On 5th October 1943, Sergeant Henryk Andrzej Flegier's Supermarine Spitfire came down about a mile away from Ballyhalbert Airfield, Co. Down.
On 5th October 1943, Supermarine Spitfire BL922 PK-I took off from Ballyhalbert Airfield on the Ards Peninsula of Co. Down. At the controls of the Mark V fighter was Polish pilot Sergeant Henryk Andrzej Flegier of R.A.F. 315 (City of Deblin) Squadron.
That day marked the second incident Flegier had experienced during his time at Ballyhalbert Airfield. On 9th September 1943, the Polish pilot crash-landed Supermarine Spitfire W3937 PK-N. On attempting to land that day, Flegier overshot the runway, writing off the fighter but surviving uninjured.
Born on 21st December 1912 in Okuniew in east-central Poland, the 30-year-old pilot was an experienced airman. On 5th October 1943, his Spitfire lost power on a low-altitude training flight while performing practice interceptions. On such a low-level flight, there was little time for Flegier to regain control, and the plane came down just over a mile northwest of the airfield.
Henry Andrzej Flegier died as a result of the crash, which saw BL922 written off and destroyed. His grave is in R.C. Plot, Section 18, Grave 24 of Movilla Cemetery, Newtownards, Co. Down. He was the last member of R.A.F. 315 Squadron killed while serving in Northern Ireland.