File:RR Merlin.JPG

A Rolls Royce engine preserved in Manston, Kent, UK

The plaque on the engine reads:

THE ROLLS-ROYCE MERLIN III ENGINE DISPLAYED HERE WAS RECOVERED FROM THE SITE AT BEAN HILL SAW MILL WHITSTABLE WHERE HAWKER HURRICANE P 3815, FLOWN BY PILOT OFFICER FRANCISZEK JAN KOZLOWSKI OF NO. 501 SQUADRON (OPERATING FROM GRAVESEND AND HAWKINGE) CRASHED SHORTLY AFTER MID-DAY, ON THE 18th AUGUST 1940. HE WAS SHOT DOWN BY OBLT G SCHOEPFEL OF JG. 26 OVER CANTERBURY. PILOT OFFICER KOZLOWSKI BALED [sic] OUT OF HIS BURNING AIRCRAFT AND WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED. SADLY, KOZLOWSKI WAS LATER KILLED FLYING A SPITFIRE OVER FRANCE ON THE 13th MARCH 1943

FOOTNOTE

THE 18th OF AUGUST 1940 WAS REGARDED BY MANY AS THE HARDEST FOUGHT DAY OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN. KOZLOWSKI’S HURRICANE WAS ONE OF FOUR SHOT DOWN IN AS MANY MINUTES BY OBLT SCHOEPFEL WHO WAS LEADING THE UNIT DURING THE TEMPORARY ABSENCE OF JG. 26's COMMANDER MAJOR ADOLF GALLAND.

I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

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