W/Cdr KROL Waclaw
Born on 25 December 1915 in Sandomierz. There he attended a primary and a secondary school. In 1935 he completed an elementary gliding course at Ustianowa and joined the Air Force Cadet Officers School in Deblin. After the promotion, in 1937 he was assigned as a pilot officer to 2 Air Wing in Krakow. In August 1939 he was a commander of a fighter ambushes in the area of Wielun and Aleksandrow. He fought in the September 1939 war, being a deputy commander of 121 Fighter Squadron and from 9 September the commander of that squadron. He was credited with 1/2 of a kill of a
Do 17. On 3 September 1939 he baled out from an aircraft that had been shot down. On 17 September 1939 he landed in a P-11 in Romania. Via Syria he reached France, and fought in its defence within Groupe de Chasse II/7. On 24 May 1940 he shot down a He 111, and on 3 June 1940 a Do17. After the armistice he flew to Tunis. On 16 July 1940 he arrived in Great Britain and there was posted for conversion training. On 21 August 1940 he was assigned to No.302 (Polish) Fighter Squadron City of Poznan. He fought in it in the Battle of Britain. On 15 October 1940 he shot down a Bf 109.
In May 1941 he was appointed as a flight commander in No. 302 Squadron. On 8 May 1941 he shot down another Bf 109. On 10 September 1941he was awarded a second bar to Cross of Valour. In December 1941 he was posted as an
instructorto 58 OTU. From 24 May 1942 he was a flight commander in No. 316 (Polish) Fighter Squadron City of Warsaw. On 6 June 1942 he shot down a Fw 190 and on 20 August he was awarded Silver Cross of Virtuti Militari War Order No. 09543. From February till June 1943 he was a member of the Polish Fighting Team. On 4 April 1943 he shot down a Bf 109, on 20 April 1943 he destroyed an MC.202, and on 21 April that year he shot down another Bf 109. Upon his return to Great Britain he flew in No. 303 (Polish) Fighter Squadron T. Kosciuszko. On 18 October 1943 he became the commander of No. 302 (Polish) Fighter Squadron City of Poznan. He commanded it until 7 July 1944. On 20 December 1943 he was
awarded a third bar to Cross of Valour, and on 15 February 1944 Distinguished Flying Cross. During the operation break he was the chief of pilots at 61 OTU, then he served at 84 Fighter Group. From 10 March 1945 he commanded 3 Polish Fighter Wing. He performed his last flight in the II World War on 25 April 1945, escorting bombers attacking Hitler s HQ at
Berchtesgaden. From 9 August 1945 until 3 January 1947 he was an operation commander of 131 Fighter Wing (the commander was W/Cdr Stefan Witorzenae). In 1947 he returned to Poland and was working as the head of flights at the
Polish Airlines LOT. In 1948 he was made redundant. In 1957 he was called up for active air force service in aviation and served at different posts. He underwent conversion training in jets Lim-2. On 12 October 1965 he was promoted to group captain. He lived in Warsaw. He wrote a few books on aviation, among others: Great Britain 1940, Piloting a Jet, Polish Air Force-Squadrons in Great Britain 1940 -1945.

He died on 15 June 1991 and was buried at the Powazki Cemetery.