He was born in Charkow, Russia (now Ukraine)
on 17th march 1920, the son of Henryk and Nadzieja (nee Wilner) and grew up in
a loving home in Warsaw where he completed his educational studies before
leaving to spend a year each in college at Antwerp, Belgium and at the London
School of Economics in England.
On his return to Poland, he would normally
have been drafted to do his two years military training but he was called up
indefinitely for War Service. He fought
through the September Campaign in Poland and was one of the many who were forced
to cross the border into Romania where they were disarmed and interned.
However, there was considerable sympathy with
the Poles at this early stage of the war and relatively small bribes were all
that was needed for a guard to look the other way whilst they simply walked out
of the camp. The Polish Government had
an excellent network to help these men with money, travel documents and false
ID papers to get them out of Romania under the eyes of the many Gestapo agents
placed in that country.
There is no clear evidence of which route he
used to leave the country but what is certain is that he arrived at Coetquidan
and rejoined the Polish military with the Ist Brigade of infantry on 14th
November 1939. This was a short lived
arrangement as he was selected for Air Force training and is recorded as having
arrived here on 30th June 1940 which means he left France at the very last
minute but remained as a corporal with the Polish Infantry until he formally
joined the Polish Air Force, Service No 709549, on 8th June 1942 and began his initial
training at RAF Squires Gate on the Blackpool complex. This consisted mainly of Drill, learning the
King's Regulations and English language training. This was relatively easy for him as he was
already fluent in English, French, Russian and Hebrew as well as his native
Polish.
His initial recommendation was for pilot
training but he was re-mustered to train as a navigator and began that training
on 1st August 1942 at No 8 Air Observer School at Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec
which is now Quebec City Jean Lesage International Airport and spent several
months in Canada training on Avro Anson aircraft. He left with a glowing report from the CO of
that school and returned to England on 12th January 1943.
However, his training was not over and he spent
two weeks at No 5 Air Observers School at RAF Jurby on the Isle of Man and two
months at the No 3 School of General Reconaissance which indicates that he was
already destined for 304 Squadron as this school specialised in marine
training.
He was then sent to 6 OTU (Operational
Training Unit) and briefly to 3 OTU where he learned the fighting tactics used
by the British and Polish air forces. It
was also a place where the crews were encouraged to come together and learn the
teamwork and trust that their lives might depend on in hostile action. Finally, his crew were sent to 304 Squadron
on 31st December 1943. The initial crew
was F/Lt T.P. Kolanko (first pilot), F/Sgt T. Boba (second pilot), Sgt L.
Szoszkies (navigator), Sgt M. Kyczkiewicz (Wireless operator/air gunner), Sgt
I. Neumann (air gunner), Sgt S. Slowik (Wireless operator/air gunner). They were initially based at RAF Predannack
in Cornwall.
Group photo at 6 OTU, Silloth Cumberland (now
Cumbria)
Several of these men served with him
Sgt Szoszkies flew 44 hostile sorties with
the squadron always at low level and for many hours over featureless seas and
frequently in very bad weather but it was a vital task and kept the U-boats
submerged and at slow speed to prevent detection. For the hunters it was a long boring drag
where concentration had to be maintained because of the low level at which they
were flying. For the hunted because it
kept them away from their prey and it kept them from recharging their batteries
and discharging the foul air and carbon monoxide that was building up inside
their submarines. This was 1943/1944
when the Allies were beginning to take control of the Battle of the Atlantic
and U-boat losses were mounting rapidly
On 6th January 1945, his long tour of duty
expired and he was posted back to the Polish Depot at Blackpool from where he
was then posted for an Officer Training Course which he completed and was then
returned to the Squadron on 11th May 1945 and the War had been over for 3
days. He was promoted to Flight Sergeant
on 5th May 1944 and Warrant Officer on 13th August 1945. He remained with304 Squadron until 6th May 1946
when he was transferred back to Polish HQ before being demobilised on 16th July
1946. His promotion to 2nd Lieutenant
came through on the same day as his discharge from the Polish Air Force. After re-entering civilian life he rejoined
his family in the United States of America where he had a successful career in
Industry.
In recognition of his war service, he had
been awarded the Krzyz Walecznych (Cross of Valour) on 27th September
1944. He was ganted a bar to that award
on 7th December 1944 and a second bar on 7th September 1945. He was also awarded the Polish Air Medal and
British Campaign medals.
At the time of his death, in October 1983, at
the early age of 63, he had been President of Panasonic in Canada for 16 years
transferring there from the US division and virtually starting it from scratch. He was a success in both military and civil
life. He had changed the spelling,
though not the pronunciation of his surname to Shoskes when he rejoined his
family in the USA
An Obituary Notice appeared in the National Post in Toronto on 22nd October 1983 - see below
An Obituary Notice appeared in the National Post in Toronto on 22nd October 1983 - see below
Posts
