Antoni Kocjan (12 August 1902 – 13 August 1944) was a renowned Polishglider constructor and a contributor to the intelligence services of the Polish Home Army during World War II.
Early life and education
Antoni was the son of Michal Kocjan and Franciszka Zurowska, born in the village of Skalskie near
Warsaw Agricultural University. He married Elizbieta Zanussi on 30 November 1939. During his studies he collaborated with the plane constructors of group RWD
.
In 1929 he finished a pilot's course and in 1930 won the second award at the Young Pilot's Championship. Later he was part of crew in flights on the airplanes
RWD-7, which beat the world's height record. In 1931 he obtained an engineer's degree and began work at the Experimental Aviation Workshops in Warsaw. In the same year he constructed his first plane "Czajka
", a trainer glider that was later put into serialized production in several designs.
Glider Experience
Kocjan became the head constructor of the Glider Workshops on the
Komar
" was also renewed after the war.
Polish Underground State
In the first days of World War II, Kocjan was wounded by bomb shrapnel. After the defeat of Poland in 1939, he became a soldier of the underground
He was characterized by a large degree of daring in planning of actions of the Polish resistance, particularly in connection to the underground production of weapons. He made a significant contribution to the identification of
Wunderwaffen and worked out the technical nature of the V-2 rocket
.
Antoni Kocjan proved paramount in his involvement with the
MI-6 in London at the time was informed of the rocket in Sweden and upon knowledge of its German authenticity, immediately began negotiations with Swedish administrators to retrieve the rocket. An agreement was finally made that in return for the rocket, the British were to supply the Swedish army with two squadrons of tanks.[2]
As a result, the British scientists had finally found what they had been desperately searching for - a complete German missile. Once deconstructed and reconstructed, British scientists analyzed the radio system on the missile and came to the false conclusion that the German
Bug River and had failed to explode. The missile was found and reported by a farmer who lived by the Bug River. This news was sent to the Polish Home Army and Kocjan quickly rushed to the Bug River to photograph the V-2 and hide it with foliage to avoid its discovery by German patrols. Kocjan's new mission was to steal key parts of the V-2 to be sent to the British for analysis.[2] Accompanied by other Polish scientists and to avoid detection by German patrols, Kocjan worked through most of the night and with the help of draft horses, successfully removed the V-2 rocket from the swampy bank of the Bug River. The scientists proceeded to remove the engine and steering components of the V-2, dismantled the parts at a nearby barn and lifted them onto two trucks covered by a large quantity of potatoes. On the drive back to Warsaw, their vehicles were stopped and searched at three different roadblocks but none of the missile compartments were found and they were permitted into Warsaw. The first phase of the dangerous mission was complete thanks to Antoni Kocjan.[4] The second phase was to commence, and it involved the smuggling of the key components of the V-2 rocket out of Warsaw, into London. The code name for this new operation was deemed Wildhorn III.[3]
On 2 June 1944, he was arrested together with his wife and imprisoned in the Pawiak prison. The Gestapo murdered him on 13 August in the last group of forty prisoners of Pawiak during the Warsaw Uprising.
