2017-04-15 00:27 update: 2018-09-26, 23:21
Exhibition on Polish pilots input in Battle of Britain, Polish Army Museum, Warsaw (mr) PAP/Leszek Szymański
April 14 marks the 102nd birth anniversary of Jan Zumbach, commander of the legendary Polish Squadron 303 which won fame during the 1940 Battle of Britain between the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the German Luftwaffe.
Zumbach (April 14 1915 - January 3 1986) was born into a landowning family in the vicinity of Plock in central Poland. After joining the Polish army in 1935 he served as an infantryman until 1936, when he transferred to the Polish Air Force.
Zumbach did no flying during the September 1939 German invasion of Poland because of fractured leg from an earlier flying accident. After returning to his unit he was evacuated to France via Romania, where he piloted Morane 406 and Curtiss Hawk 75 aircraft. On June 18 1940 he crossed to England by sea and on August 2 was posted as one of the founding members of the newly formed No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron.
During the Battle of Britain Squadron 303 won renown for its hit score against the Germans, Zumbach scoring eight confirmed kills and one probable, mainly against Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. Zumbach was shot down by a JG 3 Bf 109 over Dover on May 9 1941 when returning from a mission, but was able to bail out unharmed.
Zumbach was one of the first Allied pilots to engage in combat with a German Focke-Wulf Fw 190, which he damaged. In May 1942 he was promoted to Squadron Leader and took command of Squadron 303, remaining in the post until November 30 November 1943.
On September 25 1944 Zumbach scored his final victory of the war, a probable kill over a JG 26 Fw 190 machine over Arnhem.
On January 30 1945 Zumbach made a navigational error while flying an Auster machine and ran out of fuel. Forced to land in enemy territory he spent the final month of the war as a prisoner of war.
Zumbach's total victory tally is 12 confirmed kills and 2 shared, five probables and one damaged.
After his demobilisation October 1946 Zumbach continued to fly for a living. Using a Swiss passport, he flew contraband around Southern Europe and the Middle East.
In January 1962 Zumbach was contracted to organise and lead Avikat, the air force of the Congolese breakaway state of Katanga, commanding it until December 1962. He subsequently dealt in second-hand aircraft and again became a mercenary in 1967, when he organised and commanded the Biafran air force under the nom de guerre of John Brown.
In 1975 Zumbach published his autobiography, originally in French under the title Mister Brown: Aventures dans le ciel. It was subsequently published in German, English (under the title On Wings of War: My Life as a Pilot Adventurer), and Polish under the title Ostatnia walka: Moje zycie jako lotnika, przemytnika i poszukiwacza przygod. (The final battle: My life as a pilot, smuggler, and adventurer).
Zumbach died in France under unexplained circumstances on January 3, 1986, and was buried at Powazki Military Cemetery in Warsaw, Poland. The investigation into his death was closed by French authorities without explanation.
The Battle of Britain was a military campaign during the Second World War from July to October 1940, in which the British Royal Air Force (RAF) defended the United Kingdom against the German Luftwaffe. It is considered the first major campaign fought entirely by air forces.
The Luftwaffe's failure to overwhelm the RAF is considered to be Nazi Germany's first major defeat and a crucial turning point in World War Two.
The Polish Tadeusz Kosciuszko Fighter Squadron No. 303 was one of the RAF's 16 Polish squadrons during the Second World War. It was the highest scoring Hurricane squadron during the Battle of Britain and had the highest enemy hit-own loss ratio.
Named after the Polish and US hero General Tadeusz Kosciuszko and the Polish 7th Air Escadrille founded by Merian C. Cooper which fought for Poland in the 1919–1921 Polish-Soviet War, the squadron was formed in July 1940 in Blackpool, England and later deployed to RAF Northolt under an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom. It had a distinguished combat record and was disbanded in December 1946.(PAP)
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