On 9th September 1943, Supermarine Spitfire W3937 PK-N crash-landed at R.A.F. Ballyhalbert, Co. Down. The Mark V fighter was on a training flight in the hands of a Polish pilot of R.A.F. 315 (City of Deblin) Squadron.
The pilot was Sergeant Henryk Andrzej Flegier of the Polish Air Force. While attempting a high-speed landing, Flegier overshot the runway and the plane overturned.
The pilot escaped from the wreckage uninjured although authorities wrote off the destroyed plane. Less than a month later, Flegier would crash another Spitfire at Ballyhalbert Airfield, Co. Down with fatal consequences.
On 5th October 1943, Supermarine Spitfire BL922 PK-I crashed near Ballyhalbert Airfield, Co. Down. The plane lost power on a low-altitude training flight. Authorities listed the Polish pilot as killed in active service.
The 30-year-old pilot was born on 21st December 1912 in Okuniew, Minsk County, Poland. Sergeant Henryk Andrzej Flegier’s grave is in Movilla Cemetery, Newtownards, Co. Down.