A Special Duty (25 page)

Special Note:

Unless otherwise stated, all flight and crew information was sourced from:

148 Operations Record Book, March & April 1944, AIR27/996.

Additional information on operations and Squadron activities from:

148 Operations Record Book Summary, March & April 1944, AIR27/996.

Chapter 5

^i.
Poland Alone,
Jonathan Walker, The History Press 2008, page 157.

^ii.
Technical information provided by Larry Toft, personal communication, October 2012.

^iii.
Poland Alone,
Jonathan Walker, The History Press 2008, page 156.

^iv.
Lotnicze wsparcie Armii Krajowej,
Kajetan Bieniecki, 1994.

^v.
Poland Alone,
Jonathan Walker, The History Press 2008, page 157.

^vi.
Wierchami Karpat,
Jerzy Lyzwa, Instytut Wydawniczy, 1964.

^vii.
Reconstruction of final moments written with help from Larry Toft, Halifax pilot.

^viii.
Pamietnik Bronislaw Kaminski (personal diary), courtesy of Pawel Cholewa.

^ix.
Tom Storey debrief to Brigadier Hill, Moscow, 15
^th
June 1944, CAB 66/53/47, TNA.

^x.
M.I.9 Debrief, Stradling & Hughes (WO208/3320).

^xi.
For Polish Freedom,
A. Nina Mierzwinska-Harper, Partisan Publications 2007.

^xii.
My Grandad’s Story,
Walter Davis and Sharon Spencer 2007, personal recollection.

^xiii.
Interview with E. Elkington-Smith conducted by James A. Oliver, 8
^th
February 1996.

Special Note:

Unless otherwise stated, all flight and crew information was sourced from:

148 Operations Record Book, April 1944, AIR27/996.

Bari Flight Log, April 1944, HS4/176.

The sequence of events in this chapter were pieced together using a written account by Eddie Elkington-Smith, a personal recollection by Walter Davis,
My Grandad’s Story
co-written by Sharon Spencer in 2007, an account given by Walter Davis to Jonathan Walker for his book,
Poland Alone,
and an account of the Halifax crash by Stanislaw M. Jankowski & Jerzy Piekarczyk,
Ostatni Lot Halifaxa
. Further information came from a personal diary,
Pamietnik Bronislaw Kaminski
, Nina Harper’s Book,
For Polish Freedom.
F
irst-hand information from Flight Engineer Charlie Keen in 2003, and lastly, from partisan Bronislaw Smola, interviewed in Tarnogora, April 2013.

Chapter 6

^i.
Shot Down & on the Run,
Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork, TNA, page 212.

^ii.
Information provided by Bronislaw Smola and Piotr Galdys, April 2013.

^iii.
Conversation with Charlie Keen, 2003.

^iv.
Wierchami Karpat,
Jerzy Lyzwa, Instytut Wydawniczy, 1964.

^v.
Wierchami Karpat,
Jerzy Lyzwa, Instytut Wydawniczy, 1964.

^vi.
Wierchami Karpat,
Jerzy Lyzwa, Instytut Wydawniczy, 1964.

^vii.
Tom Storey debrief to Brigadier Hill, Moscow, 15
^th
June 1944, CAB 66/53/47, National Archives.

^viii.
My Grandad’s Story,
Walter Davis and Sharon Spencer, 2007 personal recollection.

^ix.
O.W. Congdon, liberated POW interrogation questionnaire, WO344/70.

^x.
E.E. Smith, liberated POW interrogation questionnaire, WO344/101/1.

^xi.
Written account by Eddie Elkington-Smith (copy given to Rita Storey).

^xii.
www.merkki.com
A collection of stories, photos, art, and information on Stalag Luft 1.

Special Note:

This chapter has been pieced together using the individual crew debriefs and personal accounts by Eddie Elkington-Smith, Walter Davis, and Charles Keen, plus Jerzy Lyzwa’s book,
Wierchami Karpat
, Jankowski & Piekarczyk’s book,
Ostatni Lot Halifaxa
, and information from Polish sources during a trip to Poland, April 2013.

Chapter 7

^i.
Pamietnik “Muchy”,
Mikolaj Kunicki, Ksiazka i Wiedza, Warszawa 1971.

^ii.
Pamietnik “Muchy”,
Mikolaj Kunicki, Ksiazka i Wiedza, Warszawa 1971.

^iii.
Pamietnik “Muchy”,
Mikolaj Kunicki, Ksiazka i Wiedza, Warszawa 1971.

^iv.
Message from Lieutenant General Burrows to Air Commodore Roberts, AIR46/25.

^v.
Poland Alone
, Jonathan Walker, The History Press 2008, page 93.

^vi.
Translated telegram provided by Paul Lashmar.

^vii.
Ostatni Lot Halifaxa,
Stanislaw Jankowski, Oficyna Cracovia, Krakow 1997.

^viii.
Personal correspondence to Charles Keen from member of ‘Father John’s’ unit, 1971.

^ix.
Recorded account by Charles Keen, 2003.

^x.
Pamietnik “Muchy”,
Mikolaj Kunicki, Ksiazka i Wiedza, Warszawa 1971.

^xi.
Tom Storey debrief to Brigadier Hill, Moscow, CAB 66/53/47, National Archives.

^xii.
Recorded account by Charles Keen, 2003, and Tom Storey’s debrief to Brigadier Hill, CAB66/53/47.

^xiii.
Kunicki letter, Zamosc, 7
^th
March 1958, Stradling family archive.

^xiv.
Written account by Eddie Elkington-Smith, Storey family archive.

^xv.
Debrief statement by Walter Davis April 1945.

^xvi.
Information in this paragraph taken from
My Grandad’s Story
by Walter Davis & Sharon Spencer, 2007.

Special Note:

Ostatni Lot Halifaxa
by Stanislaw M. Jankowski & Jerzy Piekarczyk has been a particularly helpful source of information throughout Chapters 5 to 7 and whereas every individual source has not been noted, I could not have pieced together the sequence of events without this particular book.

Chapter 8

^i.
Pamietnik “Muchy”,
Mikolaj Kunicki, Ksiazka I Wiedza, Warszawa 1971.

^ii.
Letter to Patrick Stradling from Mikolaj Kunicki, March 1958. Stradling collection.

^iii.
For Polish Freedom,
A. Nina Mierzwinska-Harper, Partisan Publications 2007, page 128.

^iv.
Message from Air Attaché Moscow Mission to Air Ministry London, 13
^th
June 1944, AIR46/25.

^v.
Message from Lieutenant General Burrows to Air Commodore Roberts, 15
^th
June, 1944, AIR46/25.

^vi.
Message from Air Commodore Roberts of 30 Military Mission to Air Ministry, 18
^th
June, 1944, AIR46/25.

^vii.
Final Report by General Burrows of 30 Military Mission, WO 208/1845.

^viii.
Letter from General Burrows to General Slavin, 15
^th
June 1944, AIR 46/25.

^ix.
For Polish Freedom,
A. Nina Mierzwinska-Harper, Partisan Publications 2007, page 137.

^x.
For Polish Freedom
, A. Nina Mierzwinska-Harper, Partisan Publications 2007, page 138.

^xi.
Letter from General Burrows to Mikolaj Kunicki, 15
^th
June 1944, AIR 46/25.

^xii.
Open source on the internet about HMS Matchless

^xiii.
A.M.O. A.1274- A.1311/1942, provided by Mike Hatch, Air Historical Branch 3 (RAF).

^xiv.
IS9 Historical Report,
www.arcre.com
.

^xv.
My Grandad’s Story,
a personal recollection 2007, Walter Davis & Sharon Spencer.

^xvi.
RAF Escapers, AIR 46/25.

^xvii.
Appendix 11. Locations of British and American Ex-Prisoners of War. 11
^th
March 1945, AIR 46/25.

^xviii.
Personal written recollection, Eddie Elkington-Smith.

^xix.
Letter written by Tom Storey to ‘Ali’, not dated.

Chapter 9

^i.
TNA WO/373/103, Report on Pte Bloom, 6288542, Alfred James, The Buffs

^ii.
Letter from Jerzy Lyzwa to Pat Stradling, December 12
^th
1957.

Special Note:

I have pieced this chapter together with the help of letters from the Stradling family archive, generously shared by Mike Bedford Stradling, and letters from the Storey family archive. I have also taken information from
My Grandad’s Story
, a personal recollection written by Walter Davis and Sharon Spencer, and from the recollections of Charlie Keen and Eddie Elkington-Smith.

And finally

^i.
Report on Experience
, John Mulgan, Frontline Books, London 2010, page 121-122.

Bailey, Roderick,
The Wildest Province,
Vintage Books 2009

Bailey, Roderick,
Forgotten Voices of the Secret War,
Ebury Press 2009.

Bor-Komorowski,
The Secret Army,
The Battery Press 1984.

Conradi, Peter J.,
A Very English Hero,
Bloomsbury 2012.

Davidson, Basil,
Partisan Picture,
Bedford Books 1946.

Davis, Walter & Spencer, Sharon,
My Grandad’s Story,
unpublished personal document

Davies, Norman,
Rising ’44, The Battle for Warsaw
, Pan Books 2004.

Davies, Brigadier ‘Trotsky’,
Illyrian Venture
, The Bodley Head 1952.

Djilas, Milovan,
Tito, The Story from Inside
, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1980.

Gage, Jack,
Greek Adventure
, Unie-Volkspers Beperk, Cape Town 1950.

Hammond, Nicholas,
Venture into Greece
, William Kimber & Co 1983.

Jankowski, Stanislaw Maria & Piekarczyk, Jerzy,
Ostatni Lot Halifaxa
, Oficyna Cracovia 1997.

Jecchinis, Chris,
Beyond Olympus
, George G. Harrap & Co. 1960.

Kunicki, Mikolaj,
Pamietnik Muchy
, Ksiazka I Wiedza, Warsaw 1971.

Lyzwa, Jerzy,
Wierchami Karpat
, Instytut Wydawniczy 1964.

Maclean, Fitzroy,
Eastern Approaches
, Penguin Books, 2009.

Merrick, K.A.,
Flights of the Forgotten
, Arms and Armour 1989.

Merrick, K.A.,
Halifax From Hell to Victory and Beyond
, Ian Allan Publishing 2009.

Mierzwinska-Harper, A.Nina,
For Polish Freedom
, Partisan Publications 2007.

Mulgan, John,
Report on Experience
, Frontline Books 2010.

Ogden, Alan,
Through Hitler’s Back Door
, Pen and Sword, 2010.

Ogden, Alan,
Sons of Odysseus SOE Heroes in Greece
, Bene Factum Publishing 2012.

Ogden, Alan
, A Spur Called Courage SOE Heroes in Italy
, Bene Factum Publishing 2011.

Orpen, Neil,
Airlift to Warsaw, The Rising of 1944
, W. Foulsham & Co. 1984.

Pitchfork, Air Commodore Graham,
Shot Down and on the Run
, TNA 2003.

Porter, Ivor,
Operation Autonomous
, Chatto & Windus 1989.

Porter, Ivor,
Michael of Romania
, Sutton Publishing 2005.

Ritchie, Sebastian,
Our Man in Yugoslavia
, Frank Cass 2004.

Roberts, Walter E.,
Tito, Mihailovic and the Allies 1941-1945
, Duke University Press 1987.

Slessor, Sir John,
The Central Blue
, Cassell and Company, 1956.

Stafford, David,
Mission Accomplished SOE and Italy 1943-1945
, Bodley Head 2011.

Stevens, J.M, Woodhouse, C.M & Wallace, D.J.,
British Reports on Greece 1943-44
, MTP 1982.

Tilman, H. W.,
When Men & Mountains Meet
, Cambridge University Press 1946.

Tudor, Malcolm,
SOE in Italy 1940-1945
, Emilia Publishing 2011.

Walker, Jonathan,
Poland Alone
, The History Press 2008.

Wilkinson, Peter,
Foreign Fields
, I.B. Tauris 1997.

Williams, Heather,
Parachutes, Patriots and Partisans
, Hurst & Company 2003.