Antoni Głowacki

Second World War During "Black September", (September 1939), the Dęblin unit was unable to mount a defence and Głowacki joined a reconnaissance platoon of the Warsaw Armoured-Motorised Brigade, commanded by Flight Lieutenant Julian Lagowski. At the collapse of the Polish resistance in late September, Głowacki fled to Romania where along with thousands of other Polish soldiers and airmen, he was interned. He made his way to France via the sea, as the Battle of France was imminent, and was ordered to join the first 100 pilots selected to train as a bomber pilot in England. On arrival in England on 28 January 1940, they were transferred by the RAF to fighter squadrons which were rapidly being deployed in anticipation of an attack on Britain in 1940.

After initial training at No. 6 OTU in Sutton Bridge, Głowacki was posted to No. 501 RAF "County of Gloucester" Fighter Squadron on 5 August 1940 as a sergeant pilot flying Hawker Hurricanes.

Battle of Britain Głowacki was immediately involved in uneventful daily sorties for 10 days (building up his total flying time on Hurricanes to 50 hours), until 15 July when the squadron intercepted Junkers Ju 87 dive-bombers. His first combat sorties in Hurricane I, SD-A (VZ124) resulted in a Ju 87 and later in the same day, a Dornier Do 215 destroyed. His squadron was deployed four times throughout the day, intercepting raiders over Dover. During three sorties on 24 August 1940, flying SD-A, Głowacki shot down three Bf 109s and two Junkers Ju 88 bombers over Ramsgate, to become the first "One-day Ace" of the Battle of Britain.

On 28 August 1940 Głowacki shot down another Bf 109 when flying SD-O (P5193). crashed and was burnt out. After returning from hospital, he was again rotated into regular duty but had a difficult time regaining his scoring touch. Głowacki was promoted to Pilot Officer and on 10 February 1941 was posted to No. 55 OTU at Aston Down, where he was a flying instructor specialising in combat tactics. On 27 April and 19 August 1942, Głowacki had two probables over Dieppe, claiming Focke-Wulf Fw 190s. He also shared in the downing of a Heinkel He 111. The squadron was equipped with long-ranging North American Mustang Mk III fighters. From 23 July 1945 he served in No. 60 OTU and between October and November 1945 he served in No. 307 "City of Lwów" Polish Night Fighter Squadron (Lwowskich Puchaczy).

Honours and tributes In recognition of his service in the Battle of Britain and later campaigns, Głowacki received several awards:

60px Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari (War Order No. 08814, 23 December 1940)