Obituary: Jakub Bargielowski, wartime pilot

THE arrival of three Polish destroyers in Leith on 1 September, 1939, was the beginning of a strong wartime Polish-Scottish connection, with 30,000 Polish troops coming to Scotland after the fall of France in 1940.

Jakub Bargielowski was a late arrival, landing in Greenock on 13 November, 1941. He had been delayed by almost two years spent in a Soviet gulag.

Bargielowski was born in a village near Lublin in then central Poland, on 25 July 1921, almost two years after Poland regained its independence after 125 years of partition between Tsarist Russia, Prussia and Austria. In 1937, he enlisted at the Polish air force cadet school in Bydgoszcz and was later selected for an NCO pilots' course.

The outbreak of war, after Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, found Kuba – the nickname by which he was affectionately known – still in training. The Polish air force, whose planes were outclassed in quality and vastly outnumbered by the Luftwaffe, gave a good account of itself. It had not been destroyed on the ground, having hidden its planes in concealed landing strips at the end of August. Its pilots were well trained and determined, as would be further proved when they flew alongside the RAF from 1940-1945.

Polish air force personnel were ordered to make to then neutral Romania, from where they were to make it to France, where Polish forces were to regroup under General Sikorski. Most made it. However, Bargielowski and his group of cadets were captured by Soviet forces.The officers were separated and would be massacred by the NKVD security agency.

Bargielowski was initially sent to a labour camp, quarrying near the Black Sea, then in May 1940 was transported to one in northern Russia where he was to clear forests.He fell ill through malnutrition and began to lose his sight. It was Hitler's attack on erstwhile ally Stalin in June 1941 that would lead to his liberty. As a result of the Sikorski-Maiski Pact signed in London, captured Polish servicemen were "amnestied" and some were 100,000 allowed out of the Soviet Union.

Most of these freed men would leave the Soviet Union via the Caspian Sea and form the bulk of Polish 2 Corps that distinguished itself fighting the Germans in the Italian Campaign in 1944-45. Others were sent to Polish units already training in Scotland.

Bargielowski and a group of released airmen sailed for Scotland from Archangelsk. After a period convalescing, he resumed flying training and was awarded his wings on 17 January, 1943, and at the same time was promoted to sergeant. He was posted to 58 Operational Training Unit at RAF Grangemouth, prior to being assigned to an operational fighter squadron. Here British Empire and allied pilots honed their skills being taught by highly skilled and battle-hardened instructors. Amongst them was Poland's top ace, Stanislaw Skalski, who had 22 downed German planes to his credit.

In January 1944, he was assigned to the Polish 315 City of Deblin, stationed at Heston and flying spitfires. It was commanded by Squadron Leader Eugeniusz Horbaczewski who had been an instructor in Grangemouth. Flying in the squadron was Michal Cwynar, who died in Dumfries on 26 May, 2008, the last surviving ace of the Polish air force living in the British Isles.

In April, the squadron was re-equipped with Mustangs and moved to RAF Coolham in Sussex. Before and after D-Day on 6 June, 1944, the squadron was in frequent action over France and Bargielowski made his first two kills. The squadron was also tasked with intercepting German V1 flying bombs and Bargielowski destroyed three. On 18 August, the squadron's 12 Mustangs swooped on some 60 FW 190s over Beauvais. In the ensuing melee, the Luftwaffe lost 12 planes and Bargielowski bagged two. Sadly, Horbaczewski was killed.

In late October 1944, the squadron was moved to Peterhead. From here, it provided escort protection for Beaufighters and Mosquitos attacking German shipping off the coast of Norway. On 7 December, it engaged a large formation of FW 190s and in the ensuing action Bargielowski notched up his fifth kill thereby qualifying as an ace. In April 1945, he was awarded the DFM.

In 1948, he emigrated to Australia. After a variety of odd-jobs, he took up mining and trading in opals in White Cliffs, in northern New South Wales. He would dig in the cooler months, returning to his home in Sydney in the summer. There, he cut, polished and marketed the stones. He became involved with veterans' affairs and helped organise the local Anzac Day commemorations.