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The unknown Polish Flying officer and sergeant on Ameland

On July 2 and 10, 1943, two bodies washed ashore at Hollum on Ameland, identified by their clothing as Polish. Unfortunately, besides their rank, nothing more is known about their identities. Their graves at the cemetery in Nes only bear the inscription “An Airman of the War 1939 – 1945,” their rank, and “Polish Forces.”

  • A Porucznik (a lieutenant)
  • A Sierżant (a sergeant)

Who are the two unknown Poles?

This naturally raises the question of who these two unknown Poles might be.

This excerpt from a presentation on the Amelander Historie website with a brief description of all the war graves present on the island gives a first clue.

Stefan Tomicki?

Both graves are also listed on the website polishwargraves.nl (now managed by the Oorlogsgraven Stichting), which has been a significant source for our website. The site suggests that the Porucznik (lieutenant) who washed ashore on July 2 might be Stefan Tomicki. He went missing after the crash of the Wellington bomber with registration number HE148, BH-T, from the 300 Squadron Ziemi Mazowieckiej. This crash occurred on the night of April 9, 1943. All six crew members were killed. Only two were identified: navigator Jan Rudek and gunner Stanisław Stępień. They washed ashore at the beaches of Castricum and Egmond aan Zee the day after the crash. Both are buried in the general cemetery in Bergen.

Given the discrepancy in the location where the body was found, the fact that it was almost three months later, and that Tomicki held the rank of podporucznik rather than porucznik, the above assumption should certainly be treated with caution.

For the grave of the sergeant, polishwargraves.nl provides no further information.

Other possibilities?

Our site lists several airmen who went missing in the period before the bodies were found. In addition to Tomicki, three other crashes result in Poles missing in the period before early July 1943. We start with the most likely candidate.

On May 12, Halifax II with serial number DT627 and squadron code NF-P from the 138 ‘special duties’ squadron crashed in the Wadden Sea off the coast of Sint Jacobiparochie (according to polishwargraves). Their mission was to drop agents in the Netherlands. The loss register states that of the seven-member crew, four washed ashore on the Dutch coast, with the dates on which they washed ashore:

Three are still missing:

We intentionally mention the ranks in Polish so the correspondence with the ranks on the graves stands out. Given the ranks of the missing and the timing and location of the bodies washing ashore, these could be possible candidates.

The question then arises as to why these two could not be identified when the other crew members were. Unfortunately, the description of the discovery does not mention the condition of the bodies, which would provide clarity on this matter, but it is worth investigating.

Finally, we see on the Amelander Historie website that a 13th body washed ashore and is listed as a member of the British Air Force. Could this be the third crew member, but his uniform too damaged to be identified as “Polish”?

Other possibilities?

In addition to the option described above, on May 13, an aircraft from the 300 Squadron disappeared over the Zuiderzee east of Volendam (5 missing). Given the presence of the ‘Aflsuitdijk’ this option is not very likely. Perhaps an expert can indicate whether it was still possible that the bodies would end up on the mudflats and thus on Ameland when the water flows from the IJsselmeer into the Waddenzee.

On June 22, another bomber from the 300 Squadron disappeared 60 kilometers off the coast of IJmuiden, resulting in four missing (by the way, none of them were a porucznik). Here the currents in the Northsee should be taken into account to estimate if this is a possibility.

Can we still solve the mystery?

The question is, of course, whether after all these years the mystery can still be solved. Are there perhaps any reports about the discovery on Ameland that provide more information about the condition of the bodies? Could someone with knowledge of the currents in the North Sea shed light on the hypothesis involving Stefan Tomicki? Or could someone with knowledge of the Wadden Sea speak to the locations where the bodies from the May 12 crash were found in relation to the location near Hollum? For now, they remain an unknown lieutenant and sergeant in Nes, Ameland.

Photos of the gravestones by Klaas Graansma

Pilots of the famous 303 squadron who died over the Netherlands

The summer of 1940 saw a massive battle for air superiority in the skies of Great Britain which became know as ‘The Battle of Britain’ starting at the 16th of June with ‘Adlertag’. In the mean time the Polish units – with already battle hardened pilot – where trained in RAF procedures. On August 2nd 303 Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw Fighter Squadron was formed (in Polish 303 Dywizjon Myśliwski „Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki”).

On August 30, 1940 during another training exercise Polish pilot Ludwik Paszkiewicz spotted a German Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighter in the area, and he shot it down. An event used in the epic film the Battle of Britain.

The next day, the squadron was declared operational and officially put on full duty to become the highest scoring unit in the Battle and gained lasting fame which resulted in books and films. A long read can be found on Polen in beeld (long read in Dutch but embedded clips are in English).

Few people know that later in the war the unit saw action in the skies over the Netherlands and lost three men of which details can be found on our website:

Oberdak, the Polish victim of Woeste Hoeve, remained forgotten for a long time

His name was unknown for a long time, Czesław Oberdak. After the mass execution at Woeste Hoeve in 1945 he was not identified. As an anonymous victim, he was buried first in Uchelen and then in Loenen until the journalist Richard Schuurman started looking after a letter from Czesław’s sister, Ludmilla Oberdak. Thanks to that search, this Polish airman was identified, his name is on the monument at Woeste Hoeve and his remains were buried in the family grave in Kraków in 2009. All this can be read in the book that Schuurman wrote ‘Spoor naar Woeste Hoeve’.

Oberdaks childhood dream ends at the Woeste Hoeve

Czesław Oberdak was born on July 20, 1921 in Kraków, Poland. There he grows up with his older sister, Ludmila, and a younger brother, Roman. His childhood dream is to become a pilot. In 1939 he started that dream at the Air Force School in Poznań. When the Germans invaded Poland in September 1939, he, like so many other Polish soldiers, fled Poland. He follows the route via Romania, Yugoslavia and Italy. In France he joins the Polish Air Force formed there in Lyon. His stay there is temporary. Most Poles were evacuated to the United Kingdom when France fell in June 1940, including Czesław.

How he becomes a fighter pilot and how he ends up as an anonymous victim of the mass execution at Woeste Hoeve for a long time can be read on his page.