Aged 31, he had completed 46 missions over enemy territory with 304 Polish squadron. He married Miss Josephine Chadwick just three weeks before his death on 23.9.1943

 With Jozef as navigator, the Polish crew of Wellington HZ 2251 took off from Skipton on Swale, Yorkshire, on a routine training mission. Shortly afterwards, after major wing failure, the aircraft fell  from the low altitude of 1,500 feet it was then flying at, crashing on the banks of the Leeds –Liverpool canal at Bradley, near Skipton. None of the seven man crew survived the horrific accident.

Wing Commander Andy Myers RAF with Josephine Stebbings, wife of Navigator Jozef Wolnik unveiling the Memorial.	Air Commodore Simon Bostock & Brigadier General Leszek Cwojdzinski, Chief of the Flying Units Division of the Polish Air Force Command.

.On 22^nd April 2007,after researching the crew and tracing relations with a view to a permanent memorial at the crash site, Peter Whitaker of Cross Hills and Jim Hartley  of Bradley, both near Skipton, achieved this and attended a Memorial service to the crew. where the Memorial was unveiled. Attending with great pride, was Josef’s wife, Josephine