All language subtitles for Infamous Assassinations s01e07 General Sikorski

July 4th, 1943,

Gibraltar. A passenger -carrying B -24
Liberator warms up on the airstrip.

The pilot guns the engines and it rolls
forward.

It is airborne well before the end of
the short runway.

The plane climbs to about 150 feet.

Then the pilot puts it into a shallow
dive to gain speed.

But instead of pulling out, the aircraft
continues its dive.

and plunges into the sea.

Only the pilot survives.

Among the 16 dead is a key figure in the
alliance to liberate Nazi -occupied

Europe. Was his death a terrible mishap,
or was it just too convenient?

An assassination disguised as an
accident.

July 16th, 1943, Newark, England.

When a leading figure dies in an
apparent accident at an extraordinarily

convenient time for one of his supposed
allies, which is also a traditional

enemy, the suspicion of assassination is
strong.

And rarely has it been stronger than in
the case of General Sikorski, leader of

the wartime Free Polish Forces.

The official inquiries were unable to
come up with a convincing explanation as

to how the accident actually happened.

And the trail of suspicion pointing to a
killing grows, if anything, stronger as

more facts emerge.

The path which led to this mystery has
its origins deep in the history of

Eastern Europe.

When Wladyslaw Sikorski is born in
Galicia in May 1881, Poland is just a

a language, and a hope that the country
which has been divided between the

empires of Germany, Russia and Austria
-Hungary for more than a century might

one day be reunited.

Sikorski grows up under Austro
-Hungarian rule.

In 1906, he joins the Imperial Army for
a year's officer training.

He goes into the reserve, but then joins
a secret society campaigning for Polish

independence.

Nevertheless, during World War I,
Sikorski fights with distinction in the

Legion against Russia.

In 1919, after the Versailles Peace
Conference establishes a new Polish

he becomes a senior officer in the new
army.

And when the new Soviet regime in Russia
tries to destroy the new Poland,

Sikorsky plays a leading role in the
Battle of Warsaw, where the invading

Bolshevik forces are routed.

After this, Sikorsky's rise is rapid.

In 1921, he becomes commander -in -chief
of the Polish Armed Forces, then prime

minister in 1922 -23.

and minister for the armed forces in
1925.

But he falls out of favor when his
erstwhile colleague and ally, Joseph

Pilsudski, leads a coup and establishes
a semi -dictatorial fanatia regime.

In 1928, Sikorsky is dismissed by
Pilsudski from the army. He becomes a

commentator, working mainly in Paris.

September 3, 1939, Poland.

When Nazi Germany invades its homeland,

Sikorski volunteers, but is refused a
military command.

After Poland's swift defeat, Sikorski
becomes Prime Minister of the Polish

government in exile and Commander -in
-Chief of the Free Polish Forces.

Thousands of Polish troops escape
capture and head for France.

There, Sikorsky has become a focus for
resistance not just to the Nazis, but to

the old enemy, Russia, which has
occupied the eastern part of the

Two Polish infantry divisions and a
cavalry brigade fight alongside the

and French during the German invasion.

On June 18, 1940, after the collapse of
France, Sikorsky moves to Britain.

and starts to build up the free Polish
forces again.

June 22, 1941, Britain.

Following the Nazi invasion of the
Soviet Union, Sikorsky faces a major

political upheaval, persuading his men
that the Soviets must now be treated as

allies.

Urged on by Winston Churchill, he opens
negotiations to restore diplomatic

relations.

And in October 1941, Sikorsky flies to
Moscow via North Africa and persuades

Stalin to release the substantial number
of Polish troops being held in the

Soviet Union.

But a question remains over where
several thousand officers have

A 75 ,000 -strong Polish corps is formed
under General Vladislav Anders, and

this then moves to fight with the
British in the Middle East.

April 13, 1943.

Soviet -occupied Poland.

Now comes a bombshell.

The Germans announce that the bodies of
4 ,000 Polish officers murdered by the

Soviets have been found in Katyn Wood.

Stalin responds by claiming that the
murders were carried out by the Nazis.

But the Germans soon start to reveal
damning evidence.

that the men had almost certainly been
murdered while the Soviets were

establishing their rule in eastern
Poland, and certainly well before the

overran the area.

Many of the bodies carry letters or
other documents, none of which date to

than 1940.

Most of the bodies have been shot in the
back of the neck, the standard NKVD

method of execution.

As a result, Sikorsky refuses to accept
the Soviet claim and demands a Red Cross

investigation.

Stalin immediately breaks off relations
with the Polish government in London,

sets up his own Polish government in
exile, and establishes a Polish army

the Soviet forces.

The horrors of the Katyn massacre cause
outrage among Sikorsky's troops.

and there is criticism of him for being
too friendly to the Soviets.

In May 1943, he's encouraged by Winston
Churchill to rally morale and secure his

position by visiting the Polish forces
commanded by General Anders in the

East.

As his party travels out via Gibraltar,
there is a strange incident.

Polish HQ in London received a message
that Sikorski's plane had crashed at

Gibraltar and all the passengers had
been killed.

It is swiftly proved to be false, but it
is an ill omen and one which people

remember after the tragic events a few
weeks later.

What is evident today... is that
Sikorsky has been a marked man for some

There had been at least two previous
attempts to sabotage flights on which

Sikorsky had been travelling.

Over a year earlier, in March 1942, an
incendiary bomb was discovered on the

aircraft in which he was travelling to
the United States to brief President

Roosevelt.

It was defused.

And later claimed to have been brought
on board accidentally in the luggage of

Polish wing commander going to
Washington as the new Air Attaché.

Then in November 1942, Sikorsky is
taking off from Montreal in a Hudson on

another visit to Roosevelt in
Washington.

Just after takeoff, The engines cut out.
The pilot manages to crash land and

there are no casualties.

Three incidents involving aircraft in
little more than a year is beginning to

look like more than coincidence.

July 4th, 1943, midday, Gibraltar.

General Sikorsky inspects a guard of
honour.

He's on the return leg of a six -week
tour of the Middle East, inspecting the

Free Polish Corps.

He flew in the previous evening, in the
same converted B -24 Liberator bomber AL

-523, which had taken him out to Egypt.

The chief pilot is Flight Lieutenant
Edward Pachow, a Czech serving with RAF

Transport Command.

He had flown Sikorsky on the outward
journey, and Sikorsky had personally

for him to be assigned for the return.

Bachar was rated by the RAF as an
excellent and highly experienced pilot.

On their arrival in Gibraltar, the
Polish party finds there is a

Ivan Majski.

The Soviet ambassador to Britain has
announced that he will also be arriving

that evening.

There is a danger they will all have to
stay in government house at the same

time.

The British governor, General Noel Mason
Macfarlane, avoids any diplomatic

embarrassment by arranging for Majski to
arrive the following morning.

He then gives him breakfast in a
different wing of Government House to

Sikorsky is staying.

An opportunely timed warning of
impending bad weather is then received,

Maisky is hurried back to the airport
and sent on his way.

All seems well, but for a number of
hours the Soviet plane and Sikorsky's

Liberator are parked side by side under
guard.

Macfarlane then has lunch with Sikorsky
and gives him a guided tour of

Gibraltar. They then have a two -hour
reception before a dinner which is

remembered as convivium.

July 4th, 1943, Gibraltar airfield.

Take -off is scheduled for 11pm.

There will be six crew and 11
passengers.

Sikorsky, his daughter Zofia Lesniowska,
and four other Polish officers.

Two British officers, including Colonel
Victor Cazalet, the official liaison

officer with Polish forces.

And two mysterious passengers, a Mr. W
.H. Locke and a Mr. Pinder.

They boarded at the last moment in
Cairo, and their backgrounds have never

clarified.

Plus a last -minute change, a Polish
courier, Gralewski.

who has just reached Gibraltar from
occupied Poland with secret documents.

He takes the place of another Polish
officer.

At 11 .05, the plane taxis out to the
western end of the runway built out into

Gibraltar Bay.

The rock is on its right.

At precisely 11 .10, Pachow gets the
green light.

He runs up his engines and begins his
take -off.

Watched by Mason McFarlane and other
British and Polish officers, it

down the runway and takes off over the
Mediterranean.

When it reaches what most witnesses
reckon is about 150 feet, it goes into a

shallow dive from which it never
recovers.

First on the scene within a few minutes
is an RAF rescue launch which picks up

the pilot, Edward Pachar, who is the
only survivor.

Only four other bodies are found,
including that of Sikorsky.

He had been killed as the aircraft hit
the water.

The body of his daughter is never
located.

The aircraft sinks in about 25 feet of
water, with its wheels partly retracted.

It's searched by local divers on July
5th, and then by the Royal Navy Port

Protection Team run by Lieutenant
William Bailey.

His assistant is Lieutenant Buster
Crabbe, who is to become notorious 15

later when he disappears while examining
Soviet warships visiting Portsmouth.

They recover a black briefcase which is
given to the governor.

Strangely, it cannot be found when the
inquiries are conducted.

Later, a mail bag which had been on the
plane is discovered by the side of the

runway. This becomes a crucial piece of
evidence when the pilot is able to give

his testimony.

Sikorsky's body is taken back to Britain
by destroyer and buried in Newark.

where the free Polish forces have their
headquarters.

He is succeeded by his deputy, Mikhail
Mikholachk.

Two inquiries are held, one by the RAF,
the second by the Pole.

One of the first questions, knowing that
liberators are slow to get into the air

when heavily loaded, is whether it has
been so overloaded with passengers and

their baggage, that it had simply been
unable to take off from the short

But the RAF ground crew records show
that the aircraft's weight had been

the required limit.

Eyewitnesses also confirm that it had
lifted off well before the end of the

runway.

When he is well enough to be interviewed
by the investigator, Pachal tells them

that he had taken off normally.

It was accepted practice with a heavily
loaded liberator to put the aircraft

into a slight dive immediately after
takeoff to gain speed before trying to

climb to cruising altitude.

Pachal had done this, as he had many
times before.

But when he pulls the stick back to
start his climb, the controls refuse to

respond and appear to be jammed.

Pachal only has time to shout, crash
landing, before the plane hits the sea.

Both inquiries conclude that there is no
suggestion of sabotage or pilot error.

The likely cause is, as described by the
pilot, some sort of mechanical failure

or obstruction which blocked the
controls.

One possible explanation is suggested by
the mail bag found on the runway.

The mail was stowed in a forward
compartment.

Could a hatch have been left open,
possibly from the nose wheel well, which

would have caused bags to blow aft and
jam the control lines to the elevators?

The mail bag found on the runway could
have been one blown out of an aft door.

The RAF investigation tries to replicate
this using another liberator.

It finds it impossible to do so.

How the mailbag got onto the runway is
never satisfactorily explained.

RAF investigators also recover the
controls, which appear to be in good

order.

The locking mechanism is designed to
immobilize the elevators when the

is parked on the runway.

show no signs of having been left on.

Thus, the most obvious explanations for
an accident are eliminated.

The possibility of deliberate sabotage
begins to look increasingly likely.

Who would be the most likely candidate?

July 1943, Gibraltar.

The obvious suspects to have killed
General Sikorsky, at least for many

at the time, were the Germans.

Sikorsky was an avowed and implacable
foe of the Nazis.

The German secret service, the Abwehr,
had plenty of agents in Gibraltar or

over the border in neutral Spain.

But because of this threat, security on
the Liberator while on the ground at

Gibraltar was tight.

It was kept in a secure area with
sentries surrounding it, and one guard

actually on board the whole time.

Also, Sikorsky at that time was worth
more to the Germans alive than dead.

After the discovery of the Katyn Wood
Massacre, his hostile relations with the

Soviets were throwing the whole Allied
alliance into turmoil.

It was unlikely that the Germans would
have wanted to kill the man who was

proving such a propaganda gift at this
time.

The mirror image of this argument is why
it was suggested many years later that

Churchill might have wanted Sikorsky
dead because he was becoming a threat to

Allied unity.

Without the Soviet Union remaining as an
ally, the war could not be won.

This theory was first put forward in the
1960s in a controversial German play,

Soldiers, by Ralph Hochhuth.

His suggestion in the play that the
plane's pilot might deliberately have

crashed it was successfully contested in
a libel action by Pachal in 1972.

Leaving aside the implausibility of
Churchill stooping to murder, there is a

more Machiavellian objection to this
idea.

There was no guarantee that getting rid
of Sikorsky would have made the Poles

any less difficult or hostile to the
Soviet government.

Sikorsky at least was realistic about
the need to work with the Soviets.

He had gone to the Middle East to
placate his followers, not to inflame

There was always the chance that his
successor would be more, rather than

anti -Soviet.

But this argument can and has been used
to point the finger at another

possibility, extremists among Sikorsky's
own colleagues.

When he became prime minister of the
government in exile, the president was

Vladislav Rachkevich, a colleague of
Pilsudski and a former political

There were many among the Polish exiles
who opposed Sikorski's policy of trying

to deal diplomatically with the Soviet
Union.

This feeling was particularly strong
amongst Anders' Polish Corps in the

East and became even more virulent after
the exposure of the Katyn Wood

Massacre.

Colonel Howells, British liaison officer
to Anders, reported secretly to

Churchill in March 1943 that the
majority of the Polish army in the

believed the government in exile to be
yes -men.

The situation had got to the stage where
Churchill had mentioned to Stalin that

Sikorsky was in danger of being
overthrown.

The two mysterious passengers who joined
the plane in Cairo have never been

explained.

It has been suggested that either they,
or the Polish agent Gralewski, might

have been fanatical nationalists who
were prepared to sacrifice themselves in

order to kill Sikorski.

It is unlikely that any Pole would have
been ready to go to such lengths to get

rid of Sikorski.

But Churchill's remark must have been
music to the Soviet dictator's ears.

For Sikorsky was definitely an
embarrassment to the Soviet Union, and

ear of Churchill, who was becoming
increasingly suspicious of Soviet

Also, he had much greater prestige than
any likely successor.

Getting rid of him would remove both an
immediate problem and probably lead to a

weaker Polish government in exile, as
turned out.

Sikorsky's plane could have been
tampered with while it was on the ground

Maiskis. Although a close guard was
being kept on it, Soviet technicians did

have free access to the area.

Also, the officer in charge of the
Iberian section of British intelligence

the time was Kim Philby.

He was to be unmarked exactly 20 years
later as a long -term KGB agent.

Philby would have had no difficulty in
coordinating an attempt to tamper with

the Liberator.

It has been suggested that during the
diving operations on the wreck, evidence

of Soviet sabotage to the controls could
have been removed.

Significantly, Buster Crabb was second
in command of the diving unit, and he

was to be involved in clandestine
activities.

Perhaps his involvement in espionage
began earlier than anyone realized.

At the end of the war, Stalin was able
to sideline the London Polish government

and impose a brutal communist
dictatorship, which was to last more

decades.

Had Sikorsky lived, he might have led a
more effective resistance to this.

In 1993, exactly 50 years after his
death, the body of General Sikorski is

returned to Poland, following the end of
communist rule.

Officially, his death remains a tragic
accident, but few of his countrymen

believe that.

It was all too convenient for Josef
Stalin.