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Kowalski, John

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Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) John
Surname Kowalski
Gender M
Age 20
Date of Death 01-03-1943
Next of Kin Son of Ludwick Kowalski and Rose (Rosalia) Kowalski (née Swiniarski), of Weno, Alberta, Canada.
KOWALSKI J

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax II
Serial Number DT641
Markings VR-R

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 186.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 195

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/76759
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 419 (Moose)
Squadron Motto Moosa aswayita
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Outside Former St. Georges Hotel, Teesside Airport, County Durham
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Slate Memorial Tablet on Stone Memorial
Memorial Text A memorial to Nos 419, 420 and 428 Sqns RCAF who flew from RAF Middleton St George during WW2
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Miscellaneous Information

John was born on 9 September 1922 at Weno, Alberta. Both parents were born in Poland and his father worked as a Railway Section Man. He had three brothers -Charles who was in the RCAF; Morton in the South Saskatchewan Regiment and Louis who had sadly lost his life at the age of 21 in the RCAF on 11 March 1942 whilst serving with 149 Squadron as a Wop/AG. John attended Sacred Heart School 1929- 1938 (Estevan, Sask.) followed by Technical school 1939-1941 (Woodwork). John played hockey, football and enjoyed swimming.
He enlisted on 20 November 1940 and after training was posted to the U.K. He embarked from Canada on 28 October 1942 arriving at 3PRC on 6 November. He was then at 1659 CU from 5 January 1943 and 419 Squadron on 17 February 1943. Sadly on 1 March 1943 John lost his life.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1822/28
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1822/27

Fellow Servicemen

Please note that this list gives all the losses aboard the quoted aircraft and occasionally these may have occurred on an earlier date when the aircraft was not itself lost. Please check the dates of death carefully.

Bateman A L (F/S)
Cherkinsky A D (Sgt)
Francis W G (F/S)
Gray J N (Sgt)
Herriott A J (F/O)
Woodhouse A T (F/S)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 01-03-1943
End Date 02-03-1943
Takeoff Station Middleton St. George
Day/Night Raid Night (26% moon)
Operation Berlin. 302 aircraft, 17 losses (5.6%). PFF had some difficulty recognising parts of the city using the early H2S system (which was still using 10cm wavelength at the time). Most of the bombs fell in the south west of the city. However, the sheer weight of numbers of bombers, together with the larger bomb loads that were possible since previous raids on Berlin made this a successful raid. Much damage to industrial buildings and particularly to a railway repair works. The Telefunken factory was also hit and by a quirk or fate, it contained the H2S set that had previously been recovered by the Germans by a recently downed bomber. The set was completely destroyed but another was recovered from the very force that bombed the first, allowing research to resume unhindered.
Reason for Loss Presumed lost over the North Sea, possibly shot down by a night-fighter

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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.