Date:	Thursday 27 June 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Handley Page Halifax B Mk VIII
Owner/operator:	304 (Ziemia Slaska) Sqn RAF
Registration:	PP234
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Chedburgh, 6 miles SW of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Chedburgh, Suffolk
Destination airport:	RAF Chedburgh, Suffolk

Narrative:
Handley Page Halifax VIII PP234 ("QD-E") of 304 (Ziemia Slaska) Squadron, RAF, was written off (damaged beyond repair) in a flying accident on 27 June 1946 when it crashed on approach to RAF Chedburgh, 6 miles South West of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk

The Halifax undershot a normal final approach to RAF Chedburgh, and the starboard mainwheel hit a ditch, when caused the undercarriage to collapse. The Halifax then slid along the runway at RAF Chedburgh, before it ground looped off the runway, sustaining severe damage.

Although Halifax PP234 was written off as FACE (Flying Accident Cat.E) and therefore "damaged beyond economic repair", the four crew were uninjured. The names of two of the crew were:

Warrant Officer (st. sierżant) Kazimierz Oleszczuk (Pilot, RAF Service Number 782725, aged 34 at the time)
Flight Lieutenant Bernard Mieczyslaw Oleszczuk (Co-Pilot, Polish Air Force Service Number P-1785, aged 40 at the time)

The other two crew - the Flight Engineer and the Navigator (who were presumably Polish Nationals) - have not yet been identified. As stated above, all four crew survived uninjured, and the two identified went on to live long lives: W/O Oleszczuk died on Christmas Eve (December 24) 1983, aged 71, and Flt Lt Oleszczuk died on 13 December 2006, some six months after his 100th birthday.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.45. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.170
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 304 Squadron: Operations Record Book for the period 1-1-1944 to 31-12-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) file AIR 27/1670 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2504312
5. https://listakrzystka.pl/en/oleszczuk-kazimierz/
6. https://listakrzystka.pl/en/poloniecki-bernard/
7. http://www.polishsquadronsremembered.com/304/304losses.htm
8. https://304squadron.blogspot.com/2015/01/bernard-mieczyslaw-poloniecki.html
9. https://304squadron.blogspot.com/
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Chedburgh

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Jul-2021 14:06	Dr. John Smith	Added
28-Jul-2021 14:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
28-Jul-2021 14:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
28-Jul-2021 14:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Narrative]
28-Jul-2021 14:10	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
28-Jul-2021 22:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
29-Jul-2021 08:18	DB	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator]
29-Jul-2021 08:19	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]