He was born on 9th March 1913 in Jaruslaw, Poland, and after graduating from Grammar school he joined the Army Cadet Corps No 3 in Rawicz. In 1934 he was admitted to an artillery officer school in Torun and in 1939, he completed a course for air observer / navigators and was posted to the 212 Eskadra of the 1st Air Regiment in Warsaw. In September 1939 he was captured by the Russians but escaped and made his way to England via Romania and France. He joined 304 Squadron and took part in a number of bombing missions to Germany. He was awarded the Cross of Valour, for bravery in action, by Air Vice Marshal Ujejski on 28th June 1941 (he won this medal on a total of four occasions) and later the Order of Virtuti Militari on 21st November 1941 also by Air Vice Marshal Ujejski. He survived the crash landing of R1697 at RAF Lindholme on 24th April 1942. The aircraft jettisoned its bombs from 16,500 feet over Flensburg, Germany following a surprise attack by a Messerschmidt Me110 fighter. The aircraft was damaged and the pilot (Squadron Leader Czetowicz) and rear gunner (P/O Apanasik) were struck by bullets but all survived and made it safely home. He was in charge of the advance party to RAF Tiree on 7th May 1942. In 1943 he volunteered for service with the Armia Krajowa, which was the main underground organization in Poland, and he was parachute into Poland as an SOE operative. He eventually became second in command of the AK 25th Infantry Regiment. Under the pseudonym of Kurs, he became involved in an action against the SS Galizien Division in which he was badly wounded and later died. He was buried in the cemetery at Leceniczowka. After the war he was exhumed and buried in the Catholic cemetery at Gielniowo.
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