Jozef Pialucha

In memoriam

Airman Service Number: P/781051 Polish Air Force - 1586 Flight/ 300 (Masovian) Squadron Aged 28 Son ofJan & Teofila (nee Pansiuk) ******************************** Honours & Awards: Conspicuous Gallantry Medal During WW2 the CGM (Flying) only was awarded twice to a non-British person and Pialucha was the only Polish airmen being decorated with this award. Action that merited the award of the CGM: One of the Squadron’s Lancasters, one of more than a thousand aircraft, was industriously bombing a target at Emieville near Caen on 18th July, when flak badly damaged it. The rear gunner was moving his turret round, searching for fighters at the time. The blast swung the turret beyond its usual position, ripped open the door at the gunner’s back and sucked him out of his seat. He fell out but his left foot jammed in the doorway and there he hung head downwards. The mid-upper gunner and the flight engineer went to his aid but could not pull him in. His foot began to slip out of the shoe, so one of them grabbed his trousers, which, however, began to tear. The flight engineer now did a risky piece of work; he clambered out (the aircraft was now over the sea) precariously held in place - and looped a length of rope round the rear gunner, which he then made fast to the seat. He then returned to his task of nursing the damaged Lancaster back to its base. The Lancaster limped home with the rear gunner hanging head down from the tail and those watching on the airfield saw him swing his head to one side to avoid hitting the ground as the bomber touched down. He was bleeding from the ears and mouth but was not badly hurt. He still brags of being the only man to have flown upside down from Caen to Great Britain. Sgt. J. Piałucha, the flight engineer, was given the immediate award of the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal for his outstanding courage and initiative. Later Sergeant Józef Piałucha was posted to 1586 (Polish) Special Duties Squadron, being involved in dropping arms and supplies to partisan units in Italy, Poland and the Balkans. On the night of 1/2 September 1944 his Halifax BB389 was hit by flak over Sombor and crashed just outside Belgrade with only the navigator managing to bale out, evading being captured for three days. Piałucha was buried in the Belgrade War Cemetery. Józef Piałucha was also posthumously awarded the Cross of Valor, the Air Medal and the Field Mark of the Aircraft Mechanic (No. 39), as well as the aforementioned Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. Only when the war ended, in the spring of 1946, the CGM awarded to him almost two years earlier was received on his behalf by his cousin - Sgt Anatoliusz Skwara, who also served in the 300th Squadron as a specialist in on-board instruments. After the end of the war, Anatoliusz Skwara emigrated to the United States, where for almost 60 years he took care of this commemorative decoration. In 2004, during one of his visits to the country, in his hometown of Podlasie, he handed over the decorations to the Regional Museum in Siedlce where they are displayed. Information kindly supplied by Woose (48275987) (16/01/2021)

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