Zbigniew Juliusz Babiński (13 May 1896 – April 1940) was a Polish military and sports aviator. He was born in

Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Silesian Metropolis municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industria ...

. While in school he constructed two simple

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

gliders in 1912 and 1913 in

Milanówek Milanówek is a town and a seat of a separate gmina, commune in Poland. Located next to the Grodzisk Mazowiecki County near Warsaw, it is often considered an outlying suburb of the capital of Poland but is in fact an independent entity administr ...

. The first one crashed during pilotless tests, while the second one was used for short flights by Babiński and his friends (including later aircraft designer Władysław Zalewski). There is no information available on his service during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, but he probably received a pilot's training and served in the air force of one of occupants of Poland. In November 1918, as Poland regained its independence, Babiński took part in disarmament of German soldiers. He then joined the Polish Air Force with a rank of Flying 2nd Lieutenant (''podporucznik pilot''). He served in the 1st Scout Escadre (1 ''Eskadra Wywiadowcza'') during the Polish-Soviet war, as a pilot of

Bristol F.2 Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit"'' or ''"Bif ...

. Before and during the Battle of Warsaw he flew sorties strafing Soviet cavalry, particularly on 14 August 1920 near

Pułtusk Pułtusk (pronounced ) is a town in northeast Poland, by the river Narew. Located north of Warsaw in the Masovian Voivodeship, it had a population of about 19,000 . Known for its historic architecture and Europe's longest paved marketplace ( in ...

.Babiński Zbigniew
/ref> After the war, Babiński remained in service, in air units in

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

Dęblin Dęblin is a town at the confluence of Vistula and Wieprz rivers, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Dęblin is the part of the agglomeration with adjacent towns of Ryki and Puławy, which altogether has over 100 000 inhabitants. The population of ...

and

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, and was promoted to a rank of Flying Captain. He participated in the first Polish air contest - the 1st Polish Circuit of 1922, taking third place. WZ-XI Kogutek

As a member of Warsaw Aero Club of the

Polish Aero Club Aeroklub Polski (AP; ''Polish Aero Club'') is the Polish central association of persons practising air sports or recreational flying. It was founded in 1921 and is a member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. It has a headquarters in ...

, he was especially active in developing Polish touring aviation. He was the first to fly amateur ultra-light aircraft D-1 Cykacz (1925) and WZ-XI Kogutek (1927, of Zalewski's design).A. Glass, op.cit., p. 105, 120. In 1928 he undertook the first touring raid over Poland on the Kogutek, 600 km-long. Flying the Kogutek, he took part in the 2nd Polish Light Aircraft Contest in 1928 (taking 9th place) and in the 3rd Contest in 1930, from which he withdrew. After 1929, he bought a JD-2 (SP-ACA), with which he undertook many touring flights. Assessing the possibilities for light aviation, he landed with this aircraft in at least 225 places in Poland (according to other information, 330). In 1936, he bought a RWD-7 aircraft, and then a RWD-16. Until 1937, Zbigniew Babiński landed in about 400 casual places in Poland. In July 1930, Zbigniew Babiński took part in the

Challenge 1930 The International Touring Competition in 1930 (french: Challenge International de Tourisme) was the second FAI international touring aircraft contest, that took place between July 18 and August 8, 1930 in Berlin, Germany. Four Challenges, from 1929 ...

international contest, flying PWS-50, but was disqualified for time infringement, although he completed the circuit over Europe. Marian Krzyżan, ''Międzynarodowe turnieje lotnicze 1929–1934'', Warsaw 1988, , p. 45. The same source p. 232 and A. Glass, op.cit. p. 186 claim however, that he had to withdraw due to illness. Zbigniew Babiński flew reconnaissance sorties during the

Polish September campaign 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 after ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the last one on 16 September 1939. After the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subse ...

, he was taken captive on 17/18 September 1939, and was murdered in April 1940 by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

in Katyn during the

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

References

* *
Babiński Zbigniew
at Historia Lotnictwa site, after: Tadeusz Malinowski, ''Poczet lotników polskich'', Entuzjasta lotnictwa 1/1995 *Romeyko, Marian (ed.) (1937) (in Polish). ''Polska lotnicza'', Warsaw. {{DEFAULTSORT:Babinski Zbigniew 1896 births 1940 deaths Katyn massacre victims Polish aviators People from Sosnowiec Polish military personnel killed in World War II Executed people from Silesian Voivodeship