Mechanic Sergeant Lt. Wilhelm Balcarek - service number - 780,000
Wilhelm, Andrzej, Jerzy Balcarek was born on February 4, 1915 in Jankowice, Pszczyna poviat in Silesia, the son of Paweł and Franciszka née Gawlik. He did not remember his father, who died as a German soldier during World War I, somewhere on the French front on November 11, 1915. He served in the 11th Infantry Reserve Regiment in 12 companies. He was buried in the rank of Unteroffizier, or corporal at the War Cemetery in Saint-Laurent-Blangy (northern France, near the border with Belgium)
After graduating from primary school in Jankowice, his mother took him to learn a trade at the merchant Madaj from Pszczyna. However, this was not the career that young Wiluś had dreamed of. He once witnessed a plane landing in Jankowice's fields and from that time his dreams of aviation began. No wonder that one day he quit his boring job in Madaj's shop. He left for Bydgoszcz and after three years 1932-1935 he graduated from the School of Non-commissioned Aviation Officers for Minors (SPLdM), where he obtained an aircraft mechanic's patent. Soon he also started serving in the 21st airline squadron of the famous 2nd Aviation Regiment in Krakow.
A turning point in his aviation career was the Nazi invasion of Poland. He took an active part in the September campaign in 1939 as part of the 21st Bomb Squadron, which was part of the 2nd Light Bomber Squadron. The unit had 10 PZL.23B Karaś aircraft, 1 Fokker F.VIIB / 3m aircraft and 1 RWD-8 aircraft. On September 17 he was evacuated to Romania (from September 17 to October 10, 1939 he was interned) when the Red Army invaded our eastern borderlands. From there, after many vicissitudes, along with other pilots, he reached France through the Black Sea, Beirut and Syria.
On October 30, 1939, he arrived in Marseilles and joined the Polish Army, with the Polish air force under French command. One of the first transports, on December 8, 1939, he went to Great Britain and entered the list of his own free will, voluntarily joining the Volunteer Reserve of the Royal Air Force, and on August 6, 1940, he was transferred to the Polish Air Force. The variety of combat machines used at that time meant that it underwent various trainings one by one. After training at Blackpool base, he served in 304 DB from the beginning of its formation in combat and support units. Then it served in 300 DB and 301 DB. He volunteered for service in the flying personnel and on February 9, 1944 he began a course at the Technical School of 4 STT (School of Technical Training) where he completed the flight mechanics course. He completed his last training on June 2, 1944 with a flight engineer certificate, specializing in Halifax bombers, and returned to the base in Blackpool. On June 12, he was enlisted in the 300 bomber squadron and assigned to 11 Base for training on four-engine planes in 1662 HCU. Soon after, on July 2, 1944, he was delegated to the 1586 Special Purpose Squadron in Italy.
On August 10, 1944, seven airmen arrived at Campo Casale airfield near Brindisi in southeastern Italy. They made four combat flights to help the insurgents of Warsaw. They set off for the fifth task in the evening of August 27, 1944. After five hours of flight, the plane was to reach the insurgent Warsaw. The plane belonged to the Polish Independent 1586 Squadron for Special Tasks, which the war correspondents called the squadron of the doomed. One of the machines prepared for the flight was the powerful HP Halifax II FS-P marked with the number JP 295, which was borrowed from the 148 Sqn RAF (failure of one of the engines). It was a heavy bomber adapted to take drops in the far rear of the enemy. The crew, as usual, prepared very carefully to complete the task ahead. All preparations were supervised by Cpt. Franciszek Omylak. He looked after every detail. In turn, 2nd Lt. Konstanty Dunin-Horkawicz dealt with the load that was to be dropped over Warsaw. It is he who, after hours of a dangerous flight, will pull the lever and release the containers, which will fall on the parachutes on the insurgent airdrops. In the cockpit, he checked the devices of 2nd Lt. Kazimierz Widacki - the pilot of this powerful machine. The last inspection of Vickers machine guns was carried out by 2nd Lt. Tadeusz Mroczko and corporal Józef Skorczyk. As deck shooters, they were responsible for the defense of the aircraft. The most responsible job, however, was for the flight engineer, Sergeant Wilhelm Balcarek. He was responsible for the engines, rudders and everything that allowed him to take to the skies, fly several thousand kilometers and happily return to Campo Casale airport.
The Polish crew did not return to the base in Brindisi from this expedition. She was shot down on August 28, 1944 in Banica, today Krzywa (Gorlice County) by a German fighter. Previously, it was thought that Halifax was shot down on the way back over the Adriatic Sea and sank there, and the Liberator VI GR-R (EW275) crashed in Banica, but the remains of the plane were found in 1994 - 2006 in Olszyny and Banica, followed by consultations with the RAF Museum in Hendon, confirmed that the crew of captain Franciszek Omylak was shot down in the Beskid Niski (Sękowa commune). For outstanding services, he was awarded three times with the Air Force Medal.
