S/Ldr ARCT BOHDAN

Born on 27 May 1914 in Warsaw. In 1932 he passed the final certificate exams at the Mazovia Land Secondary School in Warsaw and volunteered for military air service. He graduated from the Air Force Reserve Cadet Officers School in Deblin. During his training flights in 1 Air Wing, he was studying graphic arts at the Academy of Fine Arts. In August 1939, as a
reserve pilot officer, he was mobilized to air force service. The outbreak of the war made him leave for Romania, and then for France. From March 1940 he was studying at the Navigators and Air Gunners School at Blida, near Algiers. After the armistice he was evacuated to Great Britain. There he underwent air training, and from September 1940 started flying as a
ferry pilot. He was ferrying aircraft until June 1941. Later he was improving his operational skills at 61 OTU. In October 1941 he was assigned to No. 306 Fighter Squadron City of Torun, in which he was flyinguntil February 1943. He was incorporated into the Polish Fighting Team, which became a part of No. 145 RAF Fighter Squadron (as the third flight) between February and June 1943. On 20 April 1943 he shot down his first German Bf 109 aircraft. Upon his return to Great Britain he wrote a book  Chasing Luftwaffe On 11 August 1943 he became the commander of No. 303 (Polish) Fighter Squadron T. Kooeciuszko. On 17 August 1943 he shot down another German aircraft Fw 190. On 30 January 1944 he was assigned to the Air Defence of Great Britain. On 27 June 1944 he was appointed as the commander of No. 316 (Polish) Fighter Squadron City of Warsaw. On 6 September 1944 he was shot down over France and remained in German captivity
till the end of the war. He took part in 131 combat sorties, was credited with kills of 3 German aircraft and 2 V-1 missiles.

His decorations include:

Silver Cross of Virtuti Militari War Order No. 08491 and Cross of Valour and three bars.

He wrote a number of books about his experiences: The Great Day of 303
Squadron, Skalski s Circus, In the Sky-High Glory, Knights of the
White-and-Red Chessboard, Air Aces, Chasing the V-1, and Kamikaze  Heavenly
Wind.