Witold
Urbanowicz
Witold Urbanowicz never participated in either the Polish
Campaign of 1939, or in the Western European Campaign of 1940. When the
war erupted he was an instructor at the Centrum Szkolenia Lotniczego
(Aviation Training Centre). With a platoon of 50 junior officers-trainees
under his command he made his way (on the ground) to Romania by 17
September. Leaving his subordinates in that country, he went back to
Poland to rejoin the struggle, was captured but managed to escape back to
Romania on the very same day. In August of 1940 he was already 34 years
old, nevertheless, he volunteered for active flying duty. In 1942 he was
sent to the U.S. as an assistant to the Polish air attaché. In September
of 1943 he was send, on his own request, to fight against the Japanese in
China. Of his confirmed victories 21 were achieved in air-to-air combat
(17 of them were over German planes), and nine were enemy planes destroyed
on the ground. He, along with Jozef Frantisek, achieved the best result of
any Allied fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain.
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