wind gusting 30 – 35 mph for most of period. Cloud variable. Fair with showery periods. Visibility moderate to good.
Six aircraft, Nos. 1230, 9680, 1413, 5720, 1660 and 1697, captained respectively by F/LT BLAZEJEWSKI, F/O CZETOWICZ, Sgt ZYKOW, F/LT ONOSZKO, F/O ISZKOWSKI and Sgt ZAJAC took part in the bombing of FRANKFURT for this Squadron’s 51st Task. Ten tenths cloud at 12000 feet prevented accurate observations of the results of attack, but considerable numbers of fires were seen in the target area. The first aircraft leaving at 22.12, all had returned by 05.53 hours.

1941-08-06

Weather – Wind 20 mph. Cloud 8/10ths – 10/10ths. Thundery showers. Visibility mainly good. The following aircrew arrived on posting from BRAMCOTE : - P/O R.FIGURA, 781303 Sgt OMELJASZKO M. F/O L.MASLANKA, 793787 Sgt DROZDZIOK P. 780903 Sgt. MODRZEWSKI M. and 784066 Sgt WOJTOWICZ S.

1941-08-07

Weather – Wind 5 – 10 mph. Cloud 3/10ths – 5/10ths. Visibility good. Fine.
S/L R.BEILL has been appointed Commanding Officer of No. 305 Squadron. He has commanded “B” Flight almost since its inception and the Squadron’s best wishes follow him in his promotion. F/O J.OSTROWSKI assumes command of “B” Flight in his place.
Task 52 comprised the highly successful bombing of ESSEN, and was undertaken by four aircraft, Nos. 1660, 5720, 2852 and 9680 captained by F/O ISZKOWSKI, Sgt ZAJAC, Sgt ZYKOW and F/O CZETOWICZ respectively. F/O ISZKOWSKI punctured a wheel tyre on taking off through a hedge, but was able to land on return without further damage. This flight was F/O CZETOWICZ’s twentieth operational flight, on all of which he has been captain of aircraft.

1941-08-08

Weather – Wind Nil – 5mph. Misty at first. 5/10ths-8/10ths cloud variable. Visibility poor to moderate early improving later to good. Fine.
F/LT ONOSZKO and Sgt GLYDZIAK, Pilots, left for BRAMCOTE on porting screened instructional duties. No. 993166 LAC GREGORY was promoted to the rank of T/Corporal.

1941-08-09

Weather – Wind 10-15 mph. Cloud 8/10 – 10/10ths. Visibility Fair but deteriorating later in period, with rain.
F/Sgt. H.THORNE left on posting to 44 Squadron at WADDINGTON for aircrew duties. Four aircraft left for FINNINGLEY to take part in Task 53, but this was cancelled at 18.00 hours owing to bad weather over the proposed target.

1941-08-10

Weather – Wind 20–25mph. 5/10 – 7/10 ths Cloud. Visibility moderate. Mainly fine.

1941-08-11

Weather – Wind 5–15mph. Cloud 5/10ths. Thundery showers. Visibility good. Sgt LOZOWISKI left for a Blind Approach Training Course at MILDENHALL. S/L J.WOJDA left for LONDON for a three day conference at the Polish Inspectorate General.

1941-08-12

Weather – Wind 15–20mph. Cloud 6/10 – 8/10ths. Weather fine but rain at end of period. Visibility moderate to good, but poor in rain.
P/O W.KOLAKOWSKI arrived on posting from BRAMCOTE for Aircrew, Pilot, duties. Six aircraft took part in gunnery practice at WITHERNSEA. 4 aircraft left in the afternoon for FINNINGLEY to take part in Task 54. This was cancelled just before 21.00 hours, but two aircraft, Nos. 9680 and 2852 captained by F/O CZETOWICZ and Sgt ZYKOW had already taken off and the former was only able to be recalled half an hour in the air. The latter bombed ESSEN but owing to the seizing of the port engine a forced landing was made at EAST WRETHAM after Sgts. BORZECKI, KLIMIUK and JUK had baled out. Sgt JUK. Rear Gunner, sustained slight injuries to his knee and was removed to IPSWICH Hospital.

1941-08-13

Weather – Wind gale-force 45-60 mph. Cloud variable 2/10ths - 6/10ths. Fine generally but occasional showers early in period. Visibility moderate to good.
W/CDR P.DUDYINSKI and S/L R.ABRAHAM attended a Conference at HQ No.1 Group in the afternoon. No 511032 Sgt OXFORD J. has been promoted to the rank of T/Flight Sergeant.

1941-08-14

Weather – Strong wind at first decreasing to 3-5 mph. Cloud variable throghout period. Weather fine. Visibility moderate to good.
Five aircraft took part in Gunnery Exercises at WITHERNSEA. P/O LADRO flew to HONNINGTON to collect the crew of 2852 which had force landed at EAST WRETHAM on 12th August.

1941-08-15

Weather – Wind 10 – 15 mph. Cloud variable from 3/10ths – 7/10ths. Hazy for most of period. Visibility 1000 – 2000 yards.
F/O KRANC was promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant, Gunnery Officer.

1941-08-16

Weather – Wind 15-20 mph. Cloud 8/10ths. Visibility mainly good throughout day, but deteriorating to moderate in slight rain late in period.
F/O MORAWSKI arrived on posting from BRAMCOTE with F/O PESKI, 782677 Sgt JONSKI E, 792865 Sgt. WOZNIAK B, 793010 Sgt LIPSKI B, and 792693 Sgt POLESINSKI E.
Task 56, which consisted of the bombing of COLOGNE, was carried out by crews captained by F/O CZETOWICZ and F/O RACH in Aircraft Nos. 9680 and 5720 respectively.
One aircraft carried out Task 57, ROTTERDAM was the target, and was successfully bombed. The aircraft, No. 3164 was captained by Sgt ZIOLKOWSKI.

1941-08-17

Weather – Wind 10-15 mph decreasing to 5-10 mph. Cloud variable with thundery cloud and storms. Visibility moderate to poor in rain.
At 02.40 hours the aerodrome was bombed by unidentified enemy aircraft. No damage was caused and there were no casualties. 9 unexploded bombs were recovered.

1941-08-18

Weather - Wind 10-15 mph. Cloud 3/10 to 5/10ths. Visibility good during day, becoming moderate to good at night.
F/LT GILBERT left for Administration Course at LOUGHBROUGH.

1941-08-19

Weather - Wind 10-15 mph. Cloud 3/10 to 5/10ths. Fine with occasional showers. Visibility moderate to good except in showers.
808271 Corporal HUGHES left for Junior N.C.O Course at COSFORD. 780995 AC1 GAWOR and 793775 Corporal DEJLIDKO left for B.A.E.M Course.
Aircraft No. 1761, captained by F/O MORAWSKI, whilst on cross-country flight made a forced landing at HEREFORD.
Sgt MACKULA, Wireless Operator, sustained a broken leg and was taken to Hospital. The other members of the crew escaped without injury, but were severely shaken.

1941-08-20

Weather - Wind 10-15 mph. Cloud 5 to 8/10 ths. Fair to fine, with occasional showers early in period. Visibility generally 2-4 miles except in showers.
Task 58, for which four crews were detailed, was cancelled at 16.45 hours.

1941-08-21

Weather - Wind 5-10 mph. Cloud 5/10 ths but increasing to 10/10 ths in intermittent rain. Visibility 2,000 yards, but poor in rain.
Pilot Officer Antoniewicz arrived from HENLOW on posting, for Engineering Duties. F/O MORAWSKI’S crew were flown back from HEREFORD, with exception of Sgt MACKULA who was left in Hospital.

1941-08-22

Weather - Wind 15-20 mph. Cloud 3/10 – 7/10 ths. Visibility 2-3,000 yards. Fair.

1941-08-23

Weather - Wind 5-10 mph. Cloud variable throughout period. Fine at first with intermittent rain throughout most of period. Visibility poor in rain.
A Special Parade of all Polish personnel was held to mark the first anniversary of this Squadron. The parade was addressed by Wing Commander Dudzinski who, in reviewing the work of the Squadron during the past year, thanked all personnel for the enthusiasm they had shown and the support they had given to the Commanding Officer. He called for continuance of the good work already to the credit of the Squadron.

1941-08-24

Wind 5-10 mph. Cloud 3/10 – 4/10 ths. Hazy at first. Visibility poor generally, improving to moderate during middle of period.

1941-08-25

Weather – Wind 5/10 mph. Cloud 6/10 – 8/10 ths. Visibility 2,000-3,000 yards. but poor early in period with rain.
Task 60 and 61, for which five crews were detailed, was cancelled at 18.05 hours.

1941-08-26

Weather – Wind 10 – 15mph. Cloud variable throughout period. Weather fair to fine with showers at end of period. Visibility 2 – 4 miles generally.
Five crews were detailed for Task 62, but operations were cancelled at 11.45 hours.

1941-08-27

Weather – Wind 10 – 15mph gusting 20 mph late in period. Cloud 10/10 ths. Visibility moderate. Dull and hazy.
F/Lt MILEWSKI returned from Administration Course at Loughborough.

1941-08-28

Weather – Wind 15 – 20 mph. Cloud 5/10 – 7/10 ths. Visibility moderate. Slight showers. Squadron Leader ABRAHAM accompanied a 305 Squadron crew on an operational flight to OSTEND.

1941-08-29

Weather – Wind 10 – 15 mph gusting 25 – 30 mph. Cloud 5/10 – 8/10 ths. Weather showery. Visibility moderate.
13554119 AC 1 SABELL and 1306424 LAC HANDS, Wireless Operators, left on posting to CRANWELL.
Task 63 which consisted of the bombing of MANNHEIM, was successfully completed by 5 crews, captained by F/L BLAZEJEWSKI /Aircraft 1413/, P/O RACH /5720/, Sergeant ZIOLKOWSKI /3164/, F/O ISZKOWSKI /9627/ and F/O CZETOWICZ /9680/.

1941-08-30

Weather – Wind 10 – 20 mph first half of period decreasing to 5 – 10 mph late in period. Visibility moderate to good. Showery at first, fair later.
782810 LAC ZGODA proceeded to WATCHFIELD on Blind Approach Equipment Maintenance Course. 781069 Sgt MILSKI and 781200 Sgt KOLODZIEJ are attached to BLACKPOOL pending disposal.
F/O ZAWADZKI is posted to No. 18 O.T.U for screened instructor duties.

1941-08-31

Weather – Wind 5 – 10 mph. Cloud 4/10 – 6/10 ths. Visibility 2,000 – 3,000 yards. Fine.

for Wing Commander, Commanding,
No. 304 Polish Squadron,
R.A.F. LINDHOLME.