Hurricane P3927 near Weel, Beverley.
On 17th August 1940 this 302 Squadron aircraft was flying at 6,000 feet when it suffered engine failure during a training flight. After losing a thousand feet in height the aircraft began to shake and the engine began to smoke and then catch fire. The pilot appears to have not considered baling out at that time but stayed with the aircraft to try and land it to save the aircraft. At five hundred feet off the ground the pilot later stated that he felt the heat of a fire on its hands and neck and it was only after he had descended to just two hundred feet from the ground he noticed the aircraft was on fire. By that stage his hands were so badly burnt that he could not operate the flying controls properly or bale out so he lowered the undercarriage, opened the cockpit hood and un-did his flying harness to speed up his escape on the ground. While attempting a forced landing near the village of Weel, near Beverley the aircraft struck a hedge and crashed at 11.45hrs. The pilot was thrown out of the aircraft which probably saved his life as the aircraft was then badly damaged in a resulting ground-fire. The 302 Squadron ORB states that he was taken to "Beverley Base Hospital". The aircraft was too badly damaged to be repaired and was written off.
Pilot - P/O Czeslaw Glowczynski PAF. Serious burns.
Czeslaw Glowczynski was born on 22nd July 1913. He flew in Poland pre-War and flew out of his home nation in one
of the few surviving aircraft on 17th September 1939. He flew with the Frence Air Force but when France fell he
arrived in the UK in mid-1940 and was posted to 302 Squadron. He was badly burnt in the incident detailed above
and it was not until April 1941 when he re-joined 302 Squadron. In January 1942 he was assigned to be an aide
of General Sikorsky and in 1944 joined 390 Fighter Squadron, USAAF. He was credited with shooting down a number
of enemy aircraft. He was awarded the Virtuti Militari 5th class in December 1940 and later the Cross of Valor and
3 Bars and the French Croix de Guerre. He died in December 2000.
Hurricane P3927 was built to contract 962371/38 by The Hawker Aircraft Co Ltd. at Brooklands/Langley and was
awaiting collection at the beginning of July 1940. It was taken on charge by 302 Squadron at Leconfield on 13th
July 1940 when the squadron formed. On 17th August 1940 it sustained this accident near Beverley and Cat.W/FA damage was recorded.