1st Lt. pilot
Ignacy Giedgowd (1897–1975) was a major pilot of the Polish Army and a Squadron Leader in the Royal Air Force, an officer of the Polish Air Force in the West. He was born on 1 February 1897 in Popłuszcze. He began his military service in the Tsarist army during World War I. After its end he joined the Polish Army, taking part in the Polish-Bolshevik War and serving in the ranks of the Blue Army of General Józef Haller. In the interwar period he was associated with the 2nd Aviation Regiment in Kraków, where he continued his aviation career as a military pilot. During World War II he served in the Polish Air Force in the West within the RAF structures, where he also served as a test pilot. He was considered a pilot of great composure and reliability, which earned him the nickname “Diesel”, as well as “the Englishman”. For his service he was decorated with, among others, the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Order and the Air Medal. He died on 25 January 1975 in Thornhill.
