BOLESLAW GLADYCH

 

 

Boleslaw Gladych was born in Warsaw in 1918, he was expelled from several schools, before he finally chose a career in the Military. After the fall of Poland Gladych made his way to England by way of France, he arrived in England in June of 1940. He was posted to 303 sqn in April of 1941, Five days later he downed his first enemy plane achieving the 250th air victory among all Polish pilots in the UK. On the 23rd of June he claimed three victory's in one day, but he was wounded and put out of action for a long time. In the spring of 1943, during a heated battle near the town of Lille, France, Gladych downed one enemy fighter. But soon after, an FW 190 scored damaging hits on his Spitfire. Although severely shot up, Gladych's aircraft somehow remained flying. The German pilot flew close to him, waved his wings and disengaged. Gladych noticed the clearly visible number "13" on the fuselage of the "gentleman's" FW 190! The Autumn of 1943 would not be a good time for Gladych as he almost shot down none other than the Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The British high command was not impressed and Gladych was grounded from flying, only a chance meeting with the fighter ace Gabby Gabreski saved his career. From early 1944 Gladych would fly with the 56th FG of the USAAF.

 

It was in March of 1944 that Gladych would again meet with the enemy plane code "13", On this day American bombers flew to Berlin. In combat with attacking FW 190s, Gladych claimed one. But soon he was left alone with dwindling supplies of both ammo and fuel in his P-47, facing another two enemy aircraft. The two Germans, one of them with call-code "13", held their fire and told Gladych to land on the nearby Vechta airfield. The Polish pilot went down, dropped his landing gear and prepared to land. When he was over the airfield he suddenly opened fire with his remaining ammunition. Responding intensely, the flak gunners accidentally hit the escorting Focke-Wulfs. Gladych gave full throttle and escaped. When he crossed the coast of the English Channel his P-47 ran out of fuel, giving him no choice but to bail out. For that mission he was awarded the Silver Star and given the nickname of Killer Mike by his fellow American pilots. A few days after the end of the War Gladych's flying career simply ended, although he had become a double Ace flying with the USAAF, he was never officially in American service and was deemed as just a guest! Gladych finished the War with 14 victories (Unconfirmed reports have him as much higher at 26 victories)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gladych left with Gabreski centre

 

 

 

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