Hurricane L2099 at Preston, Hull.
During the afternoon of 19th November 1940 a number of 303 Squadron aircraft were undertaking a daytime convoy patrol when this pilot of this aircraft lost contact with his section after entering fog. He become lost and eventually the aircraft ran low on fuel so he force-landed the aircraft near Preston, to the east of Hull. With the aircraft overshooting his selected field the pilot braked which saw the aircraft tip up onto it's nose and damage the propeller. The aircraft was repaired on site and flown out by F/Lt Adams DFC (who had his DFC awarded for service with 29 Squadron).
Pilot - P/O Wlodzimierz Janusz Miksa PAF (P/0286).
The pilot was born in Lodz in 1915 and had first joined the PAF in 1936 destroying two German aircraft in Poland in 1939. He arrived in England in July
1940 and later arrived at 303 Squadron, possibly through 151 Squadron. By the end of the War he had served with 315 Squadron and 317 Squadron and had been
awarded the Polish K.W. Medal with three Bars. He was also awarded the Polish V.M. and the RAF DFC on 26th May 1945. He later married into the Pilkington family,
famous for glass production. His son was a member of a 1970s rock band Curved Air with Stewart Copeland (later of The Police). Wlodzimierz Pilkington-Miksa died in 1999.
