Capt. observer
Andrzej Płachta (1892–1974) – lieutenant colonel observer of the Polish Army, veteran of World War I and World War II, Knight of the Silver Cross of the War Order of Virtuti Militari, associated with the 2nd Aviation Regiment in Kraków. In 1909 he went to work in a mine in Westphalia. In 1912 he began service in the German army, where he fought on the Western Front of World War I, including at Verdun and on the Somme. In 1917 he was assigned to aviation and completed observer and bombardier courses, serving in German aviation units as an observer. After the end of the war he returned to Poland and in 1919 took part in seizing the Ławica airfield and organising aviation in Wielkopolska. He then participated in the Polish-Ukrainian and Polish-Bolshevik Wars, flying numerous combat and reconnaissance sorties. In the interwar period he held senior command positions in the aviation of the Polish Army, including in the 16th and 10th Reconnaissance Squadrons, the 3rd and 1st Aviation Regiments, and as commandant of the air base in Kraków. In 1938 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. After the outbreak of World War II he made his way to Great Britain, where he served in the RAF in transport units in the Middle East, also serving as navigator to Gen. Władysław Anders. After the war he remained in exile, actively participating in the Polish airmen’s community. He died on 28 November 1974 in London.
