Stanisław Skarżyński
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Stanisław Skarżyński (b. May 1, 1899 - June 26, 1942) was a Polish aviator, famous for his transatlantic solo flight in 1933.
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[edit] Early military career
He was born in Warta. In 1916-17 he was a member of the Polish Military Organisation (POW). In November 1918 he volunteered for the newly created Polish Army, and commanded an action of disarming German soldiers in Warta. Then, he fought in the Polish-Soviet war in the infantry, being promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in 1919. He was wounded but returned to the front. During the battle of Radzymin he was severely wounded in one leg on August 16, 1920. The infected wound needed long rehabilitation; Skarżyński hardly avoided being invalid, though he always limped thereafter. Unable to further serve in the infantry, he managed to obtain permission to join military aviation.
He completed pilot school in Bydgoszcz in 1925, then he served in the 1st Aviation Regiment in Warsaw. In 1927 he became a Flying Captain (kapitan pilot). Between February 1 and May 5, 1931 he, together with Lt. Andrzej Markiewicz, flew around Africa in the Polish-designed aircraft PZL Ł-2 (registration SP-AFA), a distance of 25,770 km.
[edit] Transatlantic flight
On May 7/May 8 1933, Skarzynski flew in a small single-seater Polish tourist airplane RWD-5bis (SP-AJU) across the southern Atlantic, from Saint-Louis, Senegal to Maceio in Brazil. The flight took 20 hours 30 minutes (17 hours 15 minutes above the ocean). He crossed 3,582 km, establishing a distance record in a FAI tourist plane 2nd class (weight below 450 kg / 1000 lb). The plane had no radio nor safety equipment, due to weight. The RWD-5bis was, and is still, the smallest plane to ever to have flown across the Atlantic. Until the last moment, plans of his flight were kept secret. It became a part of Warsaw - Rio de Janeiro flight, between April 27 and May 10, 17,885 km long. He then flew on to Buenos Aires. He returned to Europe by ship.
[edit] Later service and World War II
In 1934 he was promoted to Major. He commanded a bomber squadron, and from 1938 he was a deputy C/O of the 4th Aviation Regiment in Torun, with a rank of flying Lt.Col. (podpułkownik pilot). In April 1939 he became President of the Polish Aero Club. In August 1939, he was sent to Romania, as the deputy Air Attaché.
After the outbreak of the World War II, he helped in transferring Polish pilots, fleeing from Poland, through Romania, to France, where the Polish Air Force was recreated. In 1940 Skarżyński himself got to France, then to Britain, where he became Commanding Officer of the Polish Flying School in Newton. He however asked to serve in a combat unit, and was assigned as C/O of Lindholme Air Base and a pilot in the No. 305 Polish Bomber Squadron. After midnight on June 26, 1942, returning from a great bombing mission over Bremen, his Wellington had to land in the North Sea due to damage to the engine. Skarzynski was washed to the sea, and was the only crew member lost—the rest were later rescued. He was later buried on the island of Terschelling.
[edit] Honours
He was awarded, among others the Virtuti Militari 5th class (for the Polish-Soviet war), Cross of Independence, Order of Polonia Restituta 4th class, Krzyz Walecznych (four times), Golden and Silver Cross of Merit, the French Legion d'Honneur and the Brazilian Order of the Southern Cross. The FAI awarded him the Louis Bleriot Medal (1936) of which he was one of first recipients. Posthumously he was made a full Colonel ("pulkownik pilot") and the President of Poland awarded him posthumously the Order of Polonia Restituta 2nd class.
It should be noted, that there was also other Polish pilot Stanisław Skarżyński, shot down and killed during the Polish-Soviet war on 15 July 1920.
[edit] Sources
- (Polish) Konieczny, Jerzy and Malinowski, Tadeusz: Mała encyklopedia lotników polskich, Warsaw, 1983, p.155-164, ISBN 83-206-0337-4
