304 Squadron was brought into existence at
RAF Bramcote in Warwickshire on 22nd August 1940 with a complement of only a
few senior British and Polish Officers.
The next day it received its initial allocation of Officers and men, one
of whom was Cpl Florian Stanislaw Bilicki (P-782091) a fitter grade II/E,
although the original record gives his first name as Feliks.
Original notebook entry for 304 Squadron manpower
He was born on 4th May 1913 and, on the
outbreak of war, he was serving with the Polish Air Force. When the Russians joined in the attack, the
ground crews found themselves in a difficult position and so they destroyed
their equipment and burned their remaining aircraft to prevent them from
falling into enemy hands and then set out for the Romanian border, as ordered.
For two days and nights they drove and
marched towards the border, skirmishing with Russian troops on the way. Finally they crossed the border into Romania
where they were disarmed and interned.
Twice he was in a group which escaped and tried to make for France to
continue the fight but twice he was captured and returned to the camp.
The Polish Embassy staff were working in the
background to help their men to escape to France and they provided false
documents, travel tickets and money to help them. These materials were smuggled into the camp
by a sympathetic priest. With papers, he
was far less likely to be returned to the camp and so he set about his third
attempt. He and four friends used the
same escape route, one a day, meeting up later for the trip to France.
The internment camp was primitive and took its
water from a well outside the camp; each day a group of prisoners took a truck
with an empty water barrel to the well returning with the water. He was not in this party but went through the
gates inside the barrel and made good his escape whilst the water party
distracted the guards. The route he took
is not known but it is known that he served in France because the first intake
of men (including Florian) were described as French Poles in the initial
squadron ORB.
On the French capitulation, he made his way
to England and rejoined the Polish Forces via the Blackpool Depot and was then
allocated to 304 Squadron and sent to RAF Bramcote. He remained with the squadron throughout the
war and was enlisted into the Polish Resettlement Corps before opting to
emigrate to Australia.
He sailed on the SS Asturias from Southampton
on 26th October 1948 and arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia on 22nd
November 1948 as part of the group of Polish forces personnel who chose to
emigrate to Australia rather than be repatriated to Poland under the yoke of
Communism.
His only obligation was two years service
in employment nominated by the
Australian Government. Although e was a
trained fitter, he was sent to the small town of Miling, just north of Perth,
where the only employment of note was relating to grain production, although it
is certainly possible that he was able to use his skills working on the huge
grain silos and associated equipment there.
He presented as being happy there and was interviewed by the Daily News,
a Perth newspaper, about his work there.
This was about halfway through his two year contract and he cheerfully
accepted his two years service but told the reporters that he would like to
return to the aircraft industry when his time there was over.
Report in the Perth Daily News
29th October 1949
He must have travelled there under
sponsorship as he is listed on the same ticket number as a considerable number
of other ex RAF staff and it is well established that the British Government
was anxious to resettle as many of the Poles as possible elsewhere.
The reason is not clear but he was released early
from his two year contract on 29th May 1950 but granted leave to stay in
Australia indefinitely so he could not have been dismissed for wrong doing. He next appears in the records as living in
Maribyrnong, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria in 1954 and he also appears on similar
Electoral Roll lists for Melbourne suburbs, finally at Doutta Galla in 1977.
Certificate of release from his work contract which
doubles as an
Aliens Registration Certificate No W5218 issued in Perth, Western
Australia.
The search continues!
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