Date:	Friday 18 January 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Vickers Type 460 Warwick C Mk III
Owner/operator:	304 (Ziemia Slaska) Sqn RAF
Registration:	HG273
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Chedburgh, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:	RAF Chedburgh, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk

Narrative:
Vickers Type 460 Warwick C. Mk. III HG233, 304 (Ziemia Slaska) Squadron, RAF. Written off (damaged beyond repair) 18 January 1946 when crashed on approach to RAF Chedburgh, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk: the aircraft was turning onto final approach to land at RAF Chedburgh, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England. but the aircraft was incorrectly 'set up' and the Warwick overshot the runway centre line

The pilot attempted to make a flat turn to align the aircraft with the runway, but in doing so, the pilot allowed the aircraft's speed to decay below the critical airspeed required for flight. The Warwick stalled, dived into the ground, and caught fire on impact. Two of the all-Polish crew survived, but one was killed.

Crew of Warwick HG273:
W/O (P/783111) Romauld BOJARCZUK (PAF) - killed on active service 18.1.46, buried at All Saints Churchyard
Honington, St Edmundsbury Borough, Suffolk, England
W/O (P/701102) Stanislaw Jozef ZUREK (nav.) PAF - survived with injuries (see below)
W/O (P/704523) Mieczyslaw BOREK (pilot) PAF - survived with injuries (see below)

From the Aberdeen Press and Journal, January 19th 1946:

"A Warwick R.A.F. machine crashed and burst into flames at Chedburgh, Suffolk, yesterday while taking part in landing exercises: Warrant Officer Bojarczuk, Polish Air Force, is missing. Two other warrant officers dragged from the plane before it was burnt out are injured and in hospital."

The Western Daily Press of January 19th names the two other two men as Mieczyslaw Borek and Stanislaw Zurek.

Mieczyslaw Borek (born 30th September 1922 at Smyga, Dubno Wolyn (now Ukraine)) was pulled from the burning aircraft with his clothes on fire. He suffered a badly broken right leg and the tendons in his right ankle were severed. He was sent to 2 MRU (Medical Rehabilitation Unit) at RAF Collaton Cross in Devon. He remained there until his discharge from the Air Force on 11th April 1947 after which he became part of the Polish Resettlement Corps.

He married an English girl in 1952 and raised a family over the coming years. In 1955 he moved to Bristol where he trained as an aircraft engineer. In the mid 1970s he qualified as a teacher and followed that profession until he retired. Subsequently he did voluntary work as an interpreter for the United Nations in Bristol. He was one of those presented with Maundy Money by the Queen at a ceremony in Bristol Cathedral. He was known to be living in Cadbury Heath, Bristol in 2009. He died, peacefully in his sleep, on Sunday 4th March 2012, aged 89.

The other surviving crew member, navigator Stanislaw Jozef Zurek, was born on 3rd May 1911 in Krakow and in the summer of 1934, he undertook a military aviation course at Luck (now in the Ukraine and known as Lutsk). In June 1946, six months after the above incident, he returned to Coastal Command and on 20th February 1947 he became the Polish Liaison Officer to Coastal Command. He retired from the Air Force and settled in England. He died on 11th July 1979 in Runcorn, Cheshire.

He was awarded the Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari and the British Distinguished Flying Cross and Order of the British Empire.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.27 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.41
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft HA100-HZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. Aberdeen Press and Journal, January 19th 1946
5. Western Daily Press of January 19th 1946
5. 304 (Polish) Squadron RAF ORB (Operations Record Book) for the period 1/1/1944 to 18/12/1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/1670 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2504312
6. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.94: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/7503257/ROMAULD%20BOJARCZUK/
8. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51086924/romauld-bojarczuk
9. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?21140-460118-Unaccounted-Airmen-18-01-1946&styleid=3
10. https://304squadron.blogspot.com/2015/01/stanislaw-jozef-zurek.html
11. https://listakrzystka.pl/en/zurek-stanislaw-jozef/
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._304_Polish_Bomber_Squadron#Transport_Command
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Warwick#Warwick_Mark_III
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Chedburgh

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
01-Jun-2021 23:40	Dr. John Smith	Added
02-Jun-2021 17:37	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Narrative, Operator]
02-Jun-2021 22:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
02-Jun-2021 22:57	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
03-Jun-2021 20:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
25-Jul-2023 20:00	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Source, Narrative]]