Brigade General Pilot Bolesław Feliks Stachoń (1897–1941). Contribution for biographical studies of an officer and aviator

Abstract

In 2021, 80 years will have passed since the death of Bolesław Stachoń, the Polish pilot and a Royal Air Force (RAF) liaison officer. His contribution to the development of Polish aviation and his activity as the commander of the congregation camp in Eastchurch (December 1939 – July 1940) and later Swinderby Airport (VII 1940 – VII 1941 r.), from which he flew combat missions, remain unknown. His education, war experience and knowledge of foreign languages predetermined Stachoń to perform high functions in the army. He was, among other things, park commander in the 11th Aviation Regiment in Lida, the Pilot School in the NCO Aviation Training Center and the commander of the Aviation Shooting and Bombing School in Grudziądz. He ran an editing business and published articles in "Przegląd Lotniczy...", and also he published books in the field of aviation. Before the Second World War world he held a diplomatic function in Moscow. He was the first Pole to gain a gyroplane pilot's license, thanks to which he brought the C-30 airship to Warsaw. In September 1939, he commanded units that brought down over 20 German planes. On the orders of General Józef Zając he undertook a military mission to Romania, where he oversaw the evacuation of Polish airmen to France. From there he made a detour to England, where he was in command of the RAF Volunteer Reserve Training Center. In exile, he continued his editorial work; cofounding the magazine "News from the World: the daily newsletter of the Center Polish Aviation in England"; published "One-day Polish Aviation in England". Bolesław Stachoń was an icon of interwar Polish aviation and first-class pilot. He died during his third bomber flight on July 4 1941.