WWII Air Crash Detectives

Sikorski's Last Flight (1x2)

: 11, 2015

Sikorski's Last Flight - 4 July 1943 – 11:07pm: A plane takes o ff carrying General Władysław Sikorski, Prime Minister of Poland's London-based government in exile and Commander-in-Chief of its armed forces, returning from visiting Polish troops in the Middle East. On take-off, the aircraft suddenly loses height and crashes into the harbour. The 62-year-old Polish general is killed, along with 15 others. The sole survivor is the Czech-born pilot, Eduard Prchal, who is rescued by an RAF launch. The bodies of five passengers and crew, including Sikorski's daughter, are never found. Many questions remain unanswered, raising suspicions that this crash may not have been an accident, and rather an assassination. This programme pieces together the events of that night, the cause of the crash and examines the murky world of WWII international espionage and the case for an assassination.