Mieczysław Garsztka
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Mieczysław Sylwester Garsztka (December 31, 1896 - June 10, 1919) Iron Cross {1st and 2nd Class} and the Virtuti Militari {V Class} was a Polish pilot, a flying ace of the German air force during World War I.
He was born in a Polish family in Bromberg, and in sources he is often referred to as Sylvester Garsztka, but Mieczysław was his first name and was the one used by him. He intended to study medicine, but in November 1915 he was mobilized into the German army. Initially he served in the infantry on the Western Front (Grenadier Regiment 110 and Infantry Regiment 87). After completing officer school, in April 1917 he became a Lieutenant. He was slightly injured, commanding a company in the 1st battalion of the 1st Nassau Infantry Regiment Nr. 87, and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class. Then he asked to be transferred to the air service, and in November 1917 he was sent to flying school.
After completing flying school in Posen, and then a fighter pilot course in Nivelles, he was assigned to the Jagdstaffel 31 (Jasta 31) fighter squadron in St. Loup in Champagne on June 7, 1918 . Initially he flew the Albatros D.V, then the modern Fokker D.VII fighter.
Because the war ended, his combat career was short, but still successful. He shot down his first Spad fighter on July 16, 1918, and was given a fighter pilot badge. On September 18 he shot down a British fighter S.E.5a and a bomber DH.9, then another DH.9 on September 25. The following day he shot down a Sopwith Camel from the 208th Squadron, and on September 30 he scored his sixth (and last) kill, an S.E.5a. from the 92nd Squadron.
On October 2 he was injured during a combat with Camels of the 46th Squadron, but he managed to land, and was hospitalised. Garsztka was the only pilot of Jasta 31, who became a fighter ace (i.e. shot down at least 5 aircraft). On September 25, 1918 he was awarded with the Iron Cross 1st Class.
After the war, when Poland regained independence, Garsztka broke through the border to Poland and joined the Polish Air Force. At first, he was an instructor pilot, skilled in German aircraft pilotage, but he asked to be sent to the front. At that time, Polish forces were fighting with Ukrainian forces for control of Lwów (Lviv) and the surroundng area. In May 1919 Garsztka was sent to the 7th Air Escadrille (later Kościuszko Squadron) in Lwów. From May 10 to June 7 he undertook some dozen missions, mostly as a pilot of a bomber-reconnaissance LVG C.VI.
On June 10, 1919 Mieczysław Garsztka died in an aircrash, as he was trying to fly a newly reconstructed SPAD S.VII fighter in Lwów. The cause of the crash was wing fabric failure. Posthumously he was awarded with Virtuti Militari 5th Class.
