Tadeusz Sawicz

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R.I.P
Tadeusz

Tadeusz Władysław Sawicz (13 February 1914 – 19 October 2011) was a Polish World War II fighter pilot. He served in the Polish Air Force, and after the fall of Poland, he served in the Polish and allied units in France and United Kingdom. He was the commander of several air units, including the No. 315 Polish Fighter Squadron, 1st Polish Fighter Wing, 3rd Polish Fighter Wing, 131st (Polish) Fighter Wing and 133rd Fighter Wing. He participated in the Battle of Britain and was ranked as the 82nd highest scoring Polish fighter pilot of the war. In addition to receiving Poland's highest military decoration, the Virtuti Militari, he was awarded a British Distinguished Flying Cross, an American Distinguished Flying Cross and the Dutch equivalent, the Airman's Cross or Vliegerkruis. In 2006 Sawicz was appointed honorary brigadier-general in the Polish Air Force. After the war, he emigrated to Canada. At his death, he was believed to have been the last surviving Polish pilot to have fought in the Battle of Britain.

Tadeusz Sawicz a adăugat o fotografie

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R.I.P
Tadeusz

In Poland and France Sawicz was born on 13 February 1914 in Warsaw. In 1934, he joined the Polish Army in the Second Polish Republic, as an officer and in 1934, began training in the air force. In August 1936, he received the rank of podporucznik and joined the 111th Fighter Escadrille. In 1937, he was transferred to the 114th Fighter Escadrille. During the Polish September Campaign in September 1939 he served (from 5 September) as the deputy commander of the 114th Escadrille, which together with several other air units was a part of the Pursuit Brigade. He claimed a half-share in damaging a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 on the first day of the war, while flying a PZL P.11c. Over the next week he was reported to have shot down two Dorniers Do 17 bombers, damaging two more. On 14 September, he was assigned a courier mission, delivering messages to General Juliusz Rómmel, and Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły, flying into the encircled pocket at Młynów. After the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September, the Polish government decided to evacuate the country and ordered the remaining airforce to evacuate as well. Travelling via Romania, Yugoslavia and Italy, Sawicz eventually reached…Citește mai mult

Tadeusz Sawicz a lăsat un gând

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In Great Britain After the fall of France, like many other Polish pilots he did not surrender and took a Bloch MB.152 across the Mediterranean to Algeria, from where he went to Casablanca in Morocco and via Gibraltar to Great Britain, arriving on 17 July. After four months training at No.5 OTU at Aston Down, he joined the newly recreated Polish Air Force in the Great Britain. In Great Britain he was assigned on 20 October to No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron during the Battle of Britain. On 22 February 1941m he was transferred to No. 316 Polish Fighter Squadron. On 9 April he shot down a Heinkel He 111 bomber, which was reported as the new squadron's first confirmed kill. In July he was awarded the first Cross of Valour and promoted. From 9 November 1941 he served as commander of the Escadrille A of the No. 316 Squadron. From June 1942, he served as a flight instructor with No. 58 OTU. On 25 September 1942, he became commander of No. 315 Polish Fighter Squadron. During his time with 315 Squadron he damaged a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 on 4 April. On 16 April 1943, he became the deputy commander…Citește mai mult

Tadeusz Sawicz a lăsat un gând

acum 11 zile

After the war He was demobilized in January 1947 with the rank of major. He chose not to return to Poland, where the new communist government was hostile towards those who had served in the Polish Armed Forces in the West. In 1957 he emigrated to Canada, where he worked in the air industry, living in Montreal and Etobicoke. In 2006 Sawicz was appointed honorary brigadier-general by then-Polish president Lech Kaczyński. At his death on 19 October 2011 he was believed to have been the last surviving Polish pilot to have fought in the Battle of Britain.