Group Captain Stanislaw Wandzilak
Would anyone here remember Group Captain Stanislaw Wandzilak, OBE, DFC, AFC (1917 - 2000)?
He was my friend's uncle and I am interested in personal recollections or anecdotes about any stage in his career. This information might be used in a display at a museum in Krakow or on a historical website, but above all it will be passed along to his three young great-nephews, to whom he bequeathed his medals.
With apologies for its length, but as a possible spur to recollections, here is some information gleaned from the December 7, 2000 Times obituary:
Graduated Sept 1, 1939 from Polish Air Force Officers' School at Deblin and, in spring of 1940, from French fighter- pilot's course at Etampes. Posted to a Polish flight defending Clermont-Ferrand.
Evacuated through Spain and joined 308 (City of Krakow) Squadron, stationed at Speke; flew Hurricanes. Also flew with 303 and 315 Squadrons. Shot down 2 FW190s.
Staff work with the 2nd Tactical Air Force, preparing the D-Day landings.
Returned to combat duty in France with 308 Squadron. As the Times noted:
"On August 26, 1944 he was shot down by ground fire during his fourth sortie that day. He managed to bail out of his burning Spitfire and avoid capture. Much to his annoyance, a platoon of German infantry he was trying to creep round spotted him and insisted on surrendering. He tried to get them off his back, but they were so afraid of being captured and shot by the French Resistance that they followed him around like dogs until he finally reached Allied positions and managed to pass them on to some Canadians. Exactly a week after being shot down, he found 308 on an improvised airfield, and within a couple of hours he was in the air, leading his flight in an attack on Boulogne. The squadron continued in support of the Allied advance into Belgium, but Wandzilak's parachute jump had reopened an old wound and in October 1944 he was sent back to hospital in England."
In his combat career he reached the rank of flight lieutenant and won the Polish Virtuti Militari Cross and Cross of Valour with three Bars, as well as the DFC. He next served as ADC to the Polish Minister of War in the Polish government-in-exile. In 1948 he was offered a short service commission in the RAF and, in 1950, a permanent commission.
In June 1951, the Times notes, "he became flying instructor on Meteor jets at the Advanced Flying School, Driffield. In 1952 he was promoted to squadron leader, and posted to flying schools at Full Sutton and Oakington where he trained pilots on Vampire jets. In 1955 he was awarded the AFC and transferred to HQ 25 Advanced Training Group, with special responsibility for developing flight safety programmes. He was appointed OBE in recognition of this work in the 1958 New Year Honours. He was then moved to the Flight Safety Directorate in the Air Ministry and promoted to wing commander. He specialised in accident investigation."
"In 1963 he became commander of the Flying School at Oakington. When he left this post three years later, the school had clocked up more than 10,000 hours of flying training without a single accident, a record of which he was very proud. It won him the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air. Over the previous 15 years he had carried out 2,000 training and examination flights himself, with some 400 pilots. In 1966 he was promoted to group captain and posted to Flying Training Command. When his flying career was over he was moved to London to be Deputy Director of Personnel at the Air Ministry."
After retiring in 1973, he returned to work at the Air Ministry as a civil servant and became active in the RAF Benevolent Fund. He was also active in the Polish Air Force Association and the restoration of the Northolt monument. In 1990 the President of Poland awarded him the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
(I am also aware of a feature on Stanislaw Wandzilak in Flypast magazine, although I have not seen the article).
For possible museum use, I would also be grateful for any other personal recollections of or anecdotes about Polish pilots in the RAF during or after WWII.