Chełmecki Marian Stefan

Marian Stefan Chełmecki (1916–1988) — major pilot of the Polish Army, later officer of the Polish Air Force in Great Britain (RAF), squadron and fighter wing commander, associated with the 2nd Aviation Regiment in Kraków. He was born on 2 August 1916 in Jasło. He graduated from the King Stanisław Leszczyński State Gymnasium in Jasło (matura 1935), and then the Air Force Officer Cadet School in Dęblin, which he completed in 1938. Assigned to the 2nd Aviation Regiment in Kraków, he served in the 122nd Fighter Squadron, and subsequently was an instructor at the Aviation Officers’ Training Centre in Dęblin. In the September Campaign of 1939 he organised the anti-aircraft defence of the Ułęż airfield and then operated in improvised aviation units. After evacuation through Romania and France he reached Great Britain, where he joined the RAF (service number 76690). He trained on Hurricanes and served successively in No. 56, 17, 308, 302 and 317 Fighter Squadrons RAF, holding the positions of instructor, flight commander and squadron commander. He achieved 3 confirmed aerial victories and was ranked 90th on the Bajan List. After the war he served in the Allied Expeditionary Air Service Support Unit in Hamburg, and in 1948 returned to Poland in the rank of major. He settled in Zabrze, where he worked as a technical specialist in a water supply company. He was decorated with, among others, the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1981). He died on 28 March 1988 in Zabrze and was buried in Nowy Sącz.