Tadeusz Kotz (9 August 1913 – 3 June 2008)TracesOfWar.com Kotz, Tadeusz
/ref> was a Polish pilot and

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

of World War II. He was awarded several decorations, including Poland's

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King Stan ...

, four times Cross of Valour and the British Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he published his

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

Biography

Tadeusz Kotz was born in Grabanów as Tadeusz Koc on 9 August 1913 to a family of wealthy farmers. After school he entered the cadet flying school in Dęblin. Later, he served in the

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force ( pl, Siły Powietrzne, , Air Forces) is the aerial warfare branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 16,425 mil ...

as a fighter pilot. During the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

in 1939, Kotz fought with the Polish 161st Fighter Escadrille air unit of

Łódź Army Łódź Army ( pl, Armia Łódź) was one of the Polish armies that took part in the Invasion of Poland of 1939. It was officially created on 23 March 1939 with the task of filling the gap between Poznań Army in the north and Kraków Army in the ...

. He shot down his first enemy

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

on 2 September 1939, and also shared in the destruction of a Junkers Ju-86 while piloting a

PZL P.11 The PZL P.11 was a Polish fighter aircraft, designed and constructed during the early 1930s by Warsaw-based aircraft manufacturer PZL. Possessing an all-metal structure, metal-covering, and high-mounted gull wing, the type held the distinction of ...

airplane. On 16 September he shot down a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

reconnaissance bomber

Polikarpov R-5 The Polikarpov R-5 (russian: Р-5) was a Soviet reconnaissance bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was the standard light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of the Soviet Air Force for much of the 1930s, while also being used heavily as a civilian l ...

. After Poland was defeated, Kotz was ordered to evacuate to Romania along with other pilots. He escaped via

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

and Greece to France, and then to the UK to serve with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. Commencing in late 1940, Kotz served with No 317, No 308 and No. 303 Squadron, flying the

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

. Later, he became a

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

with No. 303 Squadron. In February 1943 Kotz was shot down in combat with II./

JG 26 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 26 (JG 26) ''Schlageter'' was a German fighter-wing of World War II. It was named after Albert Leo Schlageter, a World War I veteran, Freikorps member, and posthumous Nazi martyr, arrested and executed by the French for ...

over Northern France, but evaded capture and returned to England via German-occupied France in record timing, Spain and Gibraltar to return to the UK on 21 February 1943. This escape report, along with a copy of his combat report dated 3 February 1943 was held classified and put on a secret list until 1973. In September 1944, he attended the Aviation School in Weston-super-Mare. His wartime score was 3 and 3 shared destroyed, 2 probables, and 3 damaged. He was demobilized in 1948. He married and settled in

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and then moved to Collingwood,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where he spent the remainder of his life. While in Canada, he published a book of memoirs. ''Błękitne niebo i prawdziwe kule'' ("Blue sky and real bullets"), in 2005. He died on 3 June 2008 at a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

in Collingwood, aged 94.

Awards

Silver Cross
POL Krzyż Walecznych (1940) 4r BAR

Cross of Valour four times
DistinguishedFlyingCrossUKRibbon

Distinguished Flying Cross

References

Bibliography

* Kotz, Tadeusz. "Błękitne niebo i prawdziwe kule", Toronto, 2005, Ontario Limited. * Izydor Koliński: Wojsko Polskie : krótki informator historyczny o Wojsku Polskim w latach II wojny światowej. 9, Regularne jednostki Wojska Polskiego (lotnictwo), formowanie, działania bojowe, organizacja, uzbrojenie, metryki jednostek lotniczych. Warszawa : Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej 1978. * Tadeusz Jerzy Krzystek, Anna Krzystek: ''Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii w latach 1940-1947 łącznie z Pomocniczą Lotniczą Służbą Kobiet (PLSK-WAAF)''. Sandomierz: Stratus, 2012, s. 280. * Piotr Sikora: ''Asy polskiego lotnictwa''. Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza Alma-Press. 2014, s. 394. * Jerzy Pawlak: ''Absolwenci Szkoły Orląt: 1925-1939''. Warszawa: Retro-Art, 2009, s. 167.

External links

Tadeusz Kotz in Polish school - London

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotz, Tadeusz 1913 births 2008 deaths People from Biała Podlaska County Polish World War II flying aces Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Royal Air Force officers