Cowes street to be named after Commander of ORP Blyskawica

An area in Cowes is to be named after Commander Francki, the commanding officer of ORP Blyskawica, (Lightning) the Polish naval vessel which engaged in action against Luftwaffe fighter-bombers which attacked Cowes in May 1942.

A ceremony will be held on May 3rd, 2004, at 12.00 pm to name the area outside the Painter's Arms Francki Place. The ceremony will be attended by the Mayor of Cowes, town Councillors, relatives of Commodore Francki, and representatives of the IOW Polish Society and the ORP Blyskawica Society.

The Blyskawica, a Grom class destroyer, was built by J.S.Whites & Co. in Cowes in 1935 and launched on October 1, 1936. From August 1939, just days before the German invasion of Poland, the Blyskawica and two sister ships were assigned to the Royal Navy for convoy protection duties. One of the fastest destroyers of her day, the Blyskawica was later assigned to escort the Queen Mary on troop carrying duties.

The Blyskawica, which had returned to Cowes for a refit, was anchored near the chain ferry, on the night of May 4, 1942, when 160 low flying German fighter-bombers attacked the town at about 11 pm. The crew of the Blyskawica lit smoke screens in order to obscure the town and Free French naval units stationed on the Medina opened fire with small calibre weapons. The mainstay of the defence was the Blyskawica which used its heavy calibre guns to force the enemy aircraft to fly too high for their bombing accuracy to be guaranteed. More than 70 people were killed in Cowes, during two waves of attacks on May 4/5 which lasted until daybreak.

After the war, the Blyskawica returned to Poland. Since 1976 she has served as a museum ship in the Gdynia dockyard in Poland. Several Polish sailors from the Blyskawica settled in Cowes after the war.

"Ulica w Cowes ...." Polskie ( pdf format)

(This translation provided by O. Hulacki of the ORP Blyskawica Society, Newport, is in pdf format and may take a while to download over a standard 56k modem).

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