1943 Gibraltar Liberator AL523 crash

The 1943 Gibraltar Liberator AL523 crash was an aircraft crash that resulted in the death of General Władysław Sikorski, the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile. Sikorski's Liberator II crashed off Gibraltar almost immediately after takeoff on 4 July 1943. An estimated sixteen people died, including many other senior Polish military leaders. The plane's pilot was the only survivor.

1943 Gibraltar B-24 crash
Sikorski's Liberator, lying on its back in the sea just off Gibraltar following the crash
Accident
Date4 July 1943 (1943-07-04)
SummaryCrashed on take-off due to control jam
SiteGibraltar Airport
36.8°N 5.21°W / 36.8; -5.21
Aircraft
Aircraft typeConsolidated B-24 Liberator
OperatorRoyal Air Force 511 Squadron
RegistrationAL523
Last stopoverGibraltar
DestinationLondon
Occupants17 (est.)
Passengers11 (est.)
Crew6
Fatalities16 (est.)
Injuries1
Survivors1

The crash was ruled to have been an accident, but Sikorski's death remains an unsolved mystery. The crash marked a turning point for Polish influence on their Anglo-American allies in World War II.

Background

The relationship between the Soviet Union and Poland was tenuous at best during World War II for a variety of reasons, and became more so, after the 1940 Katyn massacre of over 20,000 Polish servicemen by the Soviets came to light. However, pragmatic general Władysław Sikorski was still open to some form of normalisation of Polish-Soviet relations, while general Władysław Anders was vehemently opposed.[1] To boost morale, Sikorski began a tour of inspection of the Polish forces stationed in the Middle East in May 1943, tending to political affairs where necessary.[1]

Accident

On 4 July 1943, while Sikorski was returning to London from an inspection of Polish forces deployed in the Middle East, his aircraft, a Royal Air Force (RAF) Consolidated Liberator, serial number AL523, crashed into the sea 16 seconds after taking off from Gibraltar Airport at 23:07 hours.[1][2][3]

This Liberator C II was purchased and converted by the RAF for use as a transport and operated by No. 511 Squadron of RAF Transport Command on long range flights between the UK and Gibraltar.

In 1972, the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Eduard Prchal, described the events: "I received the green light from the tower and we began our take-off run. I pulled the stick back and the aircraft started to climb. When I was at 150ft I pushed the controls of the aircraft forward to gain speed. Suddenly I discovered I was not able to pull the stick back. The steering mechanism was jammed or locked." The aircraft then lost height rapidly. Prchal closed the four throttles and warned the others through the intercom "Attention, crash". The aircraft crashed into the sea.[4]

Sikorski, his daughter, Zofia Leśniowska (his Chief of Staff), and eight other passengers were killed. While the official death toll included 11 fatalities, the exact number of passengers was not known. Of the six crew members on board, only Prchal survived.[1][5]

Prchal was later interviewed several times about the crash.

Passengers and crew

The only survivor of the accident was the pilot Flight Lieutenant Eduard Prchal, one of six crew on the aircraft.[1] Among the 11 passengers killed were:

Aftermath

Sikorski's body was collected by the Polish Navy destroyer ORP Orkan and transported to Britain.[2] He was subsequently buried in a brick-lined grave at the Polish War Cemetery in Newark-on-Trent, England, on 16 July that year.[1] Winston Churchill delivered a eulogy at his funeral.[3] The bodies of Sikorski's daughter and four other passengers and crew were not found.[11]

Sikorski's death marked a turning point for Polish influence amongst the Anglo-American allies. He had been the most prestigious leader of the Polish exiles and it was a severe setback for the Polish cause, for no Pole after him would have much sway with the Allied politicians.[12]

Incident investigation and controversy

British 1943 investigation

A British Court of Inquiry convened on 7 July 1943 to investigate the crash, following the order by Air Marshal Sir John Slessor of 5 July 1943.[13] On 25 July 1943 the Court concluded that the accident was caused by the "jamming of elevator controls" which led to the aircraft being uncontrollable after take-off.[14] The report noted that "it has not been possible to determine how the jamming occurred" although it ruled out sabotage.[15] Slessor was not satisfied with the report and on 28 July ordered the Court to continue its investigation to find out whether the controls were indeed jammed or not, and if they were, then for what reason. Despite further investigation the Court was unable to resolve Slessor's doubts.[16] The Polish government refused to endorse this report because of the contradictions cited therein, and the lack of conclusive findings.[17]

"Conclusions

a) Liberator AL 523, total all up weight 54,608 lbs, took off from Gibraltar at 23.07 hours on 4 July 1943 bound for UK. The weather was fine, wind light, no cloud, visibility 10 miles. The aircraft was airborne after a run of approximately 1100 yards, climbed to about 150 feet in a perfectly normal manner and then gradually lost height, striking the sea on an even keel approximately 1200 yards after leaving the ground. The evidence suggests that the pilot had throttled back a moment before impact and that his engines had been running normally up to that time. The pilot was recovered by the Station rescue dinghy within six minutes of the crash and was the sole survivor.

b) The cause of the accident was, in the opinion of the Court, due to the aircraft becoming uncontrollable for reasons which cannot be established. The pilot, having eased the control column forward to build up speed after take-off, found that he was unable to move it back at all, the elevator controls being virtually jammed somewhere in the system. It is impossible, from the evidence available and examination of the wreckage, to offer any concrete reason as to why the elevator system should have become jammed."

"... The findings of the Court and the observations of the officers whose duty it is to review and comment on those findings have been considered and it is apparent that the accident was due to the jamming of the elevator controls shortly after take-off with the result that the aircraft became uncontrollable.

After most careful examination of all the available evidence, including that of the pilot, it has not been possible to determine how the jamming occurred but it has been established that there was no sabotage.

It is also clear that the captain of the aircraft who is a pilot of great experience and exceptional ability was in no way to blame.

An officer of the Polish Air Force attended throughout the proceedings."

Conspiracy theories

The political context of the event, coupled with a variety of curious circumstances, immediately gave rise to speculation that Sikorski's death had not been an accident, and might have been the direct result of a Soviet, British, or even Polish conspiracy.[1][12][18][19][20] Some modern sources still note that the accident was not fully explained; for example Jerzy Jan Lerski in his Historical Dictionary of Poland (1996), entry on the "Gibraltar, Catastrophe of", noted that "there are several theories explaining the event, but the mystery was never fully solved."[21] However, as Roman Wapiński noted in his biographical entry on Sikorski in the Polish Biographical Dictionary in 1997, no conclusive evidence of any wrongdoing had been found, and Sikorski's official cause of death was listed as an accident.[1]

Polish 2008 investigation

In 2008, there was investigation opened in Poland by Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation of the Institute of National Remembrance. Sikorski was exhumed and his remains were examined by Polish court experts, who concluded in 2009 that he died of multiple injuries consistent with an air crash, and possibly of drowning as an additional cause. The injuries occurred, while Sikorski was alive.[22] There was categorically excluded a possibility, that Sikorski was shot, strangled or stabbed.[22] Tadeusz Klimecki, Andrzej Marecki and Józef Ponikiewski were exhumed as well, and their injuries were of similar nature.[22] Thus, theories that Polish delegation was murdered before the incident were ruled out. However, they did not rule out the possibility of sabotage, which was still being investigated.[23][24][25] On 30 December 2013 the Institute of National Remembrance closed the investigation on a basis, that the evidence is not enough to confirm, nor to exclude a sabotage.[26]

Attempts of air crash explanations

In 2012, Jerzy Zięborak revisited the evidence gathered by the Court of Inquiry in 1943 as well as other material that has been made available to date. His conclusion was that the accident resulted from the combination of factors. Firstly, the aircraft was overloaded and its centre of gravity was displaced beyond the permissible limit. Secondly, the aircraft speed at take-off was too low due to the excessive weight. Finally, the autopilot was switched on just after the take-off – contrary to the flight manual – and that caused an effect similar to the controls' jamming as seen by the second pilot. Evidence has been found that the surviving pilot Eduard Prchal did perform the second pilot's duties during the take-off, which he did not reveal at the time of the investigation.[27] Zięborak rejects General Nöel Mason-MacFarlane's opinion that Prchal's mental state during the take-off was the reason for the accident.[28] He then compares Prchal's article written ten years after the accident with the relevant documents from the accident. Not only did Prchal write an untrue description of the accident, but he omitted some details he had earlier mentioned during his meetings with pilots. The differences included details of his injuries mentioned in the article and those reported in the medical examination after the accident. The author considered whether it was possible that Prchal had completely forgotten such details of the accident as for example the number of victims. The reason for these differences, i.e. whether Prchal lied deliberately in his article or suffered from a type of partial amnesia as a result of his injury is not discussed.[29] However, Zięborak thinks that Prchal lied on purpose about the Mae West lifejacket.[30] Despite the deficiencies of the report, the results of the Court's investigations were finally accepted. The author concluded that this was a convenient solution for both the British and Polish government, as the details of VIPs' flight procedure could not be published in the Court's report during the war.[31]

In 2016, the pilot Mieczysław Jan Różycki also undertook the analysis of the Gibraltar crash and accompanying circumstances. He agreed, that the aircraft was overloaded and its take-off weight significantly exceeded the limit set by the manufacturer and RAF Transport Command. Violation of weight regulations was, however, tolerated due to war difficulties in transport and pilots were encouraged to take responsibility for flights with overloaded aircraft.[32] Moreover, minor smuggling of scarce goods by flying personnel was widespread and the baggage of important passengers was not checked nor weighted at all.[32] Therefore, pilots had to estimate the weight of the aircraft. The investigation assumed, basing upon RAF form, that the weight of the load, including passengers, was 5324 lbs, which led to the conclusion about a take-off weight. According to M. Różycki, however, there are strong indications, that the form containing such a weight was fabricated by the commission to assume the absence of excessive overloading of the aircraft.[32] According to this author, based on estimates and comparative data, the actual take-off weight of the aircraft was about 63,000 pounds, and it needed over 1600 yards to take-off, which was more, than 1530-yard strip available in Gibraltar at that time.[32] Only in August 1943 the new 1800 yard strip was completed. Moroever, the main problem at this airport was bad weather conditions due to the mountainous environment, sea influences and winds, and accidents were often there, including two other Liberators in 1942 and 1943.[33]

Eduard Prchal himself was an average pilot, and in particular he was not an experienced pilot of heavy transport machines. He was a fighter pilot first and began training on Liberator only on 22 December 1942, and flew 292 hours and 10 minutes on this type until the accident.[33] Co-pilot Stanley Herring, although an experienced bomb pilot, had no experience in solo piloting Liberator.[32] On the other hand, Liberator aircraft were difficult to fly and did not tolerate errors, which resulted in a considerable accident rate during training.[33] In addition, individual aircraft of the first two production series AL and AM had specific flight properties.[33] Both Prchal and Herring did not know AL523 aircraft well, and they made only one daytime take-off and flight from Cairo on it.[32] Prchal himself was not Sikorski's personal pilot, but Sikorski flew with him for the first time from England to Cairo, and expressed a wish, that he would pilot an aircraft on a way back too.[33] As a result, Prchal was assigned to Liberator AL523, scheduled for return trip. A plan of Sikorski was to use his trust in Czechoslovak pilot for propaganda, to improve harsh relations between Polish and Czechoslovak governments in exile.[33] After taking off too early, the aircraft started to loose height, and Prchal may have had an impression of jammed elevators indeed, due to a gust of wind.[32] The aircraft then came to a stall and crashed within twelve seconds from the take-off. In conclusion, the accident, according to M. Różycki, was a simple disaster caused by taking off from an airfield with an unfavorable weather configuration, insufficient strip length and on overloaded machine - apart from Liberator's flight characteristics, increased difficulty of night take-off, moderate pilot experience and lack of knowledge of this particular aircraft's characteristics.[32]

According to M. Różycki, a primary goal of British Court of Inquiry was to investigate a possibility of sabotage in Gibraltar, which was of vital importance to other allied commanders and politicians.[32] This issue was investigated most thoroughly and the sabotage was ruled out. Therefore, less important was a determination of real accident cause. In the opinion of M. Różycki, the final conclusion, that the accident was caused by the jamming of elevator controls of unknown cause, was deliberate understatement, in order not to blame the pilot, which could have strained Polish and Czechoslovak relations - and on the other hand, not to reveal negligence in transport pilot training and procedures, for which RAF was responsible.[32]

Libel case

In 1967, Rolf Hochhuth, a German playwright, included one theory of the 1943 crash in his play Soldiers: An Obituary for Geneva. Here it was an 'accident' initiated by Winston Churchill who had instructed the British Secret Service to make the necessary arrangements. Unaware that Prchal was still alive, Hochhuth accused the pilot of participating in this plot. A libel case resulted and a court in London found in favour of Prchal and awarded him substantial damages and costs (£50,000). Hochhuth moved to Switzerland and avoided the payments. The London theatre staging the play agreed to out-of-court compensation.

gollark: We're only a few days off halfway, at least!
gollark: I'm not certain what's actually being protested against at this point.
gollark: I'm not really a fan of seemingly escalating violent lootingy protests.
gollark: Do mobs tend to really *have* plans?
gollark: Very edgy of you.

See also

References
  1. Roman Wapiński (1997). "Władysław Sikorski". Polski Słownik Biograficzny, zeszyt 154 (T. XXXVII/3). p. 475.
  2. Tadeusz A. Kisielewski (January 2005). Zamach: Tropem zabójców Generała Sikorskiego (in Polish). Rebis. pp. 169–170. ISBN 978-83-7301-767-2.
  3. Michael Alfred Peszke (2005). The Polish Underground Army, The Western Allies, And The Failure of Strategic Unity in World War II. McFarland. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-7864-2009-4.
  4. "Pilot of General Sikorski's aircraft claims libel damages from German playwright." Times [London, England] 3 May 1972: 3. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 18 August 2013
  5. "• Komu zaszkodzi ekshumacja generała" (in Polish). Focus.pl. 1 July 2008. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  6. "Commemorative ceremonies in Gibraltar marking the 70th of the tragic death of Gen Wladyslaw Sikorski and members his entourage in the Gibraltar air crash". Office of War Veterans and Victims of Oppression. July 2013. Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  7. "Komisja Historyczna do spraw Opracowania Dokumentacji na temat Śmierci Gen. Władysława Sikorskiego – Inne organy doradcze powołane do rozpatrywania określonej sprawy lub grupy spraw – BIP Rady Ministrów i Kancelarii Prezesa Rady Ministrów". Bip.kprm.gov.pl. 25 September 2011. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  8. Józef Szczypek (1984). Władysław Sikorski: fakty i legendy (in Polish). Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza. p. 231. ISBN 978-83-03-00671-4.
  9. Piotr Żaroń; Władysław Sikorski (1996). Armia Andersa. Wydawn. Adam Marszałek. p. 202. ISBN 978-83-86229-54-3.
  10. 'Brig. J. P. Whiteley, M. P.' (obituary) in The Times dated 7 July 1943, p. 7
  11. John Coates. "Sikorski: Was It Murder?" Times [London, England] 4 July 2003: 10[S]. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 18 August 2013.
  12. Stanczyk, Zbigniew L. (7 December 2002). "Tajemnica gen. Sikorskiego" (in Polish). Przegląd Polski Online". Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2005.
  13. Zięborak (2012) p. 49
  14. Michael Alfred Peszke (2005). The Polish Underground Army, The Western Allies, And The Failure of Strategic Unity in World War II. McFarland. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-7864-2009-4.
  15. "General Sikorski's Death." Times [London, England] 21 September 1943: 2. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 18 August 2013.
  16. Zięborak (2012) pp. 120-124
  17. Michael Alfred Peszke (2005). The Polish Underground Army, The Western Allies, And The Failure of Strategic Unity in World War II. McFarland. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-7864-2009-4.
  18. Thom Burnett (November 2006). Conspiracy Encyclopedia. Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-84340-381-4.
  19. Nicholas Atkin; Michael Biddiss; Frank Tallett (8 March 2011). The Wiley-Blackwell Dictionary of Modern European History Since 1789. John Wiley & Sons. p. 389. ISBN 978-1-4051-8922-4.
  20. Davies, Norman (26 August 2008). No Simple Victory: World War II in Europe, 1939–1945. Penguin. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-14-311409-3.
  21. Jerzy Jan Lerski (1996). Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966–1945. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-313-26007-0.
  22. 76. rocznica śmierci gen. Władysława Sikorskiego – 4 lipca 2019, Institute of National Remembrance (in Polish)
  23. "No evidence Polish hero murdered" BBC News, 29 January 2009
  24. "IPN ujawnił jak zginął Sikorski" (in Polish). Tvn24.pl. 29 January 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  25. "Śledztwo ws. śmierci gen. Sikorskiego przeniesione z Katowic do Warszawy" (in Polish). Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl. 5 September 2011. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  26. Prokurator Oddziałowej Komisji Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu w Warszawie zakończył śledztwo w sprawie sprowadzenia niebezpieczeństwa katastrofy w komunikacji powietrznej w dniu 4 lipca 1943 r. w Gibraltarze, Institute of National Remembrance (in Polish)
  27. Zięborak (2012) pp. 54–59, 84–87, 91–101, 140–141, 270–273, 310–344
  28. Zięborak (2012) p. 291
  29. Zięborak (2012) pp. 146–150
  30. Zięborak (2012) p. 272
  31. Zięborak (2012) p. 344
  32. Różycki, Mieczysław Jan (2016). "Katastrofa Gibraltarska. Śledztwo. Część I" [Gibraltar crash. The investigation. Part II]. Lotnictwo (in Polish). Vol. XIX no. 178 (2/2016). Magnum-X (published February 2016). pp. 88–98. ISSN 1732-5323.
  33. Różycki, Mieczysław Jan (2016). "Katastrofa Gibraltarska. Droga do tragedii. Część I" [Gibraltar crash. A way to a tragedy. Part I]. Lotnictwo (in Polish). Vol. XIX no. 177 (1/2016). Magnum-X (published January 2016). pp. 88–98. ISSN 1732-5323.
Bibliography
  • Jerzy Zięborak (2012). Studium katastrofy Liberatora AL 523 Gibraltar 1943 (in Polish). Wydawnictwa Naukowe Instytutu Lotnictwa. ISBN 978-83-63539-03-0. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  • Różycki, Mieczysław Jan (2016). "Katastrofa Gibraltarska. Droga do tragedii. Część I" [Gibraltar crash. A way to a tragedy. Part I]. Lotnictwo (in Polish). Vol. XIX no. 177 (1/2016). Magnum-X (published January 2016). pp. 88–98. ISSN 1732-5323.
  • Różycki, Mieczysław Jan (2016). "Katastrofa Gibraltarska. Śledztwo. Część I" [Gibraltar crash. The investigation. Part II]. Lotnictwo (in Polish). Vol. XIX no. 178 (2/2016). Magnum-X (published February 2016). pp. 88–98. ISSN 1732-5323.

Further reading
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