Roman Puchala                                                                                        Updated: 12 JUN 2022

Airman: o888095.htm Surname: Puchala Init: R Rank: Sgt Service: PAF Sqdn: 138

P_link: p223.htm Plane: HAL BB309 Operation: SOE to PL Crash_site: Slaglille Mark

Crash_d: d170943 Buried_d: o888 C_link: o888.htm At_Next: POW

“Natten til den 17. september 1943 var Halifax BB309 på en SOE-mission til Polen, hvor 2 faldskærmsfolk og containere med våben blev nedkastet.

Under returflyvningen blev flyet skudt i brand over Sjælland af en tysk natjager og måtte kort før kl. 5 om morgenen foretage en nødlanding. Herunder tørnede flyet mod arbejdsmand L. Christensens hus, Stockholtevejen, Slaglille Mark, der brød i brand. L. Christensen, hans kone og mor samt to børn omkom i huset. Familiens øvrige
børn reddede sig ud af huset.

Af flyets rent polske besætning omkom 4 flyvere i flammerne, mens 2 overførtes til Ringsted sygehus. Her døde Sgt Kasprzak samme dag af sine stærke
forbrændinger.

En overlevende flyver blev taget til fange i nærheden af nedstyrtningsstedet. Den anden indlagte flyver derimod blev hjulpet til flugt fra Ringsted sygehus og nåede velbeholdent til Sverige.” (FAF)

Sergeant (Rear Gunner) Roman Puchala var tilsyneladende sprunget af flyet, mens det kurede hen mod huset. Han var sluppet med mindre kvæstelser i hovedet
og var straks løbet ud over markerne. I modsat retning kom Niels Rasmussens polskfødte kone på vej hen mod nedstyrtningsstedet. Hun og flyveren slog en sludder
af på polsk, hvorefter Puchala gik med en karl hjem på dennes værelse. Her sov han nogle timer. Tyskerne søgte systematisk efter evt. overlevende flyvere, og de
fandt ham på en gård. (Kilde: DFEV)
Han blev sendt til Dulag Luft Oberursel til forhør, så til Stalag Luft Gross Tychow og senere til Stalag 357 Thorn/Fallingbostel. (Kilde: AOD)

Fra HAL BB309 er 5 flyvere begravet i Slaglille. 1 krigsfange og 1 hjulpet til Sverige. 7 flyvere. Se 36 polske flyvere skudt ned over DK.

”On the night before 17 September, 1943 Halifax BB309 was on a SOE-operation to Poland, where 2 agents and containers with weapons were dropped.

During the return flight the plane was hit by a German night fighter and caught fire over Zealand. A little before 5 a.m. it had to make an emergency landing. It crashed against unskilled labourer L. Christensen´s house, Stockholtevejen, Slaglille Mark, which caught fire. L. Christensen, his wife and mother and two children perished in
the house. The rest of the children of the family managed to get out of the house.

Of the totally Polish crew 4 airmen perished in the flames, while 2 were transferred to Ringsted Hospital. Here Sgt Kasprzk died the same day from his severe burns.

A surviving airman was taken prisoner near the crash site. The other hospitalized airman was helped to evade from Ringsted Hospital and reached Sweden safe and
sound.” (FAF)

Sergeant (Rear Gunner) Roman Puchala had apparently jumped off the plane, when it was sliding towards the house. He only had minor bruises in his head and immediately ran away across the fields. In the opposite direction came Niels Rasmussen´s wife born in Poland heading for the crash site. They had a conversation in Polish, and then the airman went with a farmhand to his room. Here he slept for some hours. The Germans searched systematically for surviving airmen and they
found him on a farm. (Source: DFEV)

He was sent to Dulag Luft Oberursel for interrogation, then to Stalag Luft Gross Tychow and later to Stalag 357 Thorn/Fallingbostel. (Source: AOD)

5 airmen from HAL BB309 were buried in Slaglille. 1 airman became a POW and 1 was helped to evade to Sweden.  See Halifax Print and Halifax - Bless 'Em All.
The names of the 5 perished airmen seen on the gravestone here and the cross here are also inscribed on the Polish War Memorial, Northolt in England.
See 36 Polish airmen shot down over Denmark * 35 Airmen shot down over Denmark on SOE Missions to Poland * Airmen 1946 * Loss of Lives
See also No. 138 Squadron RAF * RAF Tempsford * Roll of Honour, Tempsford * Tempsford Special Duties Squadrons * p223MACR 
Halifax II BB309 NF-T took off from RAF Tempsford at 18.29 on 16 SEP 1943, SOE Operation Neon 3. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.)  7 airmen.