Tadeusz Kotz (1913–2008) - was a Polish pilot and fighter ace of World War II. He was awarded several decorations, including Poland's Virtuti Militari, four times Cross of Valour and the British Distinguished Flying Cross. After war he published his memoirs.
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Tadeusz Kotz was born in Grabanów as Tadeusz Koc. After school he entered the cadet flying school in Dęblin. Later, he served in the Polish Air Force as a fighter pilot. During the Invasion of Poland in 1939, Kotz fought with the Polish 161st Fighter Escadrille air unit of Łódź Army. He shot down his first enemy Messerschmitt on 2 September 1939, while piloting a PZL P.11 airplane. In 16 September he shot down a Soviet reconnaissance bomber Polikarpov R-5.
After Poland was defeated, Kotz was ordered to evacuate to Romania along with other pilots. He escaped via Yugoslavia and Greece to France, and then to the IK to serve with the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain. He was one of the pilots in No. 303 Squadron, flying a Spitfire. Later, he became a Squadron Leader of 303 Squadron. In 1943, Kotz was shot down in Northern France, but evaded capture and returned to England via German occupied France, Spain and Gibraltar to continue to fight until the end of war. He was demobilized in 1948.
He married and settled to Swaziland in Africa and then moved to Collingwood in Canada where he spent the remainder of his life. He passed away on 3 June 2008 at at a Nursing Home in Collingwood, aged 95. While in Canada, he published a book of memoirs Błękitne niebo i prawdziwe kule ("Blue sky and real bullets") in 2005.
Virtuti Militari Silver Cross
Cross of Valour four times
Distinguished Flying Cross