The Annual Commemoration of Fallen Polish Airmen will take place
on Saturday, 13th September, 2014, at 12.00,
at the Polish Air Force Memorial, Northolt.

To mark the 70th Anniversary of the Warsaw Rising, for the first time wreaths will be laid by the descendants of airmen who lost their lives flying supplies to the Home Army during the Rising. Wreaths will also be laid by representatives of the Polish and British governments, local authorities, the Polish Air Force and the Royal Air Force. Veterans of individual squadrons or their descendants will lay wreaths for each Polish squadron that flew alongside the Royal Air Force from 1940 to 1945.

The replica of the wartime Standard of the Polish Air Force will be paraded and the ceremony will also feature a fly-past by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, a detachment of Officer Cadets from the Polish Air Force Academy, Dęblin, trumpeter and drummer from the Central Band of the RAF, and the band of the Middlesex Wing of the Air Training Corps. Young people from the various Polish schools in London, in addition to the Polish Scouts and Guides, will also take part.

On Sunday 14th September at 12.00 Holy Mass will be offered at the Garrison Church of St Andrew Bobola, 1 Leysfield Rd, W12 9JF.

The Memorial is situated at the junction of the A40 and the West End Rd., Ruislip. The nearest Underground is South Ruislip. The ceremony will be conducted in both English and Polish and everyone is welcome to attend.

Dress: uniform, lounge suit or equivalent; descendants are encouraged to wear inherited medals on the right side of the jacket.

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Czechoslovak pilots Josef FRANTIŠEK, Matěj PAVLOVIČ, Wilhelm KOSARZ [[Vilém Košař] and Wladyslaw UHER [Vladislav Uher], who has no known grave, are commemorated on this Memorial.

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František, Pavlovič and Kosarz flew with 303 Polish Fighter Squadron “Kościuszko” which was the highest scoring RAF Sqn in the Battle of Britain. This squadron became the most famous of the 16 Polish Squadrons in the RAF in WW2.

Josef František, Matěj Pavlovič and Wilhelm Kosarz were three of the infamous ‘Český čtyřlístek’ – the Czech cloverleaf – from the short Polish campaign of September 1939. Of this quartet, only Josef Balejka was to survive the war. All four had been awarded the Krzyż Walecznych – the Polish Cross of valour, Poland’s highest military decoration, during this campaign.

Pavlovič was awarded his Polish War Cross on 19 September 1939 and is believed to be the first medal awarded to a Czechoslovak airmen in WW2. For his remarkable achievements in the Battle of Britain, František was awarded three more Krzyż Walecznych.

Top left – Pavlovič, top right – Košař, bottom left – Balejka and bottom right – František.

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