History of Polish Balloon flight serving with the R. A. F. in Great Britain in WWII
The relationship between the United Kingdom and Poland was cordial in 1938, when
Cardington was first opened on 24th September 1938, the Inspector of Air Defence
of Poland and the Polish Military and Polish Air Attache visited the
station. In
September 1939, when the German forces overwhelmed Poland and all organised
resistance was compelled to cease, many officers, NCO's and men of the former
Polish Balloon Battalions, the 1st Battalion of Torun and the 2nd Battalion of
Legionowo, crossed the Rumania and Hungarian frontiers. In certain cases they
made the crossing as whole units, consisting of Observer Balloon and Barrage
Balloon Companies, but in many instances , many officers and men who were unable
to rejoin their parent units, made their own crossings individually. From
Here,
the Polish Balloon Units were not yet organised and therefore these men were
detached for various other duties in the Polish Air Force or were transferred to
other branches of the service. After the collapse of
In
1940 when the defences of Great Britain against enemy air attacks
were extended and many additional Balloon Squadrons formed, it was
thought that these men, all of whom had had experience in balloons, could be
engaged in this particular branch of the service, where they could play their
part in the defense of Great Britain at the same time continue their fight
against Germany.
On
20th December,1940 after they had completed their training, these operators were
posted to Glasgow
and there as part of No. 945 Squadron, they commenced to fulfill operational
duties on the balloon sites allotted to them. In the early part of 1941, these
Polish airmen were fully employed on four balloon sites, and were attached to
"C" flight, No. 945 Squadron, Royal Air Force, under the command of
Flight Lieutenant J. Livington who was at that time "C" flight
commander. No.945 Squadron was commanded by Wing Commander J. V. Garmonsway,
which came under No. 18 Balloon Centre at Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, commended by
Group Captain W. H Dolphin and was part of No.34 Group under the command of Air
Commodore Bastid. As more and more of them completed their training at
Cardington, it was possible to increase the number of sites operated by them
until a complete flight was eventually formed, manned entirely by Polish
personnel. This flight consisted of five officers and one hundred and forty N.
C. O.s and airmen which formed "B" flight of 945 Squadron under the
command of Flight Lieutenant W. Z. Zielinski. The following officers also served
with the Polish Balloon flight at N0. 945 Squadron
Flying
Officer W. CzechK, who was later
posted to Headquarters Polish Air Force.
Flying
Officer J. A. Szyf, who fulfilled the duties of R. A. F. interpreter and
Administrative Officer to the Polish Balloon Flight from the time of its
formation.
On the 20th October 1942 Air-Vice Marshall Vjetski, Polish A.O.c., visited Cardington station.
The
Balloon Barrage of the Polish Flight, was intended to give protection to the Forth
During
the period that the Polish flight was with No.929 Squadron, facilities were
offered by Balloon Command to enable Polish balloon operator N.C.O's to increase
their knowledge of ballooning by attending an advance balloon handling course at
Pucklechurch and Cardington. This was of great importance to these men who will
in future become instructors to Balloon Units in
Polish
airmen of this flight also formed a crew for a Mark XI balloon, which was to be
used for parachute training and for this purpose they were sent to No.10 Balloon
Centre, where they received a special course of instruction. On completion of
their training, this crew was then detached to Bonnytown Camp, Strathvithie,Fife,
Scotland,where they manned the balloon for
training Polish and other allied paratroops. It must be mentioned also, that
many of the Polish balloon operators were given the opportunity of becoming
acquainted with the work which was carried out at the Admiralty Shore Servicing
Stations, where Mark VI balloons were serviced and which were used for convoy
work. All this training has given the Polish balloon operators great experience
and a wide knowledge of every type of balloon used in
Under
the command of Flight Lieutenant M. H. Ptasinski, the following officers served
with the Polish Balloon flight whilst at No. 929 Squadron,
Flying
Officer S. Foltanski
Flying
Officer K. Bialowas
Flying
Officer M. Ziolczynski
Flying
Officer J. Paczosa - later posted to Headquarters Polish Air Force
Flying
Officer J.A, Szyf - who continued his duties as RAF interpreter and
Administrative Officer.
On 2nd April 1943, Flying Officer J.Paczosa,P.1521 was attached to the Balloon Development Establishment from 929 Squadron, he returned to 929 Squadron on 4th April 1943. On 17th May 1943 Squadron Leader S. Mazurek, P.9888 technical, was detached to Henlow for Parachute Training, he returned on 29th May 1943. on 2nd June 1943, Squadron Leader S. Mazurek, P.9888 technical, was detached to London for Kite Balloon Duties, he returned on 4th June 1943.
On 15th June 1943 Squadron Leader S. Mazurek, P.9888 technical, was posted from Balloon Development Establishment to Polish Inspectorate General, London. On 7th February 1944, Flying Officer A. Kalisz, P.0787 was attached to Cardington from No. 11 Balloon Centre until 12 February 1944.
On
June 15th, 1944,
On 4th July 1944 Flying Officer S. Foltanski, A&SD, P.0648, Flight Lieutenant M Ptaskinski Balloon P.426, Pilot Officer J.A. Szyff, A&SD, 62767 and Flying Officer K. Hialowas, Balloons P.1748 were attached to Cardington from 929 Squadron returning 10th July 1944,,14th July 1944 and 15th July 1944
(I have been unable to locate an image of one of these- can you help?)
The
Air Officer Commander-in -Chief of the Polish Air Force, Air Vice-Marshall M.
Izycki, at the request of Squadron Leader H. Grabowski, Polish Liaison Officer
to Headquarters Balloon Command, presented many officers of the Royal Air Force
with one of these badges in appreciation of their services with Polish balloon
flight.
In
accordance with the tradition of the Polish Balloon Units in
In conclusion, it must be added that Balloon Command, at the request of
the Polish Liaison Officer, granted to Polish Officers, opportunities for them
to be employed in various offices under Balloon Command, in order that they may
widen their knowledge and so in consequence, Squadron Leader S. Mazurek and
Flying Officer J. Paczossa were engaged on the construction of all types of
balloons at Cardington. These Polish Officers were employed in the Balloon
Development at Cardington where they were engaged on the construction of all
types of balloons, one of them carrying out the work on the prototype of Kite
Balloon "P".
Squadron
Leader W. Z. Zielinski was posted for duties in the Operations room of Nos.22
and 23 Balloon Centres at the time
of forming of the "Curtain Barrage". A special task was assigned to
him and in particular he was given the opportunity to become acquainted with the
exigencies of the cooperation between Balloon Command and Fighter Command and
other units designed for the aerial defence of Great Britain
.
Squadron
Leader H. Filipowicz was given the opportunity to become acquainted with
waterborne balloon sites, in Plymouth, Sheerness and lastly with No. 929
Squadron, South Queensferry, Scotland, he gained valuable knowledge and
experience in this branch of balloons.
Flight
Lieutenant K. Pictrowicz, whilst at No.1 Balloon Centre, Kidbroke, was employed
in the engineering and hydrogen sections, which enabled him to extend his
knowledge in this particular specialised work.
On 2nd May 1945 Air Commodore S. Karpinski, Deputy Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Polish Air Force, and Air Commodore P.L. Lincoln, D.S.O., M.C., Air Officer Commanding Balloon Command, visited the station at Cardington to inspect the Polish Balloon Unit. On the 1st August 1945, Balloon Training Unit became Balloon Development Unit, came under Headquarters 12 Group and joined Headquarters, Fighter Command, together with the Polish Unit. on 8th August 1945, Air Vice-Marshall J.W. Baker, C.B., M.C., D.F.C., Air Officer Commanding No.12 Group visited Cardington and visited Ballon Development Unit and Polish Balloon Unit.
Research has so far not shown that any of the Polish Balloon flight suffered as casualties during the War.
The known casualties for the squadrons were:
WARD
M. J.
AC 2
873302
945
RAF AUX
14/06/40
35
FINNEN
J.
AC 2
873051
945
RAF AUX
09/12/40
49
WATSON
R. L.
LAC
873026
945
RAF AUX
02/03/41
36
CARRICK
D.
LAC
873274
945
RAF AUX
18/06/41
FOSTER
J.
CPL
871657
945
RAF AUX
10/12/41
41
THOMAS
G. C.
AC 2
992454
945
RAF VR
01/02/42
ALEXANDER
J.
ACW1
439970
945
MURPHY
J.
F/LT
140532
945
RAF VR
06/02/44
32
McDONALD
W.
LAC
972906
945
RAF VR
25/04/47
31
SMITH
S. C.
AC 2
861137
929
RAF AUX
18/12/39
44
FORSTER
A.
AC 2
861128
929
RAF AUX
01/02/40
32
JAMES
A. H.
P/OFF
88733
929
RAF VR
23/09/40
BERNINI
T.
CPL
1100542
929
RAF VR
11/05/42
25
ROSS
W.
LAC
999749
929
RAF VR
29/04/43
38
ARMSTRONG J. M. AC 2 1022322 929 RAF VR 10/07/43
As
far as I can tell none of these were Polish.
A Polish Mystery
In
his excellent book, "No Flight of Fancy", a book worth reading, Bob
Cubin relates the arrival of the Polish flight and comments that they were
obviously well versed in barrage balloon deployment, their command of English
was good and they had an excellent interpreter. Cubin had to work with F/O Szyf
and F/Sgt Lukasiewicz. His stories of his time with the Polish airmen and the
pranks played on each other are very amusing, at the other end of the spectrum,
he also sadly records the death of two polish airmen, one in possibly August
1941, who left a suicide note and ended his life by using his rifle on himself.
In his book he indicates that, rather strangely for the R.A.F., no record of who
this person was, seems to have been kept by officialdom. The second death was on
4th November 1942 when 783949 Franciszek Siennica, a Polish balloon operator committed
suicide. Briefly it seems that this man had been at No. 1 Balloon Training Unit
at Cardington from 15th October 1940 and was posted to 945 Squadron and
subsequently to 929 Squadron on 1st August 1942. It appears that while on duty
at site 929/50 (Ferryhills), he used his rifle to inflicted a chest wound and
died at 21.30 hours. He was buried at
I have been kindly sent a picture of the polish airmen by Tim Witham, his father (Ben Witham) was a barrage balloon operator in Glasgow and later an "equipment assistant" in India during the war. In 1941 he was in "C Flight", with an address at Hughenden Rd. Glasgow W2 .
The picture has all of their signatures, including Franciszek Siennica, who took his own life, on the back:
Group at Athole Gardens (Copyright Tim Witham)
(Copyright Tim Witham)
Group at Athole Gardens (Copyright Tim Witham)
Tim Witham has kindly sent a considerable number of pictures from his fathers collection in WWII.
Adam, Wullie and Dubke (Copyright Tim Witham)
Athole Gardens, Glasgow (Copyright Tim Witham)
Athole Gardens, Glasgow (Copyright Tim Witham)
Athole Gardens, Glasgow (Copyright Tim Witham)
Athole Gardens, Glasgow (Copyright Tim Witham)
Ben Witham with unknown airman (Copyright Tim Witham)
Ben Witham wearing Polish hat (Copyright Tim Witham)
Flight Commander, note tarpaulin and sandbags (Copyright Tim Witham)
Kowalenia and Wulle, note sandbags (Copyright Tim Witham)
Peter, note famous squadron bike for delivering everything! (Copyright Tim Witham)
Peter at Athole Gardens, Glasgow (Copyright Tim Witham)
Bem Witham and Peter at Athole Gardens, Glasgow, note sandbags behind (Copyright Tim Witham)
Saltoun Street with car (Copyright Tim Witham)
Sergeant Blair (Copyright Tim Witham)
Untitled (Copyright Tim Witham)
Wullie and Peter at Athole Gardens (Copyright Tim Witham)
Wulle Weir note tin hat and gasmask (Copyright Tim Witham). This is a fantastic set of pictures that cover some of the men
who served with Ben Witham in WW2. We are greatly indebted to Tim Witham and family.
If anyone can add any more to the names on these we would be grateful!
Here is a link to the SCRAN website that shows the Athole Gardens site, with a balloon flying (look on the lower half of the left hand side of the picture) and on the ground you can just make out the balloon bed to the right of the balloon. You may have to log in and or register to see the picture in detail.
http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-299-990-996-C&scache=6taxx4c41s&searchdb=scran
Register of Polish War Graves in Scotland
Click on:
It is a mystery, and one has to question the reason why, Bob Cubin has given a very clear and lucid account of his time with the Polish flight and obviously did not dream this had happened. Why would authorities cover up such an event? Legal process would have to be followed. Was this possibly another "Man Who Never Was" event?
I am very intrigued and I gather Bob Cubin did a great deal of research on this unknown airman and came up against a blank wall every time.
Officially from civilian and military records It appears that the event never happened, so one has to ask the question as to why would a death not be recorded by the authorities, civil and military, and what happened to the body?
Any views or ideas gratefully received.