Wladystaw Gretkierewicz DFC 302 Sqn

Pottering at the museum this evening and an elderly gentleman appeared at the gate. He had brought some photos and papers pertaining to his uncle and wondered if we could tell him more about what he did during the war as he had noticed that he had flown from RAF Dumfries at one pont.

Details are sketchy at the moment, but it appears that he may have been in the Polish air force when Germany invaded as our guest remembered being told his uncle flew as far as his fuel lasted before force landing. There is a copy of an ‘Organe d’Accueil’ from Marseille dated 12.1.1940 which gives his name as ‘Wladystaw Gretkierewiez, Avia Sergent’. It seems he made his way to Britain and joined the RAF, and we have photos of him as a Sergeant Pilot taken at RAF Dumfries, where he was stationed briefly, flying Battles.

The dates are unclear on most of the (photocopied) papers, but there are various mentions of 302 Squadron and Spitfires, as well as intiguing notes like ‘1 F.W.190 Dest’, and there is a copy of a letter from the O.C. Commanding 34 Group upon the award of his DFC in July 1945 by which time he was a Pilot Officer. There is also a fine studio photo of him wearing his officers tunic with several medal ribbons and a small metal emblem above them held on with a fine chain – pardon my ignorance, but I am unsure exactly what this may be.

Of particular interest were about a dozen photos which had been developed from a set of negatives he had found. They are snaps taken of his uncle around RAF Dumfries with recognisable (and still extant) landmarks and buildings in the background – not something we see many of.

Anyway, after a fascinating chat with the chap at the museum, I agreed to try and find out a little more about his uncle as he didn’t want him to be a forgotten footnote in the family history. A quick Googling found a 12 o’clock high forum mention of him on the aircrew list for Operation Jubilee, but nothing else in english.

So, over to you – can you help with any info – dates, postings, details of victories or citations etc?

Thanks in advance,

JK