Date:	Friday 23 August 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Handley Page Halifax Mk VIII
Owner/operator:	304 (Ziemia Slaska) Sqn RAF
Registration:	PP232
MSN:	1316
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Green Farm, Lawshall, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Chedburgh, near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk
Destination airport:	RAF Chedburgh, near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk

Narrative:
Handley Page Halifax PP232 ("QD-C") of 304 (Land of Silesia) Polish Bomber Squadron (Polish: 304 Dywizjon Bombowy "Ziemi Śląskiej im. Ks. Józefa Poniatowskiego"), RAF Chedburgh, Suffolk was destroyed in a flying accident on 23 August 1946. While completing a training sortie at low height, the pilot lost control of the aircraft that crashed in a huge explosion in a field at Green Farm, Lawshall, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. The aircraft came to rest inverted. A contemporary newspaper report (the "Bury Free Press" for August 30th 1946 - see link #6) suggests that the aircraft was in difficulties before it became obvious that it was going to crash:

"Farm workers busy in the harvest field observed the machine flying low and noticed that it was making a peculiar noise and spluttering. Suddenly flames burst from the plane, which then dived straight into the ground."

Two of the witnesses, Ernie Hill and Stan Armstrong were members of the local Home Guard and they attended the scene and helped recover the bodies from the fiercely burning aircraft. They, and a German Prisoner of War, were commended for their courage and coolness in the face of the flames and further explosions within the burning aircraft.

All three crew members were killed. Crew:

Flying Officer (Porucznik) Zygmunt Zdzislaw Dabrowski, Polish Air Force, Service Number P/2460, aged 33
Flight Lieutenant (Kaptain) Nikodem Matylis, Polish Air Force, Service Number P/1176, aged 33
Flight Sergeant (Starzy Sierzant) Stanislaw Michalak, Polish Air Force, Service Number P/792092, aged 38

The bodies of all three crew were recovered, and interred at a cemetery at Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire (see links #9, #10 and #11)

Causes: The accident was caused by a pilot error. The aircraft was in the circuit to land but the pilot allowed the speed to decay and the aircraft stalled and at too low a height for recovery.

Lawshall is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located around a mile off the A134 between Bury St Edmunds and Sudbury, it is part of Babergh district. The parish has nine settlements comprising the three main settlements of The Street, Lambs Lane and Bury Road along with the six small hamlets of Audley End, Hanningfield Green, Harrow Green, Hart's Green, Hibb's Green and Lawshall Green.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.50. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.102: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
3. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.203
4. 304 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-4-1946 to 31-12-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/1670/43: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8400231
5. http://www.polishsquadronsremembered.com/304/304_pics.htm
6. "Bury Free Press" for August 30th 1946: https://304squadron.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/halifax-crash-at-lawshall-suffolk.html
7. https://304squadron.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/final-crop-of-casualties.html
8. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?20398-Crash-of-Handley-Page-Halifax-PP232
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/7503351/dabrowski,-zygmunt-zdzislaw/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/7503928/matylis,-nikodem/
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/7503937/michalak,-stanislaw/
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._304_Polish_Bomber_Squadron#Transport_Command
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Chedburgh
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawshall

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
01-Jun-2010 11:19	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Source, Narrative]
23-Sep-2013 19:49	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative]
03-Mar-2014 18:00	Nepa	Updated [Operator]
10-Feb-2015 17:45	JINX	Updated [Operator]
25-May-2015 00:19	Komes123	Updated [Operator]
07-Mar-2017 22:04	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
07-Mar-2017 22:11	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
18-Oct-2018 17:19	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator]
27-Oct-2019 22:33	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
29-May-2023 08:58	Nepa	Updated [[Time, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]]
10-Jun-2023 00:29	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Time, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]]]