Gnyś Władysław

Władysław Gnyś (1910–2000) was a colonel pilot of the Polish Army, Knight of the Virtuti Militari Order, a participant in the September Campaign of 1939 and World War II. He was born on 24 August 1910 in Sarnów. He graduated from the Air Force Officer Cadet School in Dęblin, after which he was assigned to the 121st Fighter Squadron of the 2nd Aviation Regiment in Kraków. On 1 September 1939, during the first day of the war, he took off from the field airstrip in Balice and in the Kraków area intercepted a formation of German Dornier Do 17 bombers, shooting down two of them — these were among the first German aircraft shot down in World War II by a Polish pilot. In the following days of the September Campaign he took part in further aerial combat, and on 6 September he was shot down and wounded. After evacuation he made his way to France and then to Great Britain, where he served in the Polish Air Force within the RAF. He was assigned to No. 302 Fighter Squadron “Poznań”, participating in the Battle of Britain and serving as a flight instructor. After the war he settled in Canada, where he was active in the Polish community and aviation circles. He died on 28 February 2000 in Beamsville.