Searching for Polish grandfather (based on RAF Finningley 1944-45)

Hi, I'm searching for my grandfather who was a Polish pilot stationed at RAF Finningley during 1944-1945. It was here that he met my grandmother (WAAF) and my father was conceived (given up for adoption). I was kindly provided with a copy of a nominal roll for RAF Finningley for the period Sept-Dec 1944 and have been doing a lot of research based on this (as well as having our DNA on multiple genealogy sites), but am getting nowhere after many years. I am wondering if this nominal roll does not cover all the Polish airmen stationed at RAF Finningley during this time (there are only approximately 70 names on this particular nominal roll). If anyone has any further information on RAF Finningley during this time or could give me any advice/help, I would be most grateful. Incidentally, I cannot get down to National Archives, who I know may hold all records from RAF Finningley. Many thanks.

 

Can you share your Grandfather’s name and any additional information so we can research further? Why I ask is many Polish (and other nations) pilots “trained” in Canada….and he may be on lists in Canada (or troops ship movements). Any info you can share will help? OR, if you’d like to keep his name private, you could share it with me by Private Message on this site?

 

According to their profile post message they don't have a name, just a F/Lt. ??

 

Hmmm, how the heck are we suppose to help with “no name”. I have Squadron Records for 300 (Polish) Squadron, 304 (Polish) Squadron, 305 (Polish) Squadron and 306 (Polish) Squadron…but where to I even start?? If he was a fighter pilot, which I’m not sure he was.

And of course we can research bomber squadrons for him??? But where to start.

I also have a friend in Poland who is a Polish military history buff, but I wouldn’t know what to tell him to research??

 

Finningley was a Bomber Command station during that period but individuals could transfer from other commands so not a reliable sieve to reduce the pool of names.

Some aircrew were already trained and so remained in UK for continuation training rather than be posted to overseas training schemes so again not an exclusive test.

Not all Commissioned Polish Officers were aircrew - like any force ground tasks were also manned so unless your nominal roll also included air and ground staff it will not be fully inclusive.

A better inclusive list would be the Gradation List of Commissioned Officers - this would show all with a particular rank on a date.

Air Force List is a publication that collates Authority notice of appointment to a service, rank and branch that appeared in the London Gazette.

However Polish while enrolled in the RAFVR were not announced in the Gazette to safeguard relatives remaining in occupied territory and as a result they are not included in Air Force Lists.

They were given a separate Polish Air Force List under a Confidential Document number.

Attached are the relevant pages from Oct 1943 PAFL.

I include F/O listings as they could have become Flt/Lt by promotion in the time period you seek.
Names are divided into Branches which notionally are a pointer to function - General Duties/Aircrew and senior squadron staff, Technical/Maintenance, Equipment/Stores etc.

This will give you a starting point to eliminate names from - all posted pages are relevant.

Ross

 

Polish Air Force service records are held at RAF Northolt. With the postwar political position in Poland, many PAF personnel elected to stay in the RAF, the names of which, I believe, can be found in the London Gazette naturalisation records. I served with Poles who had followed this route.

How To Get Polish Military Records From The UK MOD | Swooping Eagle

Coming to the Finningley era before your Grandfather served there. The station had been on active BC operations with the Hampden but the airfield had suffered from civil engineering problems related to runway and dispersals. From that situation No 25 OTU moved in and were to be pressed into the first Bomber Command 1000 bomber raid on Cologne in May 1942.Later No18 OTU moved in and absorbed No 25 OTU. Runway problems persisted and In November 1943 the station closed for runway construction with the OTU continuing to use the Bircotes satellite and the much-improved airfield at the newly opened airfield at Worksop.

Coming to your grandfather's era, Finningley opened again on in late May 1944 when No 18 OTU returned from Worksop with their Wellingtons. The unit was disbanded early in the New Year 1945.

From December 1944 a new unit arrived, The Bomber Command Instructors School which delivered operational training to pilots and aircrew in fighter and bombing tactics using Lancasters Hallifaxes and Wellingtons. Spitfires and Hurricanes provide the fighter element for fighter affiliation. (bomber crew simulated response and recovery from attacking enemy fighters...could lead to dangerous maneuverers and loss of aircraft.

Perhaps your grandfather was involved in No 18 OTU or later, the BCIS unit.

 

Dear all,

Thank you for all your kind messages and helpful advice/suggestions. I'm very grateful.

Yes, without a surname, it's very, very difficult, if not impossible. What I have been trying to do is obtain a list of all F/Lt names based at RAF Finningley (but also trying to keep an open mind that he might not have been a F/Lt) during the period of conception of my dad (approximately November/December 1944). I was provided with a copy of a nominal roll for RAF Finningley for the period of October 1944 and a small list of trainees from September-December 1944. However, I was wondering if there were airmen/pilots at RAF Finningley who were perhaps on some sort of other register and where pilots were potentially only on the base for a matter of days, a week or a few weeks rather than month/s. With these names I can obtain, I am looking at matches on the genealogy DNA websites we are on, seeing if these can lead to my grandad (so far a few negative DNA tests with relatives of pilots). I hope that better explains. Thanks so much again for your help.

 

Thank you for this Ross, I'll def. take a look through the list. Kind regards, Karman

 

Another source that may help

17,136 airmen who served in the Polish Air Force in Great Britain in the years 1940-1947 and over 1.300 Polish volounteers from Women's Auxiliary Air Force

Personnel of the Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1940-1947
Search tips | List of abbreviations - Krzystek's List - Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1940-1947


The List is also available for download as a PDF file: listakrzystka.pl.pdf
ver. 04.2024, 24.1 MB

Here’s an example of the first page from the list (Note, when you download the PDF it is much clearer than the example below)

 

Thank you!

 

Have you considered an appeal on UK-based Polish Air Forces sites? I assume the Polish RAF squadrons have websites or are on Facebook. There is the Sikorsky Institute, London which deals with the WW2 history IIRC. See: PISM | Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum | Instytut Polski i Muzeum gen. Sikorskiego

I expect your grandfather is deceased by now, so you are trying to identify his offspring and a hope they too are interested in family history.

Be mindful whilst as IIRC the majority of the PAF did not return to Poland after WW2, some did and in the Cold War had a "rough" time - I expect that avenue would again rely on them having a shared interest.

Note within days of Poland becoming free again - of the USSR, Communism and more the PAF renumbered all it's squadrons to their RAF numbers.

Was your father's adoption arranged via the church, a charity or local authority? Somewhere there should be a file? What does his birthday certificate say?

You may have considered these options, but I cannot see them being mentioned here.

 

Hi David,

Thanks for your message. I have exhausted all avenues currently. Just to confirm that it was my dad that was adopted and not my grandad. Sadly, my father's dad was not put on his birth certificate, and on finding his biological mother some 30 years ago, she was never able to give us a name. All we were told was that he was a Polish F/Lt. pilot. We do have a strong DNA match with someone on a genealogy website but it is the case of finding the link to this Polish airman, which is proving very difficult.

 

Butterfly,

Thanks for the updates (above post). I still consider making a public appeal for help via RAF / PAF websites could work. Sadly as it is likely your grandfather is deceased, it might make it easier for a friend / family to respond.

 

I don't know if anyone can advise. I have been in touch with the National Archives about any information held on RAF Finningley and there is a document:
RAF Instruction Unit: Bomber Command Instructors' School, formed at Finningley (UK)...
Page check completed
Reference: AIR 29/1151
Record date: 1944 Dec-1945 Dec

I informed NA that I was specifically looking for names of Polish pilots/airmen and they have responded with the following message:

We have no way of knowing what information in this item is relevant to your instructions, therefore we have completed a page check on the entire document that was requested, AIR 29/1151, and includes the relevant content but no blank pages or intentionally blank pages. Please note if a copy order is placed, we will digitally capture a research quality true likeness image of the original document. This will be the best copy available using research quality Jpegs.

The cost for having them digitise a copy of this document for me is £212 + pp. Very expensive. Is there any other way of finding out if anyone else has this document, but I am also not sure from the note from NA if the information I require is held in this document. There is 177 pages in the above document.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The RAF have told me previously that everything is now held at National Archives so can't get anything from them.

Cheers. Karman

 

Butterfly,

I now see, possibly again your research has been long term and you joined us in 2015, with your first postings in 2025 (on different threads) and now you have a 2026 thread with his name: Marian Kostecki.

How did you identify him?

On a quick read of this -what I consider to be the main thread - you have had a few suggestions on how to research him, albeit minus a name. Did those suggestions help?

There are a few online traces for him, most are in Polish. I assume you have seen them and can read Polish.

I did spot one with this passage, my bold:

From: Czesław Szczukowski

That site does not show him in a separate biography.

 

St Catharines Standard 8 July 1995



Regards,

Dave

 

Hi David,

Thank you for your reply and for the article. I was given a list of Polish pilot names who were on the same RAF base as my grandmother in 1944. Marian Kostecki is on that list, and we have a recent DNA match with the surname Kostecki and are trying to establish any link to Marian. Unfortunately, there is not a lot known about him in his post-war years, except that he immigrated to Canada and died there. There are no pictures of him either, and I can't find out anything about his family in Poland. Just thought I would jump on here to see if anyone knew anything of him and his post-war years and could help. Unfortunately, I don't read/speak Polish. Thank you. Kind regards, Karman

 

Thank you for this!

 

There are a few Marian Kostecki who are shown on LinkedIn, all appear to be resident in Poland.

Thirty years later nearly since his death, it might be worth contacting the Royal Canadian Polish Legion Branch 418 and Linhaven Home.

Hamilton being a city in Ontario, Canada: Hamilton, Ontario - Wikipedia

 

Branch 418 of the Royal Canadian Legion is located in St. Catharines, Ontario. A phone call wouldn't hurt.

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