No photograph on record yet.

Martin Cybulski

Flight Lieutenant · J/10468 · Canadian

Fate: Served and survived

Biography

Flight Lieutenant Martin Cybulski was a Royal Canadian Air Force night-fighter pilot who survived one of the most extraordinary escapes of the air war. Flying a de Havilland Mosquito of No. 410 (Cougar) Squadron RCAF on the night of 26/27 September 1943, he intercepted a Dornier Do 217 over the Netherlands and closed to within a hundred feet before opening fire. The German bomber exploded with such violence that his Mosquito was engulfed in burning fuel, stripped of much of its fabric and left with a dead port engine; momentarily blinded, Cybulski nursed the scorched aircraft back to Coleby Grange. He and his navigator were both awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was seriously injured on 24 December 1943 when the Airspeed Oxford he was ferrying flew into Winter Hill in Lancashire, but came through the war.

Photographs

Flight Lieutenant M Cybulski (left) and Flying Officer H Ladbrook of No. 410 Squadron RCAF, with their damaged Mosquito Mk II at Coleby Grange, 27 September 1943. Their aircraft was severely charred by an exploding Dornier Do 217. CE106 — Flight Lieutenant M Cybulski (left) and Flying Officer H Ladbrook of [No. 410 Squadron](/squadrons/411/) RCAF, with their damaged [Mosquito](/aircraft/9/) Mk II at [Coleby Grange](/airfields/6098/), 27 September 1943. Their aircraft was severely charred by an exploding Dornier Do 217. Flight Lieutenant M Cybulski (left) and Flying Officer H Ladbrook of No 410 Squadron, RCAF, with their severely charred Mosquito II at Coleby Grange, 27 September 1943. On an intruder sortie over the Netherlands the previous night the pair had attacked a Do217, closing to within 100ft before opening fire. The enemy aircraft exploded with such force that the Mosquito was enveloped by burning fuel and badly scored. Debris also damaged the port engine, which had to be shut down (note the feathered propeller).

ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flight_Lieutenant_M_Cybulski_(left)_and_Flying_Officer_H_Ladbrook_of_No._410_Squadron_RCAF,_with_their_damaged_Mosquito_Mk_II_at_Coleby_Grange,_27_September_1943._Their_aircraft_wasView source & full licence →

Service

Flight Lieutenant, No. 410 Squadron (Cougar)

Awards

Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)

Distinguished Flying Cross — for the action of 26/27 September 1943 against a Do 217.