Tadeusz Sawicz Tadeusz Władysław Sawicz ( 13 February 1914 – 19 October 2011 ) was a Polish World War II fighter pilot . He served in the Polish Air Force , and after the fall of Poland , he served in the Polish and allied units in France and United Kingdom . He was the commander of several air units , including the No . 315 Polish Fighter Squadron , 1st Polish Fighter Wing , 3rd Polish Fighter Wing , 131st ( Polish ) Fighter Wing and 133rd Fighter Wing . He participated in the Battle of Britain and was ranked as the 82nd highest scoring Polish fighter pilot of the war . As well as receiving Poland ' s highest military decoration , the Virtuti Militari , he was awarded a British Distinguished Flying Cross , an American Distinguished Flying Cross and the Dutch equivalent , the Airman ' s Cross or " Vliegerkruis " . In 2006 Sawicz was appointed honorary brigadier - general in the Polish Air Force . After the war he emigrated to Canada . At his death he was believed to have been the last surviving Polish pilot to have fought in the Battle of Britain . Biography . In Poland and France . Sawicz was born on 13 February 1914 in Warsaw . In 1934 he joined the Polish Army in the Second Polish Republic , as an officer and in 1934 began training in the air force . In August 1936 he received the rank of podporucznik and joined the 111th Fighter Escadrille . In 1937 he was transferred to the 114th Fighter Escadrille . During the Polish September Campaign in September 1939 he served ( from 5 September ) as the deputy commander of the 114th Escadrille , which together with several other air units was a part of the Pursuit Brigade . He claimed a half - share in damaging a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 on the first day of the war , while flying a PZL P . 11 c . Over the next week he was reported to have shot down two Dorniers Do 17 bombers , damaging two more . On 14 September he was assigned a courier mission , delivering messages to General Juliusz Rommel , and Marshal Edward Rydz - Śmigły , flying into the encircled pocket at Młynów⋅ . After the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September , the Polish government decided to evacuate the country and ordered the remaining airforce to evacuate as well . Via Romania , Yugoslavia and Italy Sawicz entered France where he was assigned to the French Air Force ( see also Polish Army in France ) . After training in Lyon , on 1 June 1940 he was assigned to Groupe de Chasse III / 10 stationed in Deauville . In Great Britain . After the fall of France , like many other Polish pilots he did not surrender and took a Bloch MB . 152 across the Mediterranean to Algeria , from where he went to Casablanca in Morocco and via Gibraltar to Great Britain , arriving on 17 July . After four months training at No . 5 OTU at Aston Down , he joined the newly recreated Polish Air Force in the Great Britain . In Great Britain he was assigned on 20 October to No . 303 Polish Fighter Squadron during the Battle of Britain . On 22 February 1941 he was transferred to No . 316 Polish Fighter Squadron . On 9 April he shot down a Heinkel He 111 bomber , which was reported as the new squadron ' s first confirmed kill . In July he was awarded the first Cross of Valour and promoted . From 9 November 1941 he served as commander of the Escadrille A of the No . 316 Squadron . From June 1942 he served as a flight instructor with No . 58 OTU . On 25 September 1942 he became commander of No . 315 Polish Fighter Squadron . During his time with 315 Squadron he damaged a Focke Wulf 190 on 4 April . On 16 April 1943 he became the deputy commander of the 1st Polish Fighter Wing , and was awarded the Poland ' s highest military decoration , the Virtuti Militari . From June 1943 he was a liaison officer with No . 12 Group RAF . From 18 October 1943 he served in a training capacity at Rednal . On 3 April 1944 he was attached to the headquarters of the 9th Air Force of the USAAF as liaison officer . He was then assigned to the 56th Fighter Group , under Polish - American fighter ace Francis Gabreski where he formed a Polish section . For his time with the 56th Group , he was awarded the US Air Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross . On 14 June 1944 he was given the command of the 3rd Polish Fighter Wing , and on 10 October 1944 , became commander of the 131st ( Polish ) Fighter Wing . Soon after taking the command , he was injured in a crash . On 16 July 1945 he returned to duty as the commander of the Polish 3rd Wing . Later he commanded the 133rd Fighter Wing . During the war he had claimed 3 confirmed victories and 3 and a half " damaged " . He is ranked ( on the Bajan List ) as the 82nd highest scoring Polish fighter pilot of the war . After the war . He was demobilized in January 1947 with the rank of major . He chose not to return to Poland , where the new communist government was hostile towards those who had served in the Polish Armed Forces in the West . In 1957 he emigrated to Canada , where he worked in the air industry , living in Montreal and Etobicoke . In 2006 Sawicz was appointed honorary brigadier - general by then - Polish president Lech Kaczyński . At his death on 19 October 2011 he was believed to have been the last surviving Polish pilot to have fought in the Battle of Britain .