ZBIGNIEW ANDRZEJ KOMORNICKI

Zbigniew Andrzej Komornicki was born at Radomski, Lodz, Poland on 20th December 1918 son of Brunon Komornicki and Kazimiera Komornicki (nee Pawlikowska).  Prior to his miltary service he was employed as a clerk.

His military records show him as having served from 4th November 1937 with 41 Eskadra of the 4th Air Regiment supporting the Modlin Army and based around Warsaw and Torun particularly at the time of the Winter Campaign.  They were flying an outdated aircraft - the 3 seater PZL 23A Karas in which he would be the rear gunner with only one machine gun to defend the aircraft from behind.  The only other gun being at the front.  Whilst it did have some success it was slow, with a maximum speed of 198 mph and was no match for the modern Messerschmidts in weaponry, armour or manoeuvrability.

He flew several times during the September Campaign, notably on 10th September when his aircraft made a rough landing and tore off its propeller near Pultusk, Wyszkow.  The crew were only slightly injured.  They were Leon Osmialowski (observer/navigator), Michal Leszkiewicz pilot and Zbigniew Komornicki (gunner). 

It was soon evident that the Polish forces were no match for the onslaught from the Germans and, on 18th September 1939, the day after the Russians attacked from behind, this group were ordered to fly their planes to Romania.  It is not clear whether they accomplished the journey on foot, by vehicle or in flight but the route they took was Torun-Mokotow-Zdunowo-Krzesk-Siennica-Brzesc--Luck and crossed the border at Kuty.  Several aircraft had been lost or destroyed and so some of the crews flew over the border, along with crews from 51 Eskadra, and those without aircraft crossed over in staff cars.   

Initially they were disarmed and interned but the Romanians were sympathetic at that stage and the Polish Embassy supplied false papers, money and travel documents so the men could easily slip away by various routes.  Many of the "fake" documents were pre-authorised and signed official Romanian documents which had either been given by sympathetic Romanian officials or provided in exchange for a small bribe.  Initially, the ID photographs were taken by Corporal Oswald Krydner who later became the official photographer to 304 Squadron.  They made their way to France where they joined L'Armee de L'Air and planned to continue the fight from there.

Unfortunately, the French soon collapsed and they were forced to flee again for Britain.  It was a constant complaint that they were unable to get back into the fighting.  However, he arrived at Lyon-Bron on 18th January 1940 and was obviously one of the first to volunteer to come to England to fight, arriving here at RAF Eastchurch, Kent on 1st March 1940 well before the mass evacuations from Dunkirk and the Atlantic and Mediterranean ports.  The Poles had complained about uncomfortable conditions and lack of hot water in France and were very pleased to be in England where conditions were much better and hot showers freely available.

RAF Eastchurch was to become a front line Battle of Britain airfield and they were moved to the Blackpool Depot on 30th May 1940 so that they could train away from the front line fighting and at a place that was at the extreme range for German bombers and therefore relatively safe.

For the first three months he was involved in square bashing, learning English and familiarising himself with British equipment and the King's Regulations.  Then, on 7th September 1940, he was sent to No 4 Air Gunnery School at RAF Morpeth, Northumberland where he would train whilst flying out over Druridge Bay and the North Sea before being posted to 304 Squadron at RAF Syerston near Newark in Nottinghamshire.

He flew 31 combat missions with the Squadron whilst it was still in Bomber Command and later whilst it was in Coastal Command when he flew anti-submarine warfare, air sea rescue and anti-shipping missions.  Some of his bombing missions lasted an incredible 40 minutes over the target area.  During the period between 18th August 1942 and 17th September 1942 he attended a Gunnery Leaders course at the Central Gunnery School, RAF Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire.

In the time he was with the Squadron he also served at RAF Lindholme near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, RAF Tiree in the Inner Hebrides, RAF Dale (twice) near Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales and RAF Docking in Norfolk.  During this tour of duty he came under fire many times from enemy aircraft and shipping as well as heavy flak during his time in Bomber Command.

After leaving the Squadron on 13th May 1943 he was posted back to the Blackpool Depot until 2nd July 1943 after which he also spent some time at No 16 SFTS although it is not clear why as this was jumping the gun on his pilot training.  However it might have been for familiarisation and aptitude testing.  He was then posted to the Air Crew Training Centre at RAF Hucknall Nottinghamshire for final selection.

Next he was posted to the Polish Initial Training Wing at Brighton which was largely for theory and to learn the principles of flight from 15th April 1944 until 4th September 1944.  After this he was posted to No 25 Elementary Flying Training School at RAF Hucknall, Nottinghamshire where he would have his first experience of actual flying in a Tiger Moth II before moving on to the No 16 Service Flying Training School at RAF Newton, Nottinghamshire on 14th December 1944.  This is where his real flying training started and he learned to handle the larger machines.  The training was on single engined Miles Masters and twin engined Airspeed Oxfords.  He finally qualified on 29th August 1945 and gained his Gapa (Polish pilot's wings) unfortunately too late for the war.  He was then posted to the Polish Depot at Blackpool where he would train and practice flying but only until he was admitted to the Polish Resettlement Corps pending his return to Poland.  This was from 6th December 1946 until 4th July 1947 when he was technically employed by the RAF.

After qualifying as a pilot in August 1945 note Polish Gapa and RAF Wings

During his time in military service he was awarded the Krzyz Walecznych (Cross of Valour) plus three bars and the Virtuti Militari - Poland's highest award for bravery - and the Polish Air Force Medal.  He was also awarded campaign medals by the RAF, these being the 1939-45 Star, the Air Crew Europe Star and Clasp, the Defence Medal and the 1939-45 War Medal.

Receiving his Virtuti Militari award

As an addendum to the story, the Polish Communist Government welcomed him home by putting him in prison in Lodz.  The Communist government forced him to divorce his English wife so that she could return to England thus preventing an international incident.  His father, Brunon Komornicki, sold some personal possessions so that he was able to bribe the guards to help him escape from the prison.  The escape route has never been publicly revealed but it is believed to have been later used by MI6 to insert agents into Poland.

The former prison at Lodz; now an apartment block

Once back in England he was initially employed as a translator by the intelligence services and later became a machinist.  Sadly, he died at the age of 46 in Hillingdon, London in 1965.

With thanks to Graham Murray and Alicja Morawiec for the photographs