Capt. observer
Kazimierz Kubala (1893–1976) – major observer of the Polish Army, Master of Pharmacy, World War I veteran and participant in the wars of independence, aviation officer of the Second Polish Republic, Knight of the Silver Cross of the War Order of Virtuti Militari. He studied at the Jan Kazimierz University in Lwów, but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. On 1 August 1914 he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army, where he completed the One-Year Volunteer School in Freiburg. He served in the 13th and 58th Infantry Regiments, and in 1916 was sent to the Observer School in Wiener Neustadt. As an aerial observer he fought on the Italian and Albanian fronts in balloon and aviation units. After 1918 he transferred to the Polish Army, participating in the organisation of aviation at the Rakowice airfield. During the Polish-Ukrainian and Polish-Bolshevik Wars he served as a tactical officer in the 3rd Aviation Group, flying 158 combat sorties over enemy territory. After the war he was demobilised, completed pharmaceutical studies and obtained a Master of Pharmacy degree. In 1922 he returned to active service, taking up positions at the Central Aviation Workshops in Warsaw. From 1924 to 1925 he completed pilot training in Bydgoszcz and Grudziądz, and then served in the Polish Military Procurement Mission in Paris. He was navigator to Maj. Pilot Ludwik Idzikowski during two attempts to fly across the Atlantic in an Amiot 123 “Marshal Piłsudski” aircraft (1928–1929). After returning to Poland he took up a position in the 6th Aviation Regiment in Lwów and worked at the Aviation Technical Research Institute. In the 1930s he came into conflict with the leadership of the Aeronautics Department, criticising the state’s aviation policy. As a result he was charged with defamation, sentenced to imprisonment and dismissed from service. After serving his sentence he emigrated to Brazil in 1933. He died on 13 April 1976 in São Paulo.
