Writing about the location where the bomber had crashed at 00:48 on the night of 10 to 11 April 1942, the Mayor of Beers said: “The aircraft was completely shattered and was found approximately 300 metres south-west of the Beers-Mill road on rye fields”. The aircraft and its crew were part of the Polish 301 Squadron. This Squadron had been established in England and was manned by Polish soldiers who had emigrated from their homeland in 1939.

The aircraft had taken off from its home base at Hemswell at 22:07 with the German city of Essen as its target. However, German night fighters were patrolling over the Netherlands for defence. The very experienced Hauptmann Werner Streib of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 was guided towards Wellington Z1333 by a so-called Jagerleitoffizier, who used radar. After Streib had sighted the aircraft himself, he took up a position below and behind the Wellington and fired his on-board weapons. A fire broke out immediately and the crew decided to abandon the aircraft with their parachutes.

Pilot Officer J. Wasilewski, co-pilot Flying Officer F. Burszewski, navigator Squadron Leader K. Przykorski and gunners Sergeant S. Mucha and Sergeant L. Blach landed safely but were immediately taken prisoner. All survived the war.

Radio operator Sergeant Marian Henryk Zawodny also landed safely, but managed to escape the German forces. Little is known about his route in the Netherlands, but in May he was in Mellet (Belgium) and in June in Brussels. On 22 1942 June he left for France with a few other ‘evaders’. They managed to reach and cross the French Pyrenees, ending up in neutral Spain. On 18 August Zawodny left Gibraltar and landed in England the next day. He did not return to Poland after the war and died in Canada in 1993.