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On 30/31st January 1942, Vickers Wellington (Mk IC) N2848-G of No18 OTU took off from Bramcote, Warwickshire for a night cross-country training flight. While flying in cloud, the crew met conditions of snow and severe icing. It is likely a decision was made to lose height, possibly in order to try and establish their whereabouts, and while doing so, the bomber flew into high ground near Buckden Pike (2,302 feet above sea level) on Wharfedale a mile or so NE of Buckden, in the bleak Yorkshire Dales and some 15 miles NW of Pateley Bridge. The Operations Record Book for No18 Operational Training Unit has the following account: 
Joe Fusniak survived by following the footprints of a fox in the snow, which led him down the side of the fell and to safety. For a more detailed account of this remarkable story, check www.buckdenpike.co.uk. Those who died, Flight Lieutenant C Kujawa (Polish Air Force), Pilot Officer J Polczyk (PAF), Flying Officer T J Bieganski (PAF), Sgt J Sadowski (PAF) and Sgt J A Tokarzewski (PAF) rest in the Polish Plot at Newark-upon-Trent Cemetery, Nottinghamshire. Joe returned to the crash site several times, and in 1972 erected a memorial to his crew [see top image]. The inscription reads;
Thanksgiving to God.
The Parker family and local people And in memory of five Polish RAF airmen who died Here on 31.1.1942 - buried in Newark. The survivor 
Poignantly, cemented into the base of the memorial are parts of the aircraft wreckage.
Also at the base of the memorial is a bronze fox's head in recognition of the animal's
part in Joe's remarkable survival.
Sources: National Archives AIR 14, AIR 20 and AIR 50/479 Bomber Command Losses by W R Chorley Kindest regards Bob Contact us by email R W O'HARA 15 Ruskin Avenue Kew, Richmond TW9 4DR England Return to Home Page
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