Antoni Henryk Gosiewski was born Poland on 12th January 1900 to Feliks Gosiewski and his wife Biernacka Julyanna. Antoni was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Polish Air Force from 1923 but by September of 1939 he was living in France and was then a Pilot Officer for the R.A.F. Later he was dismissed due to a Court Martial where he was found guilty of embezzlement committed back in Poland. Antoni joined the A.T.A (Air Transport Auxiliary) in the September of 1941. Some of the duties for ATA personal was ferrying new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factories, assembly points and transatlantic delivery points.
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| Second Officer Antoni Henryk Gosiewski |
Antoni was married to Umerska Jadwiga who at the time was living is Lisbon, together they had two sons, Michal, and Krzystof. Sadly, Antoni's wife and sons would pass away when the ship they were travelling on, the SS Avoceta, from Lisbon to john Antoni, was torpedoed on the night of 26th September 1941, just weeks after Antoni had joined the A.T.A
During a ferry flight in Miles Master W8479, from the Phillips & Powis factory in Reading Berkshire, to R.A.F Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland, Antoni met his death on 19th December 1941 when he encountered bad weather over the Pennines causing him to fly into the summit of Arant Haw due to poor visibility. The wreck of the plane wasn't discovered until 24th December. On the 31st December 1941 the Manchester Evening News reported:
"Polish Pilot Buried - Anton Henruk Gosiewski [sic] a Polish ferry pilot killed in a flying accident in the North of England during Christmas, was buried int he South of England."
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| Miles Master Aircraft |
I like that you added in his photo, as well as a photo of one of the planes. :)
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Thank you for linking up. It really is amazing what you can find on the internet these days.
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