Polish airmen's memorial
| Browse information by: Location Makers General Information Classification Object Parts Object Condition History References Photographs |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright for Photograph: Creative Commons |
Location
| Street: | B2096 Darwell Hill |
| Town: | Netherfield |
| Parish: | Battle |
| Council: | Rother District Council |
| County: | East Sussex |
| Postcode: | TN33 9QL |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | Road or Wayside |
| Access is: | Public |
| Location note: | Inside a gated clearing in the trees. Next to Doctor's Cottage. |
| In the AZ book: | East Sussex |
| Page: | 80 |
| Grid reference: | D6 |
| The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks. | |
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Makers
| Name : | Stanislaw Jozefiak |
| Role: | Designer |
| Qualify: | and |
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General Information
| Commissioned by: | Stanislaw Jozefiak |
| Construction period: | 2000-2001 |
| Unveiling date: | 28/05/2001 |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | Rother District Council |
| Object listing: | Not listed |
| Description: | Memorial to Polish airmen who died from a plane that crashed on the site. Stepped path and gate up to the monument. Upright dark grey brick monument with rounded edges facing the road. On the face is a large bronze plaque with an engraved Polish eagle and the names of the dead and two survivors. Above the plaque is a bronze cutout of a flying eagle. The monument is surmounted by a small metal crucifix. |
| Inscription: | HERE ON 27/28 MAY 1941 A WELLINGTON BOMBER NZ-N OF 304 POLISH SQUADRON CRASHED AFTER BOMBING THE FRENCH PORT OF BOULOGNE WHERE IT HAD BEEN HIT AND BADLY DAMAGED CREW WHO DIED F/LT. KUSZCZYNSKI BRONISLAW (PILOT) P/O. WOROCZEWSKI JAN STANISLAW (PILOT) F/O. WIECZOREK CEZARY (NAVIGATOR) SGT. DROZDZ JOZEF (AIR GUNNER) DROWNED IN THE LA MANCHE CANAL CREW WHO SURVIVED SGT. NILSKI JOZEF (W/OP. AIR GUNNER) SGT. JOZEFIAK STANISLAW (W/OP. AIR GUNNER) BALED OUT |
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Classification
| Categories: | Military, Roadside / Wayside, Free Standing, Commemorative |
| Object type1: | War memorial |
| Object subtype1: | World War II |
| Subject type1: | Non-figurative |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Memorial |
| Material: | Dark grey bricks |
| Height (cm): | 320 |
| Width (cm): | 145 |
| Depth (cm): | 45 |
| Part 2: | Plaque |
| Material: | Bronze |
| Height (cm): | 90 |
| Width (cm): | 62 |
| Depth (cm): | 1 |
| Part 3: | Base |
| Material: | Stone |
| Height (cm): | 10 |
| Width (cm): | 150 |
| Depth (cm): | 86 |
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Object Condition
| Overall condition: | Good |
| Risk assessment: | No known risk |
| Date of on-site inspection: | 20/02/2008 |
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History
| History: | The Wellington 1C bomber, number. R1392, took off from the 304 Polish Squadron at Syerston on 27 May 1941. It left for a bombing raid on the French port of Boulogne. The plane was hit by anti-aircraft guns shortly after releasing its payload and started to spiral out of control. The rear gunner, Jozef Drodz, baled out over the channel at that point and was never found. The pilot regained control but soon after the plane caught fire. Stanislaw Jozefiak managed to bale out and landed in trees at Hatfield. Josef Nilski also baled out and managed to survive. The remaining crew were killed when the plane crashed at Darwell Hole. They are buried in the Polish Air Force cemetery in Newark, Nottinghamshire. Jozefiak, originally from Poznan, managed to get to France following the German invasion of Poland. There he trained with other Polish airmen, coming to England early in 1940. By February 1941 about an eighth of the RAF Fighter Command was composed of eight Polish squadrons. Soon after there were four bomber squadrons. Josefiak completed 53 bombing operations, was promoted to Warrant Officer and decorated with the Virtuti Militari, the highest Polish military cross and four times with the Cross of Valour. He later trained as a pilot, flying Spitfires and Mustangs, posted at 317 Polish Spitfire Squadon in Germany. He wrote a book entitled, ‘God, Honour and Country’. In 2000 Josefiak travelled from his home in Derbyshire to attend a memorial service at Chailey to honour three Polish combat squadrons. With the help of David Martin, he was able to locate the exact site where his plane had crashed. The plane had crashed into a large oak tree that still stood on the site. He decided to build a memorial to his fallen friends and came down to the site on frequent occasions building the monument little by little. It was completed on the anniversary of the crash on 28 May 2001.
(Rowland, David. (2004). ‘Survivors’. Finsbury. Peacehaven.) |
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References
| Source 1 : | |
| Title: | 'Survivors' |
| Type: | Book |
| Author: | Rowland, David. |
| Page: | 81-87 |
| Publisher: | Finsbury. Peacehaven. |
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Photographs
Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
 Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
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