Cwynar ( 1915- 2008 ) was an air ace as defined in the First World War as a pilot who shot down at least five enemy aircraft. He also bagged four V1 Doodlebug flying bombs.
Cwynar was born in Poland in 1915. He joined his country's air force and, when the Germans invaded in 1939, he flew to Romania where he was interned but managed to escape. He sailed in a Greek ship to Beirut and then in a French vessel to Marseilles.
He joined a French fighter squadron Groupe de Chasse and saw action against Germans and Italians before again flying to freedom from Perpignan to Algiers. There he caught a train to Casablanca and a boat to Gibraltar, then on to Britain.
After re-training at various British airfields, including Tinwald Downs in Dumfries, he joined 315 Polish Squadron with 11 Group, Fighter Command, at Northolt.
Flying Spitfires until 1944, and then Mustangs, he completed 123 missions across the Channel, becoming commander of 316 Squadron.
Cwynar won the Virtute Militari, Poland's highest decoration for valour in the face of the enemy (the equivalent of the VC), his country's Cross of Valour with four bars and the British DFC.
Reluctant to talk about his "kills", he used to quote from the book Aces High by Christopher Shores and Clive Williams, who wrote that to judge a pilot purely by his number of victories is unfair.
Cwynar supported Dumfries Aviation Museum and officiated at its opening in 1977. Among the exhibits are mementoes of his career and a flight simulator, known as a Link Trainer, he restored. He kept in touch with his native village and presented his medals to a Polish museum.
After the war, Cwynar settled in Dumfries. He was twice married and is survived by one son.
Michal Cwynar, who has died aged 92, was a highly-decorated Second World War Spitfire pilot who settled in Dumfries after retiring from the RAF.
WW II ACE STORIES
Cwynar was born in Poland in 1915. He joined his country's air force and, when the Germans invaded in 1939, he flew to Romania where he was interned but managed to escape. He sailed in a Greek ship to Beirut and then in a French vessel to Marseilles.
He joined a French fighter squadron Groupe de Chasse and saw action against Germans and Italians before again flying to freedom from Perpignan to Algiers. There he caught a train to Casablanca and a boat to Gibraltar, then on to Britain.
After re-training at various British airfields, including Tinwald Downs in Dumfries, he joined 315 Polish Squadron with 11 Group, Fighter Command, at Northolt.
Flying Spitfires until 1944, and then Mustangs, he completed 123 missions across the Channel, becoming commander of 316 Squadron.
Cwynar won the Virtute Militari, Poland's highest decoration for valour in the face of the enemy (the equivalent of the VC), his country's Cross of Valour with four bars and the British DFC.
Reluctant to talk about his "kills", he used to quote from the book Aces High by Christopher Shores and Clive Williams, who wrote that to judge a pilot purely by his number of victories is unfair.
Cwynar supported Dumfries Aviation Museum and officiated at its opening in 1977. Among the exhibits are mementoes of his career and a flight simulator, known as a Link Trainer, he restored. He kept in touch with his native village and presented his medals to a Polish museum.
After the war, Cwynar settled in Dumfries. He was twice married and is survived by one son.
Michal Cwynar, who has died aged 92, was a highly-decorated Second World War Spitfire pilot who settled in Dumfries after retiring from the RAF.
WW II ACE STORIES
