Poles in PAF

[Najam Khan]

Poles in PAF

After independence of Pakistan in 1947, thirty Polish officers and technicians who served RAF in WWII joined PAF. Poland soon become a communist country, and these Polish men decided to live in Pakistan for the rest of their life. RPAF consisted of Tempest, Fury, Harvad, Auster, Tiger Moth , Bristol Freighter and Dakota aircraft which were all originated from RAF, Polish officers and men were trained in flying and maintenance of these aircraft.

A fine Polish officer Wladyslaw Turowicz rose to the rank of Air Cdre, he was appointed as ACAS (Maintenance). He became Pakistani citizen, and died in 1984.

PAF Museum, Faisal has a special section devoted to pay tribute to him. Following are pictures from the same section.

 

[Najam Khan]

Names of some Polish Officers and men who served PAF:

W J M Turowicz, J K Zuromski, Stanislaw Skalski, "Mike" Boleslaw Gladych, Marian Pisarek, Henryk Szczesny, Aleksander Gabszewicz,

Witold Lokuciewski, Waclaw Krol, Miroslaw Feric, Mieczyslaw Mumler, Stanislaw Brzeski, Stanislaw Karubin, Karol Pniak, Marian Belc, Czeslaw Glowczynski, Waclaw Lapkowski, Mieczyslaw Adamek, Michal Cwynar, Boleslaw Wlasnowolski, Franciszek Jastrzebski, Wladyslaw Gnys, Vivian Deryck Marston, W. Banach and Czeslaw Tarkowski.


Following are scans of Log Book of Capt. Czeslaw Tarkowski, during his service in RPAF. The log book record shows his flights in Jan, Feb and March of 1949.

He served PAF from 1948-49 as a transport and liaison aircraft pilot. In the first picture he is seen wearing RAF uniform.

 

[twofriends]

AOA really nice information. it is awesome. thanks for such a nice sharing

 

[Safriz]

wow .. never knew that...thanks for sharing

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

God bless them..

 

[madooxno9]

I will share this story here with my Pole friends

 

[LonE_WolF]

wow.......... nice info
didn't knew this before

 

[rockstarIN]

Why did they join PAF? whats the reason?

 

[scorpionx]

Pakistani Airforce could not have been more lucky for this unusual stroke of gift. The Poles were instrumental in pushing the Luftwaffe back to the Eastern Front.The Poles,often referred as Crazy Poles for their reckless bravery and disdain for authority formed the largest foreign contingent with over 8000 personnel. RAF senior officers,who were assured of the Poles,being demoralized by the humiliation they faced in their own country would join the Bomber squadron were amazed to see the determination and skill of these brave pilots.

The casualty rate of the Poles were much less than the British because of their experience and adopting newer art of air warfare. They loathed the outdated RAF tactics of flying tight formations of V shaped "vics" of three. Very soon the RAF copied the "Finger four" system which the Germans learnt in Spanish civil war.

The Polish pilots as brave,tenacious and adept as their ground resistance in their homeland brought a new dynamics in the allied airforce. And as an Indian,I feel envy of those Pakistani Pilots who must not have missed a single opportunity to learn from those valiant men with their rich memoirs.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Pakistani Airforce could not have been more lucky for this unusual stroke of gift. The Poles were instrumental in pushing the Luftwaffe back to the Eastern Front.The Poles,often referred as Crazy Poles for their reckless bravery and disdain for authority formed the largest foreign contingent with over 8000 personnel. RAF senior officers,who were assured of the Poles,being demoralized by the humiliation they faced in their own country would join the Bomber squadron were amazed to see the determination and skill of these brave pilots.

The casualty rate of the Poles were much less than the British because of their experience and adopting newer art of air warfare. They loathed the outdated RAF tactics of flying tight formations of V shaped "vics" of three. Very soon the RAF copied the "Finger four" system which the Germans learnt in Spanish civil war.

The Polish pilots as brave,tenacious and adept as their ground resistance in their homeland brought a new dynamics in the allied airforce. And as an Indian,I feel envy of those Pakistani Pilots who must not have missed a single opportunity to learn from those valiant men with their rich memoirs.

Many of them remain in Pakistan and became Pakistani citizens.. for example Air Cdr Wladyslaw Turowicz .. he was one of the founding fathers of our missile prog... Rehbar sounding missiles etc... he died in a car accident in the 80s... his family didnt leave the country either... Mrs Wladslaw taught in at Karachi university... she passed away in 2012..his son is now an aerospace eng and a chief scientist with SUPARCO and serving the country... honourable people... unlike british dogs like gen gracie or greasy.

 

[MilSpec]

great find... very interesting information

 

[jaibi]

Absolutely great. I hope some of my Pakistani brethren would read this information and see how tolerant a people we were and essentially still are.