The Airmen's Stories - Sgt. M M Maciejowski

MichałKarol Maciejowski was born on 29th October 1913 in Gródek Jagielloński, Poland.

He attended the Jan Sobieski gymnasium in Rzeszow for six terms.

He was called up for military service in the 40th Infantry Regiment in the Lwów garrison. In 1935 he volunteered for flying training at the training wing of the 6th Aviation Regiment at Skniłów airport near Lviv.

On 17th September, with many other Polish airmen, he crossed into Romania but to avoid internment carried on to France. It seems that he decided not to enlist with l'Armee de l'Air but carried on to England, arriving on 2nd February 1940. Again the details of his passage to England are unclear.

After assessment and training he was posted to 111 Squadron on 2nd September but went on to 249 Squadron on 11th October.

He claimed a Me109 destroyed on the 29th, a Me109 destroyed and two more probably destroyed on 7th November, another probably destroyed on 28th November and Me109s destroyed on 5th December, 10th January 1941 and 10th February.

After a course at 56 OTU Maciejowski was posted to 317 Squadron on 10th April 1941. He claimed a probable Ju52 on 22nd May.

He was awarded the KW and Bar (gazetted 1st April 1941),a second Bar (gazetted 15th July 1941) and the DFM (gazetted 30th October 1941).

Maciejowski claimed two Me109s destroyed on 30th December. He was awarded the VM (5th Class)(gazetted 5th May 1942) and commissioned in June.

He claimed a Ju88 and a Fw190 destroyed and he shared a Do17 over Dieppe on 19th August and was posted away from 317 on 25th August to 58 OTU Grangemouth as an instructor.

Maciejowski was awarded a third Bar to the KW (gazetted 15th November 1942) and the DFC (gazetted 15th November 1942).

He returned to operations on 23rd March 1943 when he joined 316 Squadron at Northolt. He probably destroyed a Fw190 and damaged another on 4th May and destroyed a Me109 on 11th June.

Maciejowski was over Montreuil on Ramrod 191 on 9th August 1943 in Spitfire IX SZ-E BS302 when he collided with F/O LA Kondraki in SZ-R BS457. Kondraki was killed, Maciejowski baled out and was captured.

He was imprisoned at Stalag Luft III and was liberated and returned to duty on 1st June 1945.

After a refresher course at 16 FTS Newton on 21st August Maciejowski was posted to 309 Squadron at Coltishall on 11th November. He remained with the squadron until its disbandment on 6th January 1947. Maciejowski was then released as a Flight Lieutenant. He settled in England and changed his name to Manson.

Manson rejoined the RAF in June 1951. Initially a test pilot, by 1963 he was doing a ground job. He later transferred to the Catering Branch and in 1970 was running a large RAF Transit Hotel in Malta.

He retired in 1972 as a Flight Lieutenant. He lived in England until the death of his wife Christine. In 1987 he moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to live with his only daughter, Karen Schmidt.

Maciejowski died on 26th April 2001 in Winnipeg at the age of 88.

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The author Norman Franks (1940-2023) interviewed Maciejowski and kindly made this material available:

There are occasions when pure chance results in meeting someone pretty special, someone it would be difficult to meet under normal circumstances. In the summer of 1966 I was a training officer with the Air Training Corps, and my squadron's summer camp was at RAF Gaydon, in Warwickshire. It was August, and it was soon apparent that the station was preparing for a Battle of Britain Open Day the following month.

Gaydon was part of RAF Training Command and had Varsity aircraft that equipped the Air Navigation School there. If I may digress slightly, I was given a ride in a Varsity one evening, which was the first time I had ever been in an airplane at night. As we taxied out the sun was setting and by the time we lifted off it had gone down. Once airborne, the sun reappeared as we gained height, setting again several minutes later, so my first Flight at night gave me two sunsets. Fairly early on at Gaydon I noticed an RAF officer in the Mess, who had more than the average collection of medal ribbons beneath his RAF wings, but did not like to approach him without first finding out his name.

When I asked the RAF officer who was looking after the ATC units on base, I was told he was Flight Lieutenant Manson. I had already noted that this man had a rosette on his 1939-45 Star, which denoted he had been in the Battle of Britain, but the name rang not the slightest bell with me. A day or so later, some of my cadets asked me who this man was. I had to admit had no idea, which was a bit of a let-down for the boys but I said I would find out more about him. What had fascinated the lads was that in the airmen's mess, where they ate, this highly decorated pilot was helping - in shirt sleeves - to dish out grub from behind the food counter.

Once again I spoke to our liaison RAF officer, who told me that Mike had been in the Battle of Britain, was Polish by birth, and he was also helping the station with the coming BoB Day preparations. Still not sure of how I should approach him, for he looked fairly stem and unsmiling, I waited until Friday. It was the last day, and that night, traditionally, the officers would have a bit of a party in the Mess. Time was running out but suddenly he appeared at dinner. It was now or never. I was still in uniform so felt a little safer when I went up to him and asked him which squadron he had been with in 1940.

He replied that it had been 249 Squadron, but this did not help. When I said I did not recognize the name of Manson as being in 249, he smiled. Of course not, he said, in those days I used my Polish name - Maciejowski. Now that was a name I did recognize.

Michel Karol Maciejowski came from Grodek, Jagielloński, Poland, and was born on 29th October 1913, so he was approaching his 53rd birthday. Upon graduation from secondary school he apparently joined a Catholic seminary, but left two years later, before he became ordained.

During his compulsory military service as a drafted soldier, he volunteered to join the air force. Between 1935 and 1936 he took pilot training at the 6th Air Regiment in Lwów, subsequently serving with the regiment as a pilot. During March to July 1939 he became a corporal instructor at the flying training school of the 6th Air Regiment but failed to get into combat following the German invasion.

He was evacuated to Romania and following a short internment left by sea, arriving in the French port of Marseille in February 1940. He may well have attempted to get into the fighting but when France fell in June 1940, he, like so many other Polish airmen and soldiers, managed to get to England in order to continue the fight. However, his method of escape was a little different to most, for he and three other Poles stole a French airplane and flew it across the Channel.

I was still in somewhat of a daze at having discovered who Flight Lieutenant Manson was, knowing too that I had so very nearly missed speaking to him, so when he asked me a few questions, and realized that I had more than a passing interest In the RAF during World War Two, he wondered if I would like to come to his quarters for a chat. I needed no further persuading„ and off we went.

Once In his room he produced his old wartime flying logbook, and then, to my complete surprise, rummaged in a drawer and pulled out an old Registered Post envelope, complete with blue lines down and across, and tossed it in my direction. It sort of rattled and, tipping out the contents, I found the actual medals that equated with the ribbons on his uniform. In my hands I held the Polish Virtuti Militari, the Krzyżem Walecznych (KW) with three Bars, together with the British Distinguished Flying Cross and Distinguished Flying Medal, plus the normal array of campaign medals.

Little wonder my cadets had been impressed by this disher-out of food. Despite what I took initially as a dour expression, Mike Maciejowski - Manson -was very helpful and forthcoming, and I was allowed to thumb through his log book asking various questions, most of which he was able to answer. If only I had had my tape recorder with me.

One of the first things he mentioned was that after the war he had had some problems with being recognized as a Battle of Britain participant. But after forwarding copies of his log book pages for September and October 1940 to the Battle of Britain Association, he was finally given his place on the official list. Once he had arrived in England in 1940, he told me, he had gone through a training regime at 5 Operational Training Unit, Aston Down, and then was posted to 111 Squadron, to fly Hurricanes, on 10th September, based at Northolt.

Towards the end of the month, he was moved to join 249 Squadron at North Weald. Maciejowski, known as `Miki', or sometimes 'Mickey Mouse', flew a number of sorties but on 25th October became separated and lost during an interception of a dozen Me109s and landed at Colchester. F/O KT Lofts later flew the squadron's Magister over and led Miki back to their base.

In the late afternoon four days later, the 29th, the squadron was ordered up to patrol over base at 15,000 feet, together with Hurricanes of 257 Squadron, but as they became airborne some twelve Me109s from II/LG2 suddenly appeared and began to dive-bomb the airfield. One bomb which landed in the middle of the field damaged Keith Lofts' fighter although he was unhurt.

Another Hurricane was also hit by debris, knocking off part of its propeller, but the pilot managed to get back down despite his aircraft shuddering madly. One pilot of 257 Squadron was killed as his Hurricane crashed and burned.

Another 257 machine became airborne but the pilot had to bail out, doing so safely. On the ground a number of people were either killed or injured. The Messerschmitts began to head for home but Red Section, led by F/Lt. RA Barton gave chase as they skimmed across the ground at low level. Barton fired at several 109s, claiming hits on some and definitely got one, its pilot baling out mortally wounded.

Mike Maciejowski was also behind a 109 as his report shows:

I followed F/lt. Barton, as leader, attacking one of a formation of five at about 4,000 feet. Two of this formation separated and I pursued them. They dived into cloud and I cut through the clouds and found myself 50 yards behind both of them. I gave one of them five-to-ten seconds burst stern attack and it immediately burst into flames and fell to earth, where I saw it burning about 200 yards from the seashore, on land. I could not tell whether the fighter Miki had seen burning was that shot down by Barton.

Two other pilots also scored hits on the 109s, one going Into the sea off Southend. Miki was credited with one Me109 destroyed, which is noted in his log book. On the 29th LG2 lost a total of three aircraft and had another crash-land at Wissant, France.

Strangely Miki also records a 109 destroyed on the 22nd, but there does not appear to be any action by 249 Squadron on this date. The following day Maciejowski was again in combat with 109s but in chasing them out to sea he ran short of fuel and had to make a forced landing at Stoney Field Farm, near Herstmonceux, Sussex. The locals came over to his machine as he got out and he asked in his broken English where he was. Despite the RAF marking, on his machine they took him to be a German, but eventually things were straightened out and with some fuel put Into the fighter he was able to take off and head back to base.

As November began, 249 and other southern based fighter squadrons were continuing the fight against bomb-carrying Me109s, the German bomber force more or less out of the actions now. It was a dangerous time, for the mainly blue skies of summer had changed to more cloudy conditions that made it more difficult to locate the German fighters, and equally dangerous for the British pilots as they could be surprised by 109 pilots using cloud to approach unseen.

Miki’s next claims came on the 7th, 249 being scrambled to intercept German dive bombing Ju87s of I/StG3, escorted by 109s from JG26, JG51 and JG53. Quite a dog-fight developed but Stukas got away with just one of their number damaged, by P/O TF Neil DFC. Seven Me109s were claimed shot down (three destroyed and four others damaged) but in the confusion of the air battle and the cloud, only one Me109 of JG26 actually failed to return.

Maciejowski's report stated:

'In position Yellow 4 after patrolling the Thames Estuary, e/a were sighted attacking a convoy. The squadron dived to attack and split up. I sighted five 109s attempting to bomb the convoy. They eventually split up into pairs, leaving one straggler in the rear. I attacked the single from behind and above, pouring into him from very close range, approximately a six-second burst. The e/a made no attempt to escape and burst into flames. The pilot did not jump. E/a crashed in flames in the sea about eight miles north-west of Margate’.

In his log-book Maciejowski noted two other 109s as probable, His next engagement came on the 28th, Miki being part of a 12-man patrol over Kent in the afternoon. Several Me109s were seen above, JG26 again. The Hurricanes began to climb towards them but their leader, Adolf GaIland, dived and shot down F/O PHV Wells, whose fighter caught fire and went down. Although badly burned he managed to survive by taking to his parachute.

Meanwhile Maciejowski attacked one of the Messerschmitts, claiming it probably destroyed near Maidstone. In the event, two 109s failed to get home, but 19 Squadron's pilots were also engaged and also claimed 109s destroyed.

Miki's next combat report was dated 5th December:

'Having patrolled Maidstone with the squadron, south-west towards Dungeness, I saw about 5 Me109s about 2,000 ft. above us, we being at about 19,000 ft. We formed a circle going lower and lower, while the enemy followed us down. Two Me109s dived and attacked. I turned left out of formation and I saw one Hurricane shot down. The Me109 that had shot it down diving steeply, pulled upwards and climbed. In this climb he passed before me and I gave him two short bursts, as he was climbing almost vertically before me. He went into a spin and crashed into the sea about 500 yards from the shore.

With the ending of 1940, and the arrival of winter, operations slowed down, although most believed that the spring would see a return of German aircraft over southern England. However, Fighter Command were determined to attempt hitting back themselves and as 1941 indeed was to prove, Fighter Command began a serious regime of operating over northern France.

For Maciejowski, 10th January saw his resumption of hostilities against the Luftwaffe. On this day Fighter Command launched the first cross-Channel Circus operation, fighters escorting a handful of Bristol Blenheim light bombers over to France. 249 and 242 Squadrons acted as forward support, while other units provided top cover and close escort. A few Me109s did sniff around but no engagements occurred until the force was heading back. First gunfire from four small patrol boats off Calais damaged two Hurricanes, but the North Weald Station Commander, W/Cdr. Victor Beamish DFC AFC, went down and shot them up. One Hurricane was then shot down by a 109 and as 249 Squadron landed, they realized that Sergeant Maciejowski was missing.

However, he turned up later and was able to report the following adventure:

'I was on a sweep patrol in the neighborhood of St. Inglevert aerodrome and got temporarily separated from my section, when I saw five Hs126 aircraft in line at the south-east comer of what I have since verified through photographs was Guines aerodrome. I came down to between 200-300 feet and machine-gunned the line of aircraft but did not have time to observe the results. I saw two Me109s at about 300 feet flying NNW and climbing. I climbed to 1,000 feet and then attacked the rear Me109, giving him one long and two short bursts from above, 150 yards from behind and above slightly from the right-hand side. He turned steeply and dived vertically towards the ground as if the pilot had been hit.

My throttle had jammed open and as the other Me109 was climbing steeply, I was unable to follow, so I came down to ground level and made for the coast which I crossed between Cap Gris Nez and Boulogne. As I was approaching the coast I was fired on by machine-gun posts and from ships as I was almost at sea level. My throttle was still jammed and I came over Hornchurch and switched off the ignition and landed. I later returned to North Weald and landed at 15.15.'

In his flying log book Miki claimed one 109 destroyed and five Henschels damaged on the ground. His next log-book entry regarding combats was noted exactly one month later, on 10th February:

'I was flying at 1,000 feet higher than the leader, who was at 14,000 feet. I saw three Me109s attacking the formation below me. I dived down and did a steep climbing turn and delivered a three-quarter stern attack with deflection. The e/a turned on its back immediately and the pilot bailed out although the aircraft had given no sign of injury'.

The operation was another Circus - Circus No.4 - six Blenheims attacking the docks at Dunkirk. The attackers were 109s from IV/JG51 and 1.JG2, which bounced 249 Squadron, shooting down one Hurricane whose pilot bailed out and was taken prisoner.

In the subsequent dogfight. Maciejowski, Sgts. GCC Palliser and S Brzeski each claimed a 109 shot down. Miki had accounted for Uffz. Karl Rybak of LG2, who crashed into the sea. He did not bale out, so Miki may have seen the 109's canopy jettisoned and assumed the pilot would quickly follow. Two other Hurricanes were damaged by pilots of JG51.

Until now, 249 Squadron had been soldiering on with Hurricane Mk.1s but the arrival at this time of Mk.2s was to be a marked improvement.

Miki was posted to 317 Polish Squadron on 18th February (arriving on the 25th) which was in the process of being formed at RAF Aldington. Once operational the squadron became engaged on convoy patrols with the odd abortive scramble. He had missed the upgrade to the Hurricane II with his posting from 249 but these arrived on 317 Squadron in July, and by the autumn they began changing over to the Spitfire Vb.

The squadron's first two COs had been British, but in June S/Ldr. Stanislaw Brzezina took command and in August, S/Ldr. Henryk Szczęsny. In the Battle of Britain both these men had been with 74 Squadron, known as 'Sneezy and Breezy.

In April Miki was awarded the Polish Cross of Valour, followed by a second Bar to his KW in August, and the British DFM in the spring. The recommendation for the DFM was put forward by W/Cdr. Beamish on 12th February 1941. It stated:

'This pilot NCO has proved to be a cool and determined fighter pilot who always shows a calm, yet extremely resolute intention of destroying the enemy. His courage and example are admired by all ranks. He has destroyed five enemy aircraft besides damaging several others.'

On 17th February this recommendation was endorsed by AVM Trafford Leigh-Mallory, commanding 11 Group, Fighter Command and a couple of days later was approved by AM Sholto Douglas, C-in-C Fighter Command. Before it could be processed further, G/Capt. ASW Dore DSO, at the Air Ministry in London, had to write to the Polish Embassy, from where, on 4th March, the Air Attaché replied that the Polish authorities agreed to the decoration being awarded. This then had to be submitted to the King in March, and duly approved, before the medal was given. It appears that the official citation read:

This airmen has proved to be a cool, courageous and determined fighter who always shows a calm, yet resolute intention to destroy the enemy. He has shot down five enemy aircraft and damaged several others.

However, the year was mostly a quiet one for 317 Squadron, until it moved to the south-west of England in July. Operating from Exeter with its new Hurricane IIs it flew convoy patrols and the occasional bomber escort over the Cherbourg area. There was also the odd lone raider or reconnaissance machine to chase, Miki being sent up after one on 6th December which resulted in a claim for one Ju88 destroyed off Rame Head.

This was followed on 30th December by him claiming two Me109s off Brest. Strangely, as far as my notes tell me, his log book did not record the Ju88 but did note a 109 destroyed on the 7th. In the meantime, things carried on with patrols and escorts Into 1942. In May he received the Virtuti Militari, and the following month he was commissioned. The next bit of excitement was the Dieppe Operation on 19th August 1942.

317 Squadron had moved to RAF Northolt in July and like most RAF fighter squadrons involved In the operation, flew more than one sortie on the 19th.

317, along with 303 Squadron, were over the operational area shortly after 10 am. It was 303's first trip of the day and 317's second, led by its new CO, S/Ldr. S Skalski VM KW DFC. There was already a fight going on between Fw190s, Ju88s, Do217s and French Spitfire pilots.

Maciejowski singled out a Ju88, fired, and saw it go down into the sea, then turning in behind a Me190, shot this into the sea too. He also scored hits on a Dornier, although his own Spitfire received some slight damage. For his actions this day, Mild received a second Bar to his Cross of Valour, and the Distinguished Flying Cross, gazetted in November with the following citation:

Since being awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal, P/O Maciejowski has destroyed 4 enemy aircraft, probably destroyed 1 and shared in the destruction of another. He is a skillful pilot who has displayed exceptional keenness to engage .

However, the actual recommendation, dated 27th August, noted more of his achievements:

“This officer fought with an English Squadron in the Battle of Britain. and then joined his present Squadron. Recently commissioned, he was the outstanding victor of the Polish wing In the operations over Dieppe on 19th August 1992. In this operation he brought his personal score up to 9 enemy aircraft destroyed and one probably destroyed, by the destruction of an enemy bomber and an enemy fighter, sharing in the destruction of a further enemy bomber.”

No sooner was this operation completed than Maciejowski was rested, becoming an instructor with 58 Operational Training Unit at Grangemouth, near Falkirk, Scotland. One wonders if his medal ribbons impressed his pupils as much as it impressed my ATC cadets twenty-four years later ?

His next posting was to 316 (City of Warsaw) Polish Squadron in March 1943, once again finding himself back at Northolt, under S/Ldr. M Trzebinski, who had fought in Poland and France, and knew Miki from their time together in 317 Squadron. This squadron was equipped with the Spitfire Mark IX, and its main task was bomber escort missions.

On these sorties Miki claimed a probable Fw190 and another damaged ten miles south of Flushing on 4th May, and then a Me110G ten miles north of Beauvais on 11th June.

His luck finally ran out on 9th August, during a mission over France. During Ramrod 91, whilst making a turn above Montreuil, he and F/O L Kondracki collided. Miki, although slightly injured, managed to bail out of his crippled Spitfire but Kondracki was killed.

Miki told me all about this collision and also of the treatment he received from his captors. Perhaps being Polish he was handled more harshly, but he recalled being tied to a chair while a German officer interrogated him, using a lit cigarette to burn his left cheek as an inducement to talk. He did not.

Eventually he ended up in the famous Stalag Luft III, prisoner number 2021, where he remained until the end of the war.

Returning to England he decided to remain in the RAF, attending a refresher course at No.16 (Polish) Service Flying Training School in June 1945 and then went to 309 Polish Squadron, part of 133 Polish Wing, flying Mustang III fighters, and commanded by S/Ldr. H Pietnak VM DFC.

Miki served with 309 until its disbandment in December 1946. He finally left the RAF in January 1947. He settled in England and was later to change his name to Manson. In 1951 he rejoined the RAF and held various appointments, including head of catering at RAF Gaydon !

He retired from the RAF in October 1972 when nearing 60 years of age and lived near Liverpool with his wife and daughter. When his wife died in 1987 he went to live In Canada, to be near his daughter who had moved there, residing in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for a number of years. He died on 26th April 2001, three days before his 89th birthday.