Józef Kępiński ( aviator ) Józef Kępiński ( ; 1900 - 1964 ) was a Polish aviator and officer of the Polish Air Force and the Royal Air Force during World War II . Among other posts he was a commanding officer of the 111th Fighter Escadrille in Poland and the I / 145 Polish Fighter Squadron in France , as well as the Air Training Centre . Born 12 September 1900 in Stryków near Łódź , Kępiński joined the renascent Polish Army on 1 November 1918 . Together with the 1st Chevau - léger Regiment he took part in the Polish - Ukrainian War . Withdrawn from the front for training he returned to front - line service in the rank of podporucznik , in time to take part in the Polish - Bolshevist War of 1920 . After the armistice and the Peace of Riga he remained in the army and in 1926 he volunteered for the Polish Air Force . He trained as a fighter pilot in various escadrilles and eventually joined the 121 Fighter Escadrille ( later renamed the 111th ) flying the Spad 61 fighters . 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 . In 1936 he became the commanding officer of the IV Fighter Squadron ( comprising 113th and 114th Fighter Escadrilles ) . Promoted to the rank of Major , in 1937 Kępiński was dispatched to Dęblin , where he headed the Air Training Centre ( ) , the predecessor to Polish Air Force Academy . After the start of the Invasion of Poland he headed an ad - hoc air defence of Dęblin . Ordered to evacuate from Poland after the Soviet invasion , he fled to Romania . Interned , he managed to escape and reach France , where he joined the Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain . Dispatched to Lyon - Bron , he became the first commanding officer of the I / 145 Polish Fighter Squadron . 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 . However , on 10 June 1940 Kępiński led his unit in a battle against a German bombing raid south of Dreux , covered by approximately 12 Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters . Blinded by the sun , Kępiński separated from his unit and mistook the enemy formation for his own . Heavily wounded , with his lung shot through he managed to return his damaged plane and crash - land at Dreux airfield . He spent the remainder of the campaign in hospitals in Chartres and Vichy . In October 1940 he escaped from Vichy France and through Spain and Portugal he reached Great Britain . Unable to serve as a fighter pilot due to his earlier wounds , he served on various rear - area posts for the rest of World War II flying Percival Proctor , Miles Master and Airspeed Oxford planes . He eventually rose to the Polish rank of Lieutenant Colonel ( " podpułkownik " ) and the British rank of Group Captain . 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 . He died 26 March 1964 in Warsaw and was buried at the Powązki Military Cemetery .