Last updated on 21 August 2025
This touching story of two World War II airmen was brought to our attention by local resident Peter Norman.
In the churchyard of St Mary’s Church, Chessington, are buried two airmen who died when their Mosquito aircraft crashed on a mountainside in Snowdonia, Wales, on 9th February 1944. The two airmen were pilot Flying Officer Marek Ostaja-Slonski (Polish Air Force) and navigator Flight Lieutenant Paul Riches DFC (RAF). Flying Officer Marek Ostaja-Slonksi was 29 years old and Flight Lieutenant Paul Riches just 23. They had been on a cross-country exercise coupled with the testing of newly fitted flaps. Their plane, a DH98 Mosquito (LR412), was a photo reconnaissance aircraft. The cause of the crash is unknown, and it was several days before it was discovered and reported by a local farmer.
Local people in Wales created a makeshift memorial near the crash site in Wales using the propeller of the plane. One of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines from the crash site has now been preserved as it is set to become the centrepiece of a new memorial in honour of the RAF’s Photo Reconnaissance Unit. The new memorial will be in London by the Churchill War Rooms by HM Treasury, overlooking St James’ Park across Horse Guards’ Road.
Recently, Peter visited St Mary’s to find the airmen’s headstones. He tells us:
“Eventually I found the two cleaned headstones some way back into a fairly wild area, and they sit exactly side by side. I then went on to visit the war memorial in Church Lane, I spotted the name of Paul Riches (the navigator) in the far righthand column within the 1939-45 group. He will certainly get an annual wreath laid in November. The Polish pilot, Marek Ostaja-Slonski, would not have been a Chessington resident at that time. Perhaps it was expedient to bury their remains together during WW2, when Poland would have still been occupied and war-torn.”
We understand from Tony Hoskins of the Spitfire AA810 (a project dedicated to the memory of all the men of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit) that Marek Ostaja-Slonski’s family were unable to be traced due to the occupation. It would normally be standard practice to bury the war dead in a cemetery close to the crash site. In this case because the men died together, Paul Riches’ family chose to have both men repatriated to Paul’s home parish so they could stay together.
Peter continues: “Airmen from the Photo Reconnaissance Unit had to fly dangerous missions alone over enemy territory without armament, armour and probably no radio, to bring back vital photographic intelligence to assist our war efforts, including the D-Day invasions. We don’t yet know what famous missions the two airmen buried at St Mary’s may have completed before this tragic accident over friendly, home territory.”
This page will be updated as further information about the airmen and their missions becomes available.
Thank you Peter for bringing this story to our attention.
Find out more about the memorial
Find out more about the crash site in Wales
Find out about the Spitfire AA810 project for a National PRU Monument.