Bolesław Michal Gladych
MilitaryCorrected spelling of Gladych's name in caption and added connection to him
Gladych was commissioned into the Polish Air Force on 1 September 1939, too late to see active service during the invasion of Poland, he escaped to Romania, and eventually France where he joined the Armee de l'Air. After reaching the UK in 1940, he joined No 303 Polish Fighter Squadron. He was grounded by the RAF in the Autumn of 1943, for almost shooting down an aircraft carrying Winston Churchill.
In January 1944 Gladych and Witold Lanowski arranged an unofficial secondment for themselves to the 56th Fighter Group, where they helped to organise training for replacement pilots. Upon learning of their posting, Polish authorities temporarily expelled Gladych from the Polish Air Force from June to October 1944. Gladych claimed 10 kills while serving with the 56th Fighter Group, and a total of 17 throughout the war.
8 March 1944 - Baled out on the return from operations due to battle damage and P-47D 42-75410 crashed SW of Lodge, Hollesly. RTD.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia;
- www.56thfightergroup.co.uk/personnel.htm