TADEUSZ BLASZCZYCK

He was a pilot born on 18th February 1925 at Dobromil. At the age of 15 he escaped across the border into Hungary where he was held in the civilian internment camp at Kadarkut. This was a refugee camp administered jointly by the Poles and Hungarians. He completed his schooling on 17th May 1940 and then escaped from the camp. He travelled through Jugoslavia, Greece and Turkey and then crossed the Mediterranean on the vessel SS New York and finally arrived at Camp T2, a staging post for Poles in Beirut, Lebanon. On 6th January 1941 he lied about his age and joined the Carpathian Riflew who were forming up on Syria; he was one of the youngest soldiers in the brigade and fought at Tobruk and El Ghazal.
On 23rd January 1943 he joined the Polish forces at Khanaquinie in Iraq and was sent to England three months later. He was taken to the Polish Depot at Blackpool and completed his pilot training at RAF Hucknall and RAF Newton both in Nottinghamshire.

After the war, he passed his final exams in England and graduated with honours from the University of London with a degree in engineering. He died in London of a heart attack on 28th May 1979 while playing tennis. He was buried at Sutton and Merton Cemetery, Grand Drive, Morden, Surrey.