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jxc
22nd May 2011, 12:14
I am going to be doing a round the world flight next year in a Spitfire Replica 90% Mk26b for charity.
One of our 1st stops will be Warsaw and would love to meet any Polish spitfire pilots that live in Warsaw. My question is how do I find contact details of any of them.
I won't post my site until a PPRuNe Mod says so

PPRuNe Pop
22nd May 2011, 14:19
Send us a PM. Depends on what the charity is.

Neptunus Rex
22nd May 2011, 14:56
jxc
There used to be a swag of them at the Polish Ex Servicemen's Club in Scunthorpe. Try the Polish associations in UK for some leads.

jamesdevice
22nd May 2011, 14:58
after the war a fair number of the Polish pilots who stayed in the UK were housed at Cark Airfield, Cumbria. Some of those then relocated to Lancaster and there are still a number of families in Lancaster descended from them.
It could well be worth contacting the Lancaster Polish Centre to see if they have details of any surviving pilots over here. They may have details of former colleagues in Poland

Address
Lancaster Polish Centre
Nelson Street
Lancaster
LA1 1PT

Wander00
22nd May 2011, 15:11
Northampton too.

A few months ago a woman appeared on Antiques Roadshow with the WWII flying memorabilia of her Dad, who had flown Spitires and Dakotas (and had a Caterpillar Badge), and had recently died. Odd, as I had known her from school in Harrow, not seen her for 45 years or so and recognised her instantly on TV. Stranger still, her parents had been Hon Granparents to my nephews and neice through the Catholic Church in N Harrow.

Courageous bunch, the Poles, Czechs, French and other Europeans from occupied countries who fought in all 3 services, at considerable risk to their familes, and to themselves if captured.

Old-Duffer
22nd May 2011, 15:51
The Polish Air Forces Association and the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, both of which can be contacted via telephone and 20 Princes Gate, London, will be able to provide contact details.

When in Warsaw you MUST visit the Polish Air Forces memorial, which was opened a few years ago and is a fantastic piece of architecture with a surrounding wall containing the inscribed roll of honour. Incidentally, it includes those Poles who fought with the Russians!

Old Duffer

jxc
22nd May 2011, 16:57
I Did have a feeling most probably live here in the U.K.

JMP6
22nd May 2011, 18:11
Repeat please.





:E

Chuck-ski
22nd May 2011, 18:33
I think you will struggle.

I came from Poland in 1995 when I was a 13 year old lad & there were a fair number of Polish ex-servicemen still alive in UK. I knew ex-army doctors, tank drivers etc. One of the reasons they stayed was literally out of fear.

Back in Poland, ever since I was a kid I have NEVER heard or seen of an old veteran that has fought in the West during the war. The only ones I heard of that returned in late 40's were quickly found to be "spies" and "traitors" before being promptly tortured, executed etc.

By contrast try looking for WWII Polish Yak-3 pilots - you might have more luck ;)

jamesdevice
22nd May 2011, 18:52
YouTube - ‪Battle of Britain - "Repeat please!"‬‏

Manandboy
22nd May 2011, 20:27
Why not try an e-mail to the Defence Attaché in the British Embassy in Warsaw. He may have details of veterans, but will certainly have links to the Polish Air Force, who have all the records. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think there are any ex Spitfire pilots left in Warsaw - many of those who returned after the war were persecuted by the Russians, and those who survived or avoided that have passed on anyway.

Good luck.

jxc
22nd May 2011, 20:41
The main reason to go to Poland was out of respect to them.

Chuck-ski
22nd May 2011, 21:01
Jxc

I had a look on some Polish webpages for you.

Try this:

Lista lotnikw Polskich Si Powietrznych w Wielkiej Brytanii autorstwa T. J. Krzystka (http://www.polishairforce.pl/lista.html)

At the bottom of the page, in the middle is a .doc file with a full list of all known Polish RAF personnel between 1940-1947. Although its all in Polish the header of the .doc has an Email address of a Polish gentleman in North Wales that surely will be able to help you.

Interestingly, repeating what I posted above, if you scroll down the list, on the far right column you will often see "1946-48 Polska" - in other words the year & place of death.

Natural causes ? hmmmm....

Chuck-ski
22nd May 2011, 21:16
I had a look through that site - real shame its in Polish only, but I found some great galleries & linked them in if you like this sort of stuff.

Polish Fighting Team (http://www.polishairforce.pl/pftzdj.html)
Bitwa o Angli (http://www.polishairforce.pl/bobzdj.html)

Individual Fighter wings...
302 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Poznański" (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw302zdj.html)
303 Dywizjon Myśliwski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw303zdj.html)
307 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Lwowskich Puchaczy" (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw307zdj.html)[/URL]
http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw306zdj.html (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw302zdj.html)
309 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Ziemi Czerwieńskiej" (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw309zdj.html)
[URL]http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw315zdj.html (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw307zdj.html)
316 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Warszawski" (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw316zdj.html)
317 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Wileński" (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw317zdj.html)

318th Fighter reconnaissance squadron.

318 Dywizjon Myśliwsko-Rozpoznawczy "Gdański" (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw318zdj.html)

Bomber squadrons...
300 Dywizjon Bombowy "Ziemi Mazowieckiej" (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw300zdj.html)
Polskie załogi w 138 Special Duties Squadron (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw138zdj.html)
301 Dywizjon Bombowy "Ziemi Pomorskiej" - 1586 Eskadra do Zada Specjalnych (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw301zdj.html)
304 Dywizjon Bombowy "Ziemi Śląskiej" (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw304zdj.html)
305 Dywizjon Bombowy "Ziemi Wielkopolskiej" (http://www.polishairforce.pl/dyw305zdj.html)

jxc
22nd May 2011, 21:32
Great site

jamesdevice
22nd May 2011, 21:32
try this Google transliteration
Google Translate (http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=pl&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.polishairforce.pl%2Flista.html&act=url)

Chuck-ski
22nd May 2011, 21:45
Is it me or you have to be in the original Polish version for the photos to link correctly ? When Im in the transliterated version & click on a photo it just comes up with a red cross.

jamesdevice
22nd May 2011, 21:53
Seems to work OK for me
Could be a browser problem? I'm using Firefox 4

Double Zero
23rd May 2011, 00:15
Could be worth trying Bristol, I understand there's a sizable Polish Club there. Good Luck, if the rest are like my friend there ( whose late Dad was involved ) I wouldn't want to be on their opposing side, in every way. :)

Heathrow Harry
23rd May 2011, 16:46
Grupa Historyczna Lotnictwa Polskiego - Aktualnoœci (http://lotnictwopolskie.org.pl/aktualnosci.eng.html)

might be useful

ExALM
23rd May 2011, 17:10
I’m not sure if you intend to pass through the Czech Rep, but there is a really great bar there dedicated to the Czech Spitfire sqns, lots of original memorabilia, including a cockpit that they put drunken crew into to sleep off the effects of wind-down beers! WingsClub Prague Welcome! (http://wingsclub.cz/index_gb.html) . Stay clear of the Slivovitz (slip-in-the-ditch).

jxc
23rd May 2011, 17:26
That looks fun going to put that on the list but should I go
U.K. - Berlin - Warsaw - Prague
U.K. - Berlin - Prague - Warsaw

Azrael229
25th May 2011, 19:49
If you need any language help for your trip to Poland you can contact me. I am native polish speaker and native of Warsaw. I don't think there are many WWII fighter pilots alive and well enough any more though. Very few show up for parades and national holidays these days (on average the elderly in Poland are of much worse helth then in UK for many reasons).

I think it would make the news if you flew to Krakow and visited Muzeum Lotnictwa Polskiego in there ( they have Spitfire LF Mk.XVIE there, as well as only surviving P-11c in the world).

Chuck-ski
25th May 2011, 20:47
JXC

I know this Idea might sound daft, but why not pop in to Deblin ?

You said that one of the points of the visit to Poland is a mark of respect to the Polish pilots.

From 1928 onwards all Polish fighting pilots were trained at this Military Academy. After fall of Poland the pilots and instructors from Dęblin continuing to train the air force personnel in Polish Flight Training Schools in the West, among others in Hucknall and Newton.

Deblin is famous for this throughout Poland (apart from this academy its a hole unfortunately...), so everyone would "get it" if you were to fly there in a 9/10 Spitfire so to speak.

Think of it this way - This place is the one thing that links all the Polish pilots together - in Battle of Britain, before it and beyond. My dad right now is flying Mi-17's in Afghanistan, is 53 years old, hates the politicians etc. but the one place he always recalls with fondness is being an "Eaglet" hopping about in a piston powered Mi-1 in Deblin back in 1980 - I'm sure many o the "repat plaease !" lads had similar memories/longings of hopping about in their PWS-26's in late 1930's too.

Heres a link to the Academys official website, but best have a Google fly-about if it raises your interest:

O Uczelni (http://www.wsosp.deblin.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69&Itemid=101&lang=en)

Chugalug2
26th May 2011, 07:45
jxc, thank you for this thread and good luck on your intended tribute to those brave men.

Chuck-ski, thank you for the links to those Polish web-sites and for the reminder that not all Polish Aircrew were in Fighter Command. As a very wet behind the ears Hastings Co-Pilot I was posted to 48 Squadron, RAF Changi, 1963/66. One of the navigators there was a larger than life Pole, Victor Fontes. Victor had been a cavalry officer when the Nazis invaded and overran his homeland. Somehow he survived charging German tanks for a living and, with a great many other Polish troops, escaped south via Romania to the Black Sea. There they embarked on troopships to hazard the Mediterranean Sea to Gibraltar and thence to France where they disembarked just in time for the fall of that country. Once again Victor legged it south, this time over the Pyrenees into Franco's Spain. Caught and arrested he ended up in a Spanish Concentration camp, escaped and kept on heading south until he got across the border to Gibraltar. Eager to avenge his lost country and comrades he volunteered to join the British effort against Germany. When told that there were no vacancies for cavalry officers and that Bomber Command was the only large scale offensive effort against that nation he immediately opted to be trained as a BC pilot.

Somehow Victor went on defying the enormous odds pitted against him and survived. Like many other Polish volunteers in UK Forces he did not feel safe returning to communist post war Poland, and the RAF became his home, albeit he was obliged to retrain as a navigator in order to stay flying.

I've always felt honoured to have served with Poles such as Victor, as well as Czechs etc. All now long gone but always remembered. We let the Poles down badly at the end of the war, where they did not even feature in the Victory Parade. Any tribute paid now is worth it. A remarkable people!

121club
26th May 2011, 10:53
I've just looked through the Polish websites and recognised a family friend who flew Wellingtons (including a channel ditching) and survived the war. He subsequently moved on to ferrying anything that flew and from anywhere to anywhere. Amazing man who is now 96 and still very much with us. I know he has a large collection of memorabilia/log books etc as well as a Polish version of the VC.:ok:

Azrael229
26th May 2011, 11:02
> as well as a Polish version of the VC


Virtuti Militari


Virtuti Militari - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtuti_Militari)

Halton Brat
27th May 2011, 13:19
I recall attending the RAF 75th Anniversary Commemoration at Marham in 1993. The rain on that auspicious day was well up to Asian monsoon standards; such a relief, therefore, to be seated for lunch in the hangar designated for the purpose (super lunch for c3,000 heads, well done the Chef).

The then Mrs HB & myself found ourselves seated with a wonderful group of Polish aircrew who saw service in the War of the Austrian Housepainter. These extremely game old boys were most courteous, and introduced themselves with names that resembled the bottom line of my Optician's eye test chart. They then proceeded to flirt with my wife in the most outrageous fashion; I diverted myself from this spectacle by tucking into the wine course.

I enquired of the gentleman opposite me as to the aircraft he operated during the war, and he said that he flew in Wellingtons. Cursed as I am with a propensity for banter & repartee, the inevitable & much hackneyed line "I bet they kept your feet dry" was actually half-way out of my mouth before I was able to apply the brakes; a fake coughing fit worthy of an Oscar was then generated in order to provide a smokescreen for my inability to control the brain/mouth interface.

Jolly (but wet) day out had by all; I had billed this event to my good lady, in advance, that I was whisking her away on a private jet for a romantic lunch. This was true, as St Athan (my location) chartered a Manx Airlines BAe146 for the day. When she became aware of the reality however, my stock fell somewhat. Maybe that's why she's the ex-Mrs HB.............:sad:

Low Flier
27th May 2011, 17:19
It might be worth contacting the CO of the Grangemouth Air Training Corps squadron.

For several years they did lot of research into the Polish, Czech and other forign pilots who trained at the RAF Grangemouth Spitfire OCU during the war. They set up a rather unusual war memorial to the memory of the astonishingly large number who were killed in training accidents. The accident rate was truly horrendous by modern standards and comparable to the loss rate of many operational squadrons in combat.

A couple of years ago they held a formal unveiling ceremony at which were invited a number of surviving Polish and Czech) graduates of that Spitfire OCU. The cadets also visited Poland (or was it Czech Republic? I can't remember) to meet the survivors and some widows of those who did not survive the war.

I'm sure he'll be able to give you a very useful briefing.

121club
28th May 2011, 11:57
Thanks Azrael229. Googled Virtuti Militari and found him on the list of holders of this award.:D He has related so many of his exploits once suitably supplied with a decent whisky of two.

Trogger
3rd Jun 2011, 14:32
Hopefully this might help - I spoke today with someone involved in research with the Sikorsky Institute - to find out info on Polish servicemen you need to contact the MOD firstly - the contact details are on the PISM website (PISM Home (http://www.pism.co.uk)) - Archive Family research (http://www.pism.co.uk/archive/family_research.html)

While the service is free to family, everyone else has to pay a fee!