STANISLAW ROMAN BECKER

He was born on 30th December 1913 in Kosow, Stanislaus Province (now Ukraine), the son of Władysław and Adeli Becker. He graduated from the 4th grade of the State Industrial School and the aviation school in Lwow. In 1932 he joined the Polish Army and was posted to the 2nd Air Regiment as a flight engineer. 

He served in the September campaign and was shot down in combat after which he made his way back to his unit in Lutsk but was then ordered to evacuate to Romania. He crossed into Romania on 19th September 1939 where he was disarmed and interned. Some weeks later he slipped away from the camp and made his way across the Black Sea and into the Mediterranean to The Levant (now Syria) and from there to Marseilles, France where he rejoined the Polish forces. 

In June 1940, when the French capitulated, he made his way to Great Britain and was sent to the Polish Depot at Blackpool where he underwent further training on British equipment and was finally posted to 304 Squadron where he served as a fitter. Not content with that, he volunteered as aircrew and, after further training, he was posted to 300 Squadron. 

Later in the war he and his crew volunteered for 1586 Special Duties Flight and was posted to Brindisi, Italy where his duties were supply drops to insurgent groups particularly the Armia Krajowa during the Warsaw uprising. Late in 1944 he was posted back to Great Britain and was posted to 301 Squadron in its transport function. 

After the War, in 1948, he returned to Krakow in Poland where he remained until his retirement in 1978 and he became very active in veterans groups and aviation groups. During his military career he received the Cross of Valour and two bars, the Medal Lotniczy and British campaign medals. He died on 29th December 2001 and is buried in the Queen Hedwig Street cemetery at Mielec. The photo was taken towards the end of his military career.