Spitfire BL534 near Lockington.
During the morning of 17th May 1942 a number of 308 Squadron pilots undertook a formation flying exercise around the general area of Hutton Cranswick airfield where the squadron was based. At 09.50hrs a collision between Spitfire AM250 and Spitfire BL534 occurred. Both aircraft fell on land belonging to Rectory Farm, Lockington. BL534 may have crashed much nearer to Beswick. Sadly both pilots died as a result of the accident and were buried on 21st May 1942. The unit ORB gives more detail regarding the funerals than the accident itself, it states that a Mass held said at Leconfield airfield following burial at Leconfield Churchyard "next to two other Polish pilots killed when 303 Squadron were at Leconfield." A detachment of S.H.Q., WAAF's and Royal Navy personnel were present.
Spitfire BL534 was built to contract B.981687/39 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Castle Bromwich and was flown to 37 M.U. at Burtonwood on 22nd December 1941. It remained there until being taken on charge by 308 Squadron on 10th January 1942 at Woodvale. It then moved with 308 Squadron to Exeter on 1st April 1942 and to Hutton Cranswick on 7th May 1942. As a result of the accident on 17th May 1942 the damage assessment was Cat.E2/FA and it was struck off charge on 21st May 1942. A licence to excavate this crash site was granted in May 2006 to a group headed by Max Elliott's "Yorkshire Aviation Archaeologists Group" with items being recovered.
Pilot - S/Ldr Feliks Fryderyk Szyszka PAF (P/0507), aged 25. Buried Leconfield Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Feliks Szyszka was born in June 1916 in Kolomja (now in the Ukraine) and was flying in Poland by 1936. He was seriously
injured in combat over Poland with a Bf110 and was captured and treated in Warsaw but before he recovered and knowing that he
was be taken prisoner when he did so he escaped from the hospital, and, after passing through Slovakia, Hungary and Italy he
arrived in France. He flew in France before the country fell to the Germans and he then arrived in England in Summer 1940, he
was later posted to 308 "Krakow" Squadron and trained on Hurricanes, and later Spitfires. In Summer 1941 he was credited with
shooting down a number of enemy aircraft. On 6th May 1942 he rose to command 308 Squadron but only eleven days later he was
killed. He was awarded the Polish "Cross of Valour" medal three times.
