[Jim O]

A distinguished Polish pilot admitted he lied that he found a bomb intended to blow up the plane of Poland's wartime leader, but the episode was hushed up by Britain's government, secret files released on Monday showed.

The apparent plot to assassinate General Wladyslaw Sikorski, who led the Polish government in exile until his death in 1943, sparked an inquiry with suspicions it was a German or Russian conspiracy but it turned out the pilot took the bomb aboard.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was dragged into the investigation as security chiefs scrambled to uncover the truth about what happened on the plane over the Atlantic, a year before Sikorski's death in a mysterious plane crash.

The pilot said he found a smoldering bomb on board the plane taking Sikorski from Scotland to Canada on March 21, 1942.

Polish Wing Commander Bohdan Kleczynski said he found the device burning under his mattress as he rested on the B-24 Liberator plane. He said the device broke into two pieces as he rushed to the back of the plane to throw it down the toilet...

Full article: CNN.com - Lie about WW II Sikorski plot kept secret by UK - Sep 3, 2006