Stanislaw Feliks Firlej-Bielanski

Observer/bomb aimer; 29 October 1940 Battle L5356 300 Sqn. Take off from RAF Swinderby on roof watching training flight over Leicester race course. The port wing failed in a steep dive. L5356 crashed into an orchard at Sutton-on-Trent, instantly killing all 3 crew. First Polish burials at Newark-upon-Trent Cemetery 1/11/1940. The inquest heard the pilot had previously done 3 steep dives and harsh pull ups at low level over Bestwood Colliery on the 15th October. It was believed a female acquaintance of his worked there. Structural failure by stress to the airframe from this could not be ruled out. The inspection had shown the main spar had broken at the wing root, leading to a total collapse of the structure and separation from the body of the aircraft.

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