304 Squadron Vickers Wellington bomber Mk 1c serial no HF198, squadron code 2E was lost without trace on a training flight to Cardigan Bay on 14th January 1944. The body of Stanislaw Nowacki (one of 3 pilots on board) was found floating off Porlock, Somerset and was buried in Plymouth, Devon on or about 10th February 1944. Can anyone help with information regarding which vessel picked up the body and why it was taken to Plymouth for burial rather than to his base at RAF Pedannack, Cornwall. Many thanks.
MIght be to concentrate them together Cemetery Details | CWGC and 36 war graves of other nationalities, 25 of them Polish. TD
Thanks TD, I can see the sense in what you say. The men from 304 Squadron were usually taken back to Newark (but not always) I suppose that after a month in the sea it was prudent to bury him locally. I would love to find out which vessel picked him up. I see a lot of research ahead!
The burial place of military casualties where death took place in the UK was determined by the NOK. It would be doubtful if Polish NOK could be consulted so a decision would be made by the Air Ministry in conjunction with the Polish government in exile where a casualty might be lain to rest. Provision for the burial of the dead of Polish bomber squadrons which operated from bases in the East Midlands had already been made with the burial plot at Newark. However in this case a decision was made that the appropriate cemetery would be at Plymouth as TD outlines. Unless a NOK was involved, the authorities took the decision for the location of burial and it might be that a burial close to the casualty's airfield would be out of the question.
Have you checked local press who may have reported the incident and the slim possibility that they mention the boat TD
No, I thought that censorship would have prevented any mention of the boat's name - so the German's could not use that information to track its movements.
From visiting RNLI bases in the past, they usually illustrate their history of operations on boards around the boat house where it is usually recorded, aid given to shipping, the rescue of life or the recovering of bodies from the sea. (Skegness RNLI boathouse has comprehensive operational accounts displayed of all its boats that served from the Skegness station) The other approach is that a RAF Air Sea Rescue launch was involved in recovering bodies.....these units would always put out a search for aircraft suspected of being downed in the sea which requires researching into ASR units based in the Bristol Channel around the North Somerset coast. Lynton/Lynmouth may have been a location for such a base. (Interestingly my mind goes back to my RAF era when later it transpired that a well known footballer/manager was stationed during NS, on the North Somerset coast around the area mentioned. What he was stationed there for is not clear) A longshot for information relating to the search for missing aircraft is that Coastal Command aircraft were also used for the task of locating downed aircraft at sea. ORBs, I'm afraid and to research it would be as a needle in a haystack.
Nice lateral thinking there Harry - I suppose you could add Coastguard as well as they may have worked in conjunction with RNLI to retrieve the body TD
So, from TD and Harry Ree's posts I am now getting the idea that the body could have been landed at a North Devon port and taken to Plymouth overland. I had thought it must have been picked up by a vessel bound for Plymouth and landed there. Curiouser and curiouser!
A question - how do you know the body was found floating in the sea off Porlock. Do you know if or where the others were found? TD
Without doubt landed in Exmoor district (includes Porlock). His death is registered in this district. Exmoor District, March 1944 quarter, Vol5c Page315. Order it as pdf from GRO costs £7 5 day ish turnround. Ross
The Squadron ORB mentions that the body was found in the sea near Porlock. None of the other bodies were ever recovered
Thank you Ross, That really is a great help. It certainly narrows down the field when it comes to finding the vessel that brought the body to land.
