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Aleksander "Alex" Pietrzak |
PAF & RAF
Warrant Officer
Born 22 January 1915
Called up for service with Polish Air Force, 31 Aug 1939.
With 1 Air Force Regiment from 1 Sept. '39 to 17 Sept. '39
[Took part in the Polish campaign].
After Poland fell he proceeded to France & reported to PAF Station Lyons, 12 November 1939.
When France capitulated he went to the UK & arrived at RAF Depot Gloucester, 7 July 1940.
Posted to RAF [Polish] Depot Blackpool.
Accepted for service with Polish Air Force under British command [PAF/RAF] 5 March 1941.
Aircraftman/Pilot, 5 March 1941
Pilot in Class LAC, 19 July 1941
Permanent war rank of Sergeant, 15 July 1942
With
302 [Polish] Sqn from 2 Feb. 1943 to 8 Jan. 1944.
[Flight Sergeant, 15 July 1943]
No. 316 [Polish] Squadron from 16 June '44 to 9 Feb. '45.
[Warrant Officer, 15 July 1944]
No. 309 [Polish] Squadron [Army Co-Op] from 10 February 1945 to 2 August 1945. |
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Between 13-02-1943 & 09-01-1944 - 39 operational flights totaling 68.45 hours & 13 operational flights totaling 17.50 hours.
Between 10-12-1945 & 24-04-1945 - 11 operational flights totaling 44.35 hours.
Killed in a Flying Accident, 2 August 1945 in Mustang P-51D FX876 at Oaks Field, Goulds Farm,Braintree,Essex
Buried at Epping Cemetery, Essex. Section 2. Grave 11 & remembered on the Polish Air Force Memorial at Northolt. |
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Some Photos From The Album
Alex and his Mustang |
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Alex pointing out his score |
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Alex kickin back on the grass |
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Alex on Funeral Parade
[at the place he will end up no less]
Smoke Break - Alex is second from right |
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Alex married this lovely lady known
as "Binky" [Seen here sporting a Poland patch even though
she is English born and bred]. They had a son, Stefan, before Alex
was killed. Binky later married another serviceman Trevor Youngs.
Stefan became Stefan Pietrzak Youngs and soon his half-brother Kelvin
would be born. Good thing too or I wouldn’t have this info.
Thanks Kelvin!* |
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Victories Include :
11 Aug 1943
27 Sept 1943
5 July 1944
7 July 1944
12 July 1944
4 Aug 1944
5 Aug 1944
14 Oct 1944
18 Oct 1944
23 Mar 1945 |
1/2 FW190
one FW190
one V-1
one V-1
two V-1s
one V-1
two V-1
one Me109
1.5 Me109s
one Me262 |
Damaged
Destroyed
Destroyed
Destroyed
Destroyed
Destroyed
Destroyed
Destroyed
Destroyed
Damaged |
[Escort to Roune]
[Ramrod 261]
[Diver patrol]
[Diver patrol]
[Diver patrol] *
[N. of Roune]
[N. of Roune]
[Escort to Duisburg]
[Ranger to Denmark]
[Ramrod 1514 to Bad Oeynhausen] |
3.5 / 0 / 1.5
+ 7 V-1s
* Alex's plane was so damaged by the blast, he had to leave it & take to his 'chute.
One V-1 about to go down.
The very dangerous job of "Tipping"
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2 August 1945, Rayne Essex - Mustang III s/n FX876
Shortly after take-off the pilot reported that he was
having difficulty with rudder control but he continued with the sortie,
rather than landing. During a dive bombing attack (on 2 August? I don't think so), the aircraft turned
onto its back but then leveled out inverted, before pulling up violently
and throwing the pilot out. The A/C then crashed and was destroyed by
fire. Although a precise cause of the loss was not discovered, it seems
likely that the problems with the rudder was a major factor.
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Thanks go out to
Kelvin, who sent me
detailed photos of Alex's logbook [most every page - very cool to read through], squadron records, photos and a bunch of other stuff. This was the source for the information seen
here. Also, Kelvin has
set up his own site dedicated to the memory of those lost in battle called Air
Crew Remembered
On these pages I use Hugh Halliday's extensive research which includes info from numerous sources; newspaper articles via the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC); the Google News Archives; the London Gazette Archives and other sources both published and private.
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