Tadeusz Sawicz

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.

Biography

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.

From June 1942, he served as a flight instructor with No. 58 OTU.

After the war He was demobilized in January 1947