Can anyone please help with details of an accident that occurred on 19th August 1942 involving a Miles Master trainer serial no T7433 flying out of 58 OTU at RAF Grangemouth. The Instructor was Bronislaw Malinowski and the pupil was Stanislaw Goralski. I believe that both men were injured and I know that the instructor went on to fly fighters but what became of the pupil. A man named Stanislaw Goralski was later listed as a pilot with 304 Bomber Squadron but I can find no mention of him in the ORBs as flying any sorties. Did he retrain in another trade or was he invalided out? Many thanks
SIGNATURES On 19 August 1942 he was injured in an accident of Miles Master I T7433 (also the pupil pilot Sgt Stanislaw Góralski was injured) https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40205/page/3545/data.pdf Goralski, Marian Stanislaw (known as Marian Stanislaw Goralski); Poland; Motor Car Fitter; 12, Crescent (Road, East Grinstead, Sussex. 29 April, 1954 This might be him but need more details: England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 Name: Stanislaw Boleslaw Goralski Death Age: 80 Birth Date: 13 Sep 1916 Registration Date: Aug 1997 Registration district: Hull Inferred County: East Riding of Yorkshire Register Number: D52A District and Subdistrict: 5501D England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 Name: Violet W Fleming Registration Date: Oct-Nov-Dec 1944 Registration district: Wallasey Inferred County: Cheshire Spouse: Stanislaw Goralski Volume Number: 8a Page Number: 1254 UK, Electoral Registers, 2003-2010 Name: MS Violet W Goralski Residence Date: 2003-2004 Address: 2, Shelford Avenue, Howden, DN14 7HY Residence Place: Goole, Yorkshire, England Without more details you start finding wrong tracks such as Stanislaw Goralski Birth: May 15 1920 (15 May 1920) - Poland Death: Oct 21 1942 (21 Oct 1942) - Dzialdowo, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Poland Stanislaw Goralski Birth: 1920 - Purgalki, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Poland Death: 1941 - Purgalki, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Poland Stanislaw Boleslaw Goralski Birth: 13/09/1916 (13 Sep 1916) - Poland Death: 28/08/1997 (28 Aug 1997) Marriage: 07/10/1944 (10 Jul 1944) - Wallasey, Cheshire, England TD
Thank you very much - you have found him and his wife, so I now know that he survived and could be the man who went on to join 304 Squadron. That gives me the incentive to go on looking for him. If he was too badly hurt to go on as a pilot, he may well have become an admin person or ground crew.
is this him GORALSKI W/O Stanislaw P-780804 304 (POLISH) SQUADRON - RAF: 2011 as you know more info from here if you contact them PISM Home Page
Thank you CL1 but the first link is my own site! Unfortunately PISM is closed for the whole month of February every year so that will have to be delayed for another 4 weeks. Even their facebook page has very little to offer in this respect as it is mostly short films on all things connected with the Polish forces. In the meanwhile I will just have to keep on looking elsewhere!
Why don't you add your own website(s) in the "signature" footer (as CL1 has) so that in future people won't refer you back to yourself?
Click on your own Name on top RHS of the page and it will reveal a drop down box with a tab for "signature" Open and then insert whatever details you want. Then you won't have people directing you to your own site!
It's Admin who allowed the signature box for not just signature but so others might see your interests, speciality etc If you look at CL1, he's even got it on the sidebar, so there's more than one way!
Hello, im his great grandson, I may be able to help you find the information you need. I’ve passed the information onto Stanislaws son.
I am the son of Stanislaw Goralski, the pilot in the crash on 19th August 1942. In your enquiry you gave some details I did not know, for which I am grateful, but I can supply more, from both before and after the accident. My father, like many people injured in the war, was reluctant to speak about painful memories, especially to his children, but I could see the lasting effects in terms of disability. Likewise my mother Violet, then a nursing auxiliary at Larbert Base Hospital, preferred to avoid recalling those days, so I did not press her to go through with me the many documents and photographs I knew she had kept when my father died in 1997. I inherited this material when my mother died in 2013. If I can be assured of the purposes for which anything I give may be used (and who is asking), I should be happy to share the information. Certainly I can send you a list of what I have. Apologies for seeming hesitant: I have not sent comments to an internet forum before. Mark Adams (Mark Goralski before 1971)
I am sure that archivist (on behalf of 304 (Polish) Squadron will treat any information with the utmost respect and caution. I have no doubt he'll be along soon to assure you himself. Having just had VE Day, perhaps I could add that this Country owes a huge debt to the people of Poland, many of whom fled the Nazi's through Europe and eventually arrived here to carry on the fight many miles from their homeland.
I have not heard any more about the enquiry and would like to know who "Well-Known Member" is, before I send anything. Apologies once again for my caution. I have compiled three Word files that may be of interest: a chronology listing over 100 relevant events in my father's life from 13.09.1916 to 11.01.1949, mainly in the RAF; a list of about 50 relevant items inherited from my father, mainly documents, from his birth certificate to his Identity Card of 1951; and a list of about 100 photos that show him, from the Polish air cadet of 1934 to the time of his demobilisation from the RAF in 1948, including a couple of him in hospital after the crash. Scans of the photos and documents could be done if wanted. Can anyone throw light on my recollection that the runway at Grangemouth was said to be short or otherwise inadequate, and that crashes there were not too uncommon or surprising?
The runway extension was completed just before the crash but Balado Bridge had also been operating as Satellite to reduce the congestion. The crash was during flapless landing training and Station Commander had the opinion that possibly the aircraft had approached with mixture too weak causing engine to cut when the throttle was opened by the instructor to try to avoid hitting the tree 100yards beyond the downwind perimeter of the aerodrome. Six accidents happened in August 1 caught fire starting up 1 during taxy 1 overshot 1 to a Lysander stalling in landing approach (Ballado Bridge) this Master one that hit the tree 1 to a Lysander which suffered engine failure (Ballado Bridge). So not an excessive number of landing accidents at Grangemouth for an OTU (one Master and one Spit) in a month. Ross
Mark, in 2019 I chanced across a website being compiled by an archivist, who is gathering information for a database as a tribute to the WW2 Polish pilots. I don't think he is a member of this website. If you feel inclined to pass on the material to him when you've had a chance to verify his website and details, I could let him know and then maybe he can establish contact with you. My very best wishes and apologies for this somewhat sudden contact. Ruth Hardy
Hello Ruth and welcome Mark has not been on the forum since June 2020 I have sent him a message re your update regards Clive
Hello Mark Adams. I apologise for my apparent loss of interest. Unfortunately I suffered a heart attack and was not able to continue for quite a long time so I faded out of sight. I have now fully recovered and I am still interested. To answer your question Ruth Hardy contacted me and told me about your response. For your information I have been researching 304 Squadron for about 14 years and I have received three awards for my work - two from Poland and one from Poles in England. I am a genuine researcher and I do it from respect for the Polish Airmen and I do not make money from it. I have always made my site freely available to anyone who wants to view it. I would still like to complete your father's story if you are willing to send me the material. Archivist is just a screen name. Many thanks Neville Bougourd (archivist)
Very sorry to hear you have been unwell. I should have guessed there was a reason for the silence. What a coincidence that Ruth happened upon this story - I have not seen her since my mother died and I seem to have lost her address. I'm happy to send the information I mentioned before, starting with the chronology and list of documents. I may have to experiment a bit as I haven't done this before and at the moment they are doc/docx files. Mark Adams