JAN STANISLAW AWDZIEJEW

 

He was born on 20th June 1920 at Lwow (now Lviv, Ukraine) and after his formal education, he attended the school for non-commissioned officers at Bydgoszcz.  His course was accelerated because of the imminence of war and he qualified as an aircraft mechanic at Krosno in 1939.  He was there during the September Campaign and was evacuated from Luck to Romania.

 

He was one of the many who quietly slipped out of the detention camp and travelled to France with the help of false papers and cash provided by the Polish Embassy in Bucarest.  Like so many others, he was not happy with the fact that he was not used or given training.  When France fell, he was again evacuated and made the journey to England where he arrived on 26th July 1940 and rejoined the Polish forces.

 

He was given immediate language training and familiarisation with British aircraft; he completed several courses and was then deployed to airfields with combat and auxiliary units.  One of his postings was with 317 Fighter Squadron where he was a corporal mechanic working on fighters.  He then volunteered for flying duties and was selected for pilot training.  He started the training in December 1942 and passed out as a pilot in April 1944 and was posted to 577 Army Co-operation Squadron to gain experience of flying.

 

    Awdziejew as a mechanic (behind pilot) with 317 Squadron

His duties there were mainly target towing, probably in Airspeed Oxfords as he had trained on twin engined aircraft.  The Squadron was based at RAF Castle Bromwich in Warwickshire but he may have served almost anywhere as they had detachments spread widely across the North, the Midlands and Wales.

He was later posted to No 6 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit where he became a member (second pilot) of the crew of F/O Dabrowski and was involved in ripping together a crew.  Together, they were posted to 304 Squadron on 15th December 1944 who were then serving in Coastal Command and based at RAF Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides.

As with so many of the long, dreary patrols over the water there was very little action but, on the night of 21st/22nd April 1945, his crew spotted the wake of a U-Boat;  they were unable to attack, but saw it again on two occasions during the patrol.  On the final sighting they dropped six depth charges, spaced 60ft apart and from a height of 170ft.  Nothing was seen but a large oil slick appeared along the track of the wake and was still visible an hour later indicating probable damage to the U-Boat.

 

During his career he was awarded the Cross of Valour, the Polish Air Medal, the 1939-1945 Star, the War Medal, the Air Crew Europe Star and the Defence Medal.  After the War ended, on 9th July 1945, he was posted to 17 ACHU (Air Crew Holding Unit) at RAF Snaith near Goole on Humberside and then on to RAF Hucknall in Nottinghamshire as an instructor.

 

He was then transferred to the Polish Resettlement Corps where he remained until he emigrated to Brazil in 1946.

ERNEST FAJA - LATEST

He was born in Cieszyn on 24th December 1920. He graduated from the SPLdM military school in Deblin in 1939 but was captured by the Russians on 18th September 1939 – the day after they invaded Poland – and taken to the prison in 15th Century Dubno Castle (now Ukraine) – a transit camp for those bound for the gulags. He was moved to Siewzeldorlag camp in the autonomous republic of Komi (Russia) arriving there on 15th June 1940. The following year he was moved to Juza camp in the Russian Province of Iwanowska and on 24th October 1941, he arrived at Aktiubinsk camp in Khazakhstan where he appears to have stayed until he was released to join the Polish forces.

After being released from Russian captivity, he suffered from a severe illness, probably aggravated by malnutrition, he joined the newly forming Polish forces in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) in 1942 but he became ill again and remained in hospital until the spring of 1943.

He was then taken, via Baghdad, Iraq, to the Suez Canal where he boarded a ship and sailed for Glasgow in Scotland. He was accepted for the Air Force and probably sent to the Polish depot at RAF Blackpool, where he would complete his basic training and begin to learn English.

He was eventually posted to 304 Squadron where he was probably a member of the ground crew whilst he waited for his place in 16 Service Flying Training School at RAF Newton near Nottingham. He trained there as a pilot and qualified in 1945. Afterwards he was transferred to RAF Dunholme Lodge in Lincolnshire.

On 30th September 1946 he married Maria Machowska, who was in the Womens Auxiliary Force at RAF Hucknall in Nottinghamshire. She had also been arrested and sent to Mucznaja Labour Camp in Archangel, Russia, on 11th March 1940. After his honourable discharge in 1947, they returned to Poland with their first born son Zbyszek. They later had another son, Kazimierz and a daughter.

After that Ernest worked in a coal mine as a planner and manager. He died on 8th December 1990 in the mining hospital at Bytom, Poland.  He is buried in the Catholic Cemetery, Bracka Street, Katowice.

ERNEST FAJA

This is virtually all I knew about Sgt Ernest Faja

FAJA Sgt Ernest P-706799



He was a pilot and was born on 24th December 1920. He survived the war and returned to Poland in 1946. He is known to have served for much of the war in 304 Squadron and spent the latter part of his service with 16 SFTS at RAF Newton during which time he was married to Maria Machowska.

The following came from his son, Kazimierz:

In your mail you ask about some details from his life. I have some of them but not much:



He was born on 24th December in 1920 in Cieszyn, Poland. He attended to school of aviation in Dęblinek, Poland, but I don’t know which years he spent in army. After war (in 1946) he married Maria Machowska. She also was in army but as a medical staff (volunteer). Also in England was born their first son - my brother - Zbyszek. In the same year they came back to Poland, where me and my sister was born. After that Ernest worked in coalmine as a planner and manager. He died on 8th December in 1990 in mining hospital in Bytom because of health problems.

Can anyone help with information on Ernest Faja, or do you recognise anyone in these pictures?

                                         Pre-war picture of Ernest in Poland
 

Ernest Faja and fellow airmen - location and date unknown - probably before he came to England as there is no sign of RAF insignia or POLAND shoulder flash
 

Wedding day photograph, 30th September 1945 at Church of the Holy Cross, Hucknall, Nottinghamshire

If anyone can help, please contact me on nevillebougourd@gmail.com or leave a message here, but please also include a return email address which I will edit out before posting your response.

Photos courtesy of Kazimierz Faja 

JERZY TUSIEWICZ

He was born on 24th February 1922 in Pultusk in Warsaw Province. In 1939 he was in the 2 Cadet Corps in Rawicz. In September 1939 he was transferred to 2 Baloon Battalion in Legionowo. During the September Campaign, on 15th September 1939, he was captured by the Germans and became a Prisoner of War until 23 March 1942. It is highly unlikely that he was released so presumably he escaped.

In 1943 he found himself in England and was directed to the Polish Depot in Blackpool. In July 1943 he was posted to the Flying School at RAF Hucknall in Nottinghamshire (probably 15 Polish Elementary Flying Training School) and then to 16 SFTS (16 Polish Service Flying Training School) in Newton as pilot-cadet with Polish rank of plutonowy (the equivalent British rank is L/Ac). In December 1944 he was posted to Navigation School at RAF Blackpool as a pilot and navigator-cadet. In February 1945 he qualified and was posted to 304 Squadron as a pilot.

In May 1945 he was promoted to the polish rank of sierżant-podchorąży (the equivalent British rank is Sergeant). In May 1946 he finished his flying service as a pilot in 16 SFTS in RAF Newton.

In 1947 he emigrated to Canada and settled in Port Severn, Ontario. He became a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and later, Senior Administrator of the University of Toronto. He died on 18th May 2011.