Polish Battle of Britain Pilot dies
A Polish pilot who served in the famous 303 Squadron during the Battle of Britain has died.
Captain Tadeusz Terlikowski passed away on 6th of Aufgust 2018, at the age of 101.
Being an outstanding aviator he was awarded with the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
Born on 17 November 1917, on the outbreak of WWII he was a pilot in the Polish Air Force and took part in the defence of Poland.
He then made his way to France where he joined the 145th Polish Squadron in Lyon.
Following the fall of France, he took to the Alps, making his way through Spain and then Algeria before finally reaching Scotland where he trained as an air force mechanic and joined the 303 Squadron.
He later recalled: “When we got modern airplanes, technically on the level of the German ones, with pull-out undercarriage, operating at high speeds, the Polish pilots were the kings in the air.”
Terlikowski and the 303 saw action in the Battle of Britain and later in the invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
After the war he went to live in the US where he became an active member of the Polish Army Veterans' Association.
