URL : https://www.valka.cz/Klecha-Boleslaw-Jan-t79311#614310
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Reklama
Lieutenant Colonel Boleslaw Klecha
Born 17. 9.1917 in the village of Warzno.
In 1923 his parents sold all their property and moved to nearby Wejherowo.
In 1934 he enrolled in a glider pilot course in Dolny Ustrzyki. In 1936 he graduated from the Wejherowo Gymnasium.
He joined the Polish Air Force in 1937 in Dęblin. He completed the warrant officer course and the pilot course, the last course for pilots invalided out in Dęblin before the outbreak of war.
The war found him as a member of a reserve school squadron (Rezerwowej Eskadry Szkolnej). Shortly after the German invasion of Poland, the squadron moved to Zyrzyn Airport, where it was rearmed with PZL P.23 Karas aircraft.
Between 10.9.1939 and 15.9.1939 Boleslaw Klecha made 4 combat sorties. On 17 September 1939 the order came to fly to Romania, where Karas piloted by Boleslaw Klecha arrived on 19 September 1939 after two stopovers.
From Romania he went via Beirut to the French Salon de Provence and from there he was transferred with other Polish pilots to a base near Lyon.
With the help of a military mission in England, he reached the British RAF base at Eastchurch, where he received training at 1. OTU (Operational Training Unit), 3rd OTU and 18th OTU, qualifying as a bomber pilot Vickers Wellington. Upon completion of the course he was transferred to the 300th Bombardment Squadron "Ziemi Mazowiecka".
On his fourteenth flight, his destination being the port of Hamburg, he was hit by German flak and lost one engine. As a result of the damage to the aircraft, crew captain Boleslaw Klecha was forced to make an emergency water landing about 20 miles off the British coast. After one and a half hours in the dinghy, the crew was rescued by the British rescue service.
In 1942, after flying 34 combat missions, he was transferred as an instructor to train new crews at Bramcote.
From 1943 to 1945 Boleslaw Klecha served in the 43rd Airborne Division. Transport Group in Canada. He flew new aircraft to combat units in Europe, Africa and Asia. The farthest destinations were Singapore, Malaysia and Colombo, Ceylon, which took 60 hours to reach with several stopovers.
In 1945 he married an English woman, Yvonne Wadey, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.
At the end of the war he returned to Britain to 301st Squadron "Ziemi Pomorskiej". In 1946-47 he flew with the British squadron and took part mainly in long-haul transport flights to Malaya, Saudi Arabia and the Far East.
He retired from flying on 7 June 1948 with over 3,000 hours of flying, 300 of which were on combat missions.
Since 1948 he was engaged in business while actively working in the Polish Airmen's Association.
Boleslaw Klecha attained the rank of major in the Air Force and received numerous decorations:
War Medal Defence Medal. Aircrew Europe Star Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari (Nr 9276) Four times War Cross Air Force Silver Medal 39 Star 1939-45.
In 2001 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel by order of the Minister of Defence of Poland.
He died on 12 April 2014 in Macclesfield, UK at the age of 96.
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Klecha-Boleslaw-Jan-t79311#291258
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