He was
born on 3rd July 1918 and became a pilot; he trained as part of the frustrated
XIV Promotion and should have qualified in the summer of 1939. However, his training was disrupted by the
German invasion of Poland on 1st September 1939 and he was part of
the class who were evacuated to Romania and thence to France. His route is not certain but he is believed
to have taken a ship to Malta and then on to Marseilles, in France, where he
was assigned to the Lyon-Bron air base.
He did
not stay in France until the capitulation, but transferred to England, where
the need for airmen was greater, in February 1940. Unfortunately, during his escape from Poland,
he contracted a serious dose of malaria and was hospitalised for 11 months
before completing his initial training and learning the English language, as
well as familiarising himself with the controls of British aircraft.
After
this, he was transferred to RAF Evanton in Ross & Cromarty (now Rosshire)
in the north west of Scotland. At the
time, this was the home of No 8 Air Gunnery School, and his task was to pilot “tugs”
to tow targets over the Cromarty Firth to train air gunners. Towards the end of the war, he transferred to
304 Squadron, with whom he flew at least ten anti-submarine missions between
October 1944 and May 1945.
From
12th November 1945, he was seconded to 16 Ferry Unit at RAF
Dunkeswell near Honiton in East Devon, from where he flew a multitude of
aircraft to wherever they were needed.
After
the war, he chose to stay in the Royal Air Force and was appointed Temporary
Flight Lieutenant on 1st September 1948 with seniority dating back to 1st
\April 1947. This was made permanent on
8th October 1948. He was given the new RAF service number of
500065 which he retained until his retirement on 1st July 1962 – all
of these moves were reported in the London Gazette.
His
post war activities seemed to lean his career towards flying helicopters and
this developed during time spent in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) helping to
create their new independent Air Force, but more so during the Malayan
Emergency where he spent much of his time moving men and supplies through the
jungle and winning hearts and minds among the Malay people. He was Gazetted again on 16th June
1959 when he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The citation was “In recognition of gallant
and distinguished service in Malaya.”
But it
was not only the Royal Air Force who gave him recognition: after a tricky
rescue in the jungle, a Malay tribesman gave him a 2 metre long blowpipe and
darts as a means of saying thank you.
When he returned to Britain, he had to cut off the tips from the darts
as they were still coated with curare – a lethal, blood clotting poison!
After
his retirement, he took up a position with the Oxford Flying School where he
was responsible for training Police helicopter pilots and he excelled even in
this field, winning the Pike Trophy in 1966.
This is an award made by the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators to a
pilot who has made an outstanding contribution to the maintenance of high standards of civil
flying and safety, taking into account working conditions and opportunities.
Jozef, known in
Britain as Juszek or Pete, died in Oxford on
27th March 2001, aged 83 and was buried at Witney.
Posts
