The Remembrance Museum of the Land of Oświęcim invites you to a popular-science conference titled “Airmen from the Oświęcim Region on the Fronts of World War II.” The conference will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 11. Admission is free.
According to information published on listakrzystka.pl, more than 17,000 airmen served in the Polish Air Force in Great Britain during World War II. At least 51 of them came from the Oświęcim region. Their birthplaces included Przeciszów, Wilczkowice, Kęty, Osiek, Oświęcim, Brzezinka, Głębowice, Zator, Brzeszcze, Bielany, Dwory, Piotrowice, Gorzów, Babice, Łęki, Palczowice, Bulowice, and Grojec.
The Polish Air Force in the West was formed from Polish air force personnel who, following the September Campaign, made their way westward to France via various routes through Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Syria. Under the command of Commander-in-Chief General Władysław Sikorski, approximately 9,000 Polish Air Force personnel were organized there. When Germany attacked France in May 1940, only 174 of the approximately 1,000 Polish pilots in France were flying operationally, due to various organizational difficulties. Nevertheless, they achieved 52 confirmed victories and 10 probable victories. Following the fall of France, approximately 6,200 Polish Air Force personnel were evacuated to Great Britain. Earlier, at the end of 1939 and beginning of 1940, approximately 300 pilots and around 2,000 aircrew and ground personnel had already been transferred there. By the end of 1940, the Polish Air Force in Great Britain had grown to more than 8,000 personnel,” the authors of listakrzystka.pl report.
During the famous Battle of Britain in the second half of 1940, Polish pilots serving with Nos. 302 and 303 Squadrons earned a distinguished reputation. They were known not only for their victories in aerial combat against German forces, but also for their extraordinary courage.
These and many other topics related to the Polish Air Force in the West will be explored during the conference.
The conference will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 11. Admission is free.
The conference program
The Battle of Britain” – Jacek Zagożdżon, Air Force Museum in Dęblin, Head of the History, Aviation and Education Department and curator
Aircraft of the Battle of Britain” – Jarosław Dobrzyński, Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków, curator
Pilots and Air Force Personnel from the Oświęcim Region in the Polish Armed Forces in the West” – Tomasz Mikuła, Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków, curator
Wiktor Chałupnik, RAF pilot, as remembered by his nephew Józef Chałupnik
Registration is open until September 8, 2026.
