Date:	Thursday 21 March 1946
Time:	day
Type:	North American P-51C-10-NT Mustang Mk III
Owner/operator:	316 (Warszawski) Sqn RAF
Registration:	HB841
MSN:	103-26244
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Hethel, Norwich, Norfolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Taxi
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Hethel, Norwich, Norfolk (EGSK)
Destination airport:	RAF Hethel, Norwich, Norfolk (EGSK)

Narrative:
North American P-51C-10-NT Mustang Mk III HB841 [ex-USAAF 42-103690, MSN 103-26244]. To 316 "City of Warsaw" Polish Fighter Squadron (Polish: 316 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Warszawski"), RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 21 March 1946 when wrecked in a taxiing accident at RAF Hethel, Norwich, Norfolk

The Mustang was being taxied past the site of construction work, which was adjacent to the perimeter track. In attempting to keep well clear of this work, the pilot allowed his aircraft to collide with a fuel bowser (tanker) positioned opposite the construction works. A Polish airman working on the fuel bowser was killed, and the aircraft was written off

Ground Crew Fatality:
PLUTONOWY Kazimierz Jan SOCHA (SP/782145) PAF - killed in service 21-03-46.

Note that PLT is short for the Polish military rank Plutonowy which is equivalent to the RAF rank of corporal (and is not an abbreviation for "Pilot"). He was actually a Corporal Mechanic (Plt. Mec). He was either driving or working on a refuelling bowser when Mustang HB841 crashed in to it. Just to be clear: Kazimierz Jan Socha, was ground crew, NOT air crew. He was not (despite some published accounts to the contrary) the pilot of Mustang HB841. The Mustang pilot was a completely different person, who survived uninjured.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.34. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.101
3. 316 (Polish) (City of Warsaw) Squadron, RAF ORB (Operations Record Book) for 1-31 March 1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) file AIR 27/1705/53 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8438263
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/7504303/SOCHA,%20KAZIMIERZ%20JAN/
5. Grave marker: https://www.flickr.com/photos/43688219@N00/3737125066/
6. http://www.polishwargraves.nl/brit/4167.htm
7. https://media.geograph.org.uk/files/fe9fc289c3ff0af142b6d3bead98a923/Norwich_Earlham_WW2_pt_2.pdf
8. https://listakrzystka.pl/socha-kazimierz-jan/
9. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?21624-460322-Unaccounted-Airmen-22-03-1946&highlight=SOCHA&p=126425#post126425
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._316_Polish_Fighter_Squadron
11. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_5.html
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._316_Polish_Fighter_Squadron
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Hethel#RAF_Fighter_Command_use

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
24-Jun-2021 00:01	Dr. John Smith	Added
24-Jun-2021 08:57	Yelush	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
18-Feb-2022 19:56	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]