Nickname(s) Vodka (RAF nickname) Rank Flight Officer (RAF) Name Boleslaw Wlasnowolski | Allegiance Poland
United Kingdom Service number P.76736 (RAF) | |
 | ||
Born 29 November 1916
Krakow, Austria-Hungary ( 1916-11-29 ) Died 1 November 1940(1940-11-01) (aged 23)
Chichester, United Kingdom Service/branch Polish Air Force
Royal Air Force | ||
Bolesław Andrzej Własnowolski (29 November 1916 – 1 November 1940) was a Polish flying ace credited with four individual and one shared victories in World War II.
Własnowolski was a pilot for the Polish Air Force in the September Campaign of 1939, flying with 122 Eskadra during the conflict, claiming a Dornier Do. 17 shared destroyed on 2 September.
Escaping to the West, he then served with the Royal Air Force, flying Hurricanes with No. 32, from 8 August to 13 September before a posting to No. 607 during the Battle of Britain. He claimed a Bf 109 on 15 August, and a Do. 17 shared ( of KG 76) and a Bf. 109 (of JG 26) on 18 August. Another Do. 17 was claimed on 15 September, and two days later he joined No. 213 Squadrons.
He was shot down and killed in combat with Bf 109s over Portsmouth on 1 November 1940, and buried in Chichester, England.
Memorial
There is a poignant memorial to Własnowolski., by the side of the path to Kingley Vale from Stoughton, next to the field where his Hurricane crashed in November 1940.