Lot 118 WW2 Polish Air Force Badges and Paperwork Archive of Famous Polish Zoologist and Professor Kajetan Ludwik Boratynski, Being Shot Down and Captured Until Liberation in 1945

WW2 Polish Air Force Badges and Paperwork Archive of Famous Polish Zoologist and Professor Kajetan Ludwik Boratynski, Being Shot Down and Captured Until Liberation in 1945, a most interesting grouping of items which relates to this officer and also items relating to another Polish air force officer by the name of Sylvester Godlewski who was killed in a flying accident in 1942. The badges in the grouping consist of two variations of Polish Army cap badges, Polish air force cap badge with thin blade fittings to the reverse, RAF pilots wing and a cloth observers wing. Also with the badges is a Polish pilots badge with the remains of the gilt finish to the wreath, screw back fitting with all the details erased and a enamel badge for the Deblin Air Force officers school which is numbered to the reverse ‘386’. Other items of insignia include a identity bracelet engraved with Polish air force eagle and ‘dr BORATYNSKI K F/O P-0615’ a coin bracelet and a pair of Polish air force cuff links with his initials. The paperwork and photograph archive is really interesting also, it includes a number of pre-war, wartime and post war documents. Some of the highlights of the documents include his Polish Army Air Force identity card with uniform photograph dated 19th Mai (May) 1940, pre-war linen identity pass document, 1933 Polish officers service book, etc. Other interesting items are the original documents, single identity disc of the other Polish air force officer, Sylvester Godlewski, including the RAF form 96 ‘Message Form’ informing Boratynski that he had been killed in a flying accident. We are unsure of the relationship between the two men, possibly family members or close friends? Really nice grouping of photographs, including many showing fellow airmen wearing Polish air force uniform and badges etc. Postcards sent to Blackpool, where he was stationed at one time etc. A very interesting grouping which needs to be carefully sorted and looked at, we would recommend personal viewing if possible to appreciate this group. Kajetan Ludwik Boraty?ski was born on July 27, 1907 in the village of Gródek. After graduating from primary school in nearby Grybów and two years of private home schooling, Kajetan Boraty?ski studied in the third grade of the Higher School of Reals in Tarnów from 1919. In June 1924, he passed his matriculation exam. In the same year, he was accepted to the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Pozna?. He completed his higher education in 1928, passing the exam for secondary school teachers in the basic subject of biology and additional subject of chemistry with mineralogy. In his fourth year of studies, he was employed at the Department of Comparative Anatomy and Biology at the University of Pozna? under Prof. Antoni Jakubski. He worked there until the outbreak of WW2. Initially, he had the position of junior assistant, from September 1, 1929 - senior assistant, and from January 1, 1937 - assistant professor. He published his first scientific work in 1928, when the journal "Société Polonaise de Biologie" ("Polish Society of Biology") published "Sur l'anatomie de la Femalle de Margarodes Polonicus Ckll" ("Anatomy of the Female Polish June (Margarodes Polonicus Ckll)"). He devoted the following years to researching this species of insect. He received the title of Doctor of Philosophy on February 1, 1932. In 1930, he was called up for active military service. From August 19 to November 20, 1930, he participated in a recruiting course at the Reserve Infantry Cadet Battalion No. 7a in Jarocin. He was then transferred to the Reserve Air Force Cadet School - Technical Group. He completed the course on August 15, 1931, with a very good result, as a reserve cadet platoon leader with a technical officer specialization. On August 16, 1931, he was assigned to the 32nd Line Squadron in the 3rd Air Force Regiment in Pozna? for a month's practice, after which he was transferred to the reserve, with a mobilization assignment to that squadron. After completing summer military exercises in 1932, he was promoted to the rank of reserve second lieutenant, and his mobilization assignment was changed to the 31st Line Squadron in Pozna?. On November 24, 1937, he was promoted to reserve lieutenant. On August 7, 1939, as in previous years, he was called up for training to the 31st Line Squadron, and after the announcement of mobilization, on August 24 he was assigned to the Node Service Company No. 23 as deputy commander of this unit. After the outbreak of WW2, he evacuated with his unit, avoiding the besieged Warsaw, to the east. On the day of the Soviet aggression against Poland, September 17, 1939, at 10:30, he was taken prisoner by the Red Army in Jagielnica near Czortków. That same evening, he managed to escape from a convoy of prisoners, together with Lieutenant Observer Zbigniew Siarkowski and Second Lieutenant Medical Officer Marian Turski. The next day, at 8:30 p.m. after dark, he forded the Dniester in Zaleszczyki, reaching Romania. Boraty?ski initially stayed in the city of C?lim?ne?ti, and then (from 3 to 13 October) in the internment camp in Dr?g??ani. After receiving a passport from a courier arriving from Bucharest, he escaped and left for Constan?a. There, on 20 October, he boarded a ship to France. After a voyage via Istanbul, Piraeus, Alexandria and Beirut, he arrived in Marseille on 13 November 1939. He was sent to the air base in Lyon-Bron. After the establishment of the Aviation Training Centre, on 15 December 1939, he was transferred to Lyon-Foire. Until the fall of France, he served in various positions in the 3rd and 4th Reserve Squadrons of the CWL, to which privates of the air force were assigned. After the fall of France, he was evacuated by sea to Great Britain. From 14 July 1940 he was stationed at the Weeton Air Camp, from where he was transferred to Blackpool Air Force Base on 3 August. He served in the Staff Squadron of the Ground Training Centre. Boraty?ski applied as a candidate for the flying staff. From 31 January to 14 June 1941 he trained at the theoretical course for gunners-radio operators and navigators in Blackpool. After completing it, he was assigned as an adjutant to the Officers' Squadron of the Ground Training Centre, and then (at the turn of June and July 1941) to the 305th Bomber Squadron "Ziemia Wielkopolska". The unit was stationed at RAF Syerston and was equipped with Wellington IC aircraft. It was quite an unexpected assignment, because at that time all new members of flying bomber squadrons had previously undergone crew integration courses in combat training units. Meanwhile, everything indicates that Boraty?ski joined the bomber squadron without having previously taken part in a single training flight. Despite this, he took part in three combat flights as a front gunner and also a reserve radio operator. On the night of 9–10 July, he took part in the raid on Osnabrück in the crew of Capt. Pilot Karol Zaucha. On the night of 14–15 July, he flew over Bremen in the crew of Sergeant Pilot Stefan Tomicki, and three nights later he bombed Cologne as a member of the crew of Squadron B commander, Major Pilot Szczepan ?cibior. His superiors quickly realised the mistake concerning Boraty?ski, and on 16 August 1941 he was assigned to the 9th Air Observer School at RAF Penrhos in Wales. After practical training (he flew Ansons, Blenheims and Defiants), on 19 April 1942 he was assigned to the 18th Operational Training Unit (18 OTU) in Bramcote. He began flying Wellington bombers as part of a crew integration course: mainly navigation flights and practice bombing. On the night of 25–26 June 1942, three crews from 18 OTU completing their training programme were also selected for the planned “thousand bomber raid” on Bremen. Boraty?ski’s crew took off on board Wellington IC XW-N (DV765): Sergeant Józef Laudan, Rtgt Cpl. Czes?aw Rajpold, Sergeant Wac?aw Kowalik and Sergeant Alojzy Pozorski. On the return flight, their plane was attacked and hit by a German night fighter. The seriously damaged Wellington managed to escape the enemy, but some time later its left engine caught fire. The pilot decided to make a forced landing northwest of Leeuwarden in the Netherlands. None of the crew were hurt. The Poles set the plane on fire and then moved forward to get away from the wreckage and avoid capture. That same day, while resting in haystacks, they were arrested by Dutch police and German soldiers. Boraty?ski was taken to the Dulag Luft 3 transit camp in Oberursel near Frankfurt am Main. From there he was sent to Stalag Luft 3 in ?aga?. He was imprisoned in the camp for the next few years and, as it turned out towards the end of the war, he was the only one of over a hundred Poles to be taken prisoner as an airman of the 18th OTU. On 27 January 1945, the prisoners of Stalag Luft 3 were evacuated to the west. Boraty?ski's group, first marching, then travelling by train, reached the Marlag naval POW camp in Tarmstedt. On 2 April 1945, another evacuation took place from there, marching to Lübeck. Exactly one month later, this group was liberated by British army units. After returning to Great Britain, Boraty?ski was sent to the Air Force Base in Dunholme Lodge, from where on 25 July 1945 he was transferred to the staff of the Polish liaison officer at the RAF Transport Command in Bushy Head near London as an educational officer and public relations officer. During this period he published several articles on transport aviation in the magazine "My?l Lotnicza". After the Polish Air Force was disbanded, he joined the Polish Resettlement and Resettlement Corps, ending up in the demobilisation unit 4 Polish Resettlement Unit in East Wretham. He then stayed in two other similar centres, 2 Polish Resettlement Unit in Castle Combe and 3 Polish Resettlement Unit in Dunholme Lodge. Kajetan Boraty?ski demobilized on February 20, 1949, with the Polish rank of captain and the British rank of Flight Lieutenant. He was awarded the Air Medal twice and British awards 1939-1945 Star, Air Crew Europe Star and 1939-1945 War Medal. Before the war, he was also awarded the Bronze Medal for Long Service, for his scientific and teaching work at the University of Pozna?. He decided to settle in Great Britain. He lived in Kew near London. On 15 August 1950 he became a British citizen. In November 1948 he was employed as a teaching and research worker at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London in the Department of Zoology and Applied Entomology under Professor James Watson Munro. In his scientific work he dealt with the anatomical, faunal, morphological and taxonomic problems of June bugs. He was a professor at the Polish University Abroad in London and a member of the Royal Entomological Society. He donated his collections to the Natural History Museum in London. His name is commemorated in the name of the species taxon "Balanococcus boratynskii" (an insect species). He retired in 1974, but continued to work at Imperial College for three years, lecturing in numerical taxometry. He supervised seven PhD theses at various universities in the UK and abroad, as well as numerous Masters theses. He was the author of 32 scientific papers. Captain Kajetan Boraty?ski died on December 3, 1980 in London, he was 73 years old. His ashes were buried in Mortlake Cemetery in London.