Capt. pilot
Stefan Pawlikowski (1896–1943) – captain pilot of the Polish Army, officer of the 2nd Aviation Regiment in Kraków, participant in World War I and World War II. During World War I he was called up to the Russian army, where he served in aviation. He graduated from the Pilot School in Moscow, followed by training at the French aviation school in Pau. After the October Revolution he remained in France, where from 1918 he served in the 96th SPAD Squadron, participating in operations against German observation balloons. In November 1918 he joined the Polish Army of Gen. Józef Haller. During the Polish-Bolshevik War he served in the 19th Fighter Squadron, flying combat sorties including against observation balloons. In the interwar period he was a military and civilian pilot, flying the Warsaw–Paris route among others. He served in the 2nd Aviation Regiment in Kraków, and was subsequently transferred to the 3rd Aviation Regiment in Poznań. In 1939 he commanded the Pursuit Brigade during the September Campaign. After the defeat of Poland he made his way to France, where he organised Polish aviation units, and then to Great Britain, where he held training and staff positions in the RAF, including at Blackpool and Fighter Command. He took part in combat flights, including providing air cover for the Dieppe raid. He was killed on 15 May 1943 during a combat flight with No. 315 Fighter Squadron RAF, when his Spitfire Mk IX was shot down over the Atlantic coast. The cause of the downing remains inconclusive.
