Józef Kępiński (aviator)

Józef Kępiński (

Air Training Centre

.

Before World War II

Józef Kępiński joined the renascent

Spad 61 fighters.^[1]

An excellent and decorated pilot, in 1932 he became the commanding officer of his escadrille and the following year was promoted to the rank of captain.

Polish Air Force Academy.^[1]

World War II

After the start of the

Lyon-Bron, he became the first commanding officer of the I/145 Polish Fighter Squadron.^[1]

During the Battle of France, despite flying the obsolete Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 and Caudron C.714 fighters, the Polish unit under Kępiński's command achieved 11 victories in the first three days of the Battle of France.^[1] However, on 10 June 1940 Kępiński led his unit against a German bombing raid south of Dreux, covered by approximately 12 Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters.^[1] Blinded by the sun, Kępiński became separated from his unit and mistook the enemy formation for his own.^[1] Heavily wounded, with his lung shot through, he managed to crash-land his damaged airplane at Dreux airfield.^[1] He spent the remainder of the campaign in hospitals in Chartres and Vichy.

In October 1940, he escaped from

podpułkownik) and the British rank of group captain.^[1]

After World War II

After the war he returned to Communist-held Poland and continued his military service. Forced to retire in 1949, during the

Stalinist repressions against pre-war Polish officers, he was placed on a proscription list and spent the remainder of his life doing menial jobs and working as an ordinary worker in Warsaw.^[1] He died 26 March 1964 in Warsaw and was buried at the Powązki Military Cemetery.^[1]

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q Zmyślony, p. 1

Bibliography

Wojciech Zmyślony (2009). "Józef Kępiński". Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Drugiej Wojnie Światowej (in Polish). Retrieved 7 October 2013.

[zmyslony-1-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q Zmyślony, p. 1

[1]