Boleslaw Feliks Stachon

3/4 July 1941 Wellington R1492 301 Sqn. Take off from RAF Syerston to bomb Bremen. Part of 68 aircraft raid, 2 Wellingtons 1 Hampden lost. Good bombing claimed despite cloud and haze. R1492 intercepted 00.34 and shot down on return by Oblt Helmut Lent 4/NJG1 in Bf 110 D-3 G9+FM, crashing Drenthe north east of Emmen, Netherlands.
G/Cdr Boleslaw Stachon -killed.
F/O Waclaw Butkiewicz VM V kl 2xKW ODRK - POW. Died 1961 Manchester.
F/O Julian Palka 3xKW 2xML - Born 1911 Chrzanow, Poland. POW No 1627 Stalag VII-A - Stalag Luft III. Died 1987 Nottingham.
Sgt Antoni Dydo 3xKW ML - Born 1915 Zabuszniki, Poland. POW No 39216 Stalag VII-A - Stalag Luft I - Stalag Luft VI - Stalag Luft IIII. Died 1983 Hamilton, Canada.
Sgt Zdzislaw Dziegiel KW ML - Born Boryslaw, Poland. POW No 39245 Stalag IX-C - Stalag Luft I. Died 1982 Carleton, Lancs.
Sgt Zbigniew Idzikowski 2xKW ML- Born Plock, Poland. POW No 39217 Stalag IX-C - Stalag Luft VI- Stalag Luft IIII. Died 1993 Bramcote, Notts.

During World War I, he was drafted into the Imperial and Royal Home Defence on 15 October 1915, and served in the 17th Infantry Regiment of the Home Defence. After graduating from the infantry officers' school in Lubaczow (March 1916), he was sent to the Italian front as part of the 33rd Infantry Regiment of Home Defence, which the following year was renamed the Rifle Regiment No. 33. In May 1918, he completed a machine gun course in Trebin and was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant with seniority on November 1, 1917. He returned to Poland and from 8 November 1918 commanded the Machine Gun Company of the Reserve Battalion "Ziemia Ropczycka".

From November 1918 to December 1919, he commanded a company and a battalion in the Ropczyca Land Regiment, and then in the 37th Infantry Regiment of the Leczyca Land. On 25 February 1920 he was conditionally appointed (until the completion of the work of the Verification Commission) to the rank of lieutenant in the infantry as of 1 December 1919

He participated in the Polish-Ukrainian and Polish-Bolshevik wars. He fought in the Kiev Expedition and the Battle of Warsaw. He was particularly distinguished in the battles on the Ukrainian front, for which he was later awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari.

He was wounded at Plonsk on 18 August. On 20 September, after recovery, he was assigned to the reserve battalion of the 37th Infantry Regiment as commander of a machine gun company. On November 30 of that year, he was on leave to complete his studies. On 1 August 1921, at his own request, he returned to service in the reserve battalion of the 37th Infantry Regiment. On 27 October of that year, he was sent to the battalion commanders' course at the Main Infantry Training Centre in Rembertow. On 3 May 1922, he was verified in the rank of captain with seniority from 1 June 1919 and 1541st place in the corps of infantry officers, and his parent unit was then the 72nd Infantry Regiment in Radom. In the same year, he graduated from the Lower Pilot School in Bydgoszcz and the Higher Pilot School in Grudziadz. On 12 January 1923, he took over the command of the 6th Intelligence Squadron from Captain Władysław Kalkus. From December 1923 to July 15, 1924, he worked in Department IV of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In August of that year, he handed over the command of the squadron to Capt Zygmunt Pistel and was transferred to the Central Aviation Works in Warsaw as a test pilot. 1925–1926 he was a test pilot in the Polish Purchasing Mission in Paris. Then he held the positions of commander of the air park in the 11th Fighter Regiment in Lida and the 6th Air Regiment in Lviv. On 12 April 1927, he was promoted to the rank of major with seniority from 1 January 1927 and 6th place in the corps of air force officers. On 30 June of that year, at his own request, he was transferred to the reserve. On 24 August 1927, the order of the President of the Republic of Poland to transfer him to the reserve was annulled. 1928–1929 he was the chief of piloting at the Central School of Non-Commissioned Officers of the Air Force Pilots in Bydgoszcz, and 1929–1932 the commandant of the Air Shooting and Bombing School in Grudziądz. On 7 January 1930, he was assigned to a three-month course for aviation staff officers at the Higher War School.
October 1931 he completed a glider course, and in September 1932 he obtained the C category of glider pilot in Bezmiechowa. He participated in the creation of gliding in Poland: he co-organized the Military Gliding Camp in Ustjanowa and served as the commander of the First Gliding Course (June 1934), he translated a German manual, "Practical manual of a glider pilot" (E. Bachem), it was the first manual of this type published in Poland.

On 5 March 1934, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel with seniority from 1 January 1934 and 4th place in the corps of aeronautics officers. On 18 January 1936, he was dismissed from the post of commandant of the school and placed at the disposal of the commander of the 3rd Aeronautical Group, and at the same time sent to Moscow as the head of the air mission. From 5 May 1936 to August 1939, he commanded the 4th Air Regiment in Torun. In the meantime, he completed an information course at the Infantry Training Center in Rembertow (19–31 October 1936) and the First Course of the Higher School of Aviation in Warsaw (1 November 1936 – 3 November 1937)[3]. He was promoted to the rank of colonel with seniority on 19 March 1939 and 2nd place in the corps of air force officers, line group.

In the September Campaign of 1939, he commanded the air force and anti-aircraft defense of the "Pomorze" Army. He evacuated to Romania. In the Polish embassy in Bucharest (October – November) he led the operation of transferring Polish airmen to France. He joined the Polish Air Force and was given the service number RAF 76608. On 18 December 1939 he took command of the Polish Air Force Camp in Eastchurch in Great Britain, on 1 July 1940 he was transferred to the position of commandant of the RAF station in Bramcote. He was also the commander of the Polish Air Station in Swinderby. At his own request, he went into line service and, after training on Wellington, flew as a co-pilot in No. 301 Bomber Squadron against orders. After his death, he was posthumously demoted due to his breach of military orders. His son managed to undo that later with a lot of effort. Lieutenant General Wladyslaw Anders posthumously appointed him to the rank of Brigadier General with seniority on 1 January 1964.

In the years 1936–1939 he was a member of the Pomeranian Aero Club. He was a very versatile pilot, from light tourist machines and gliders, through observation planes, line aircraft, to fighters and multi-engine bombers. He was the first rotorcraft pilot in Poland, bringing the purchased gyroplane Cierva C.30A from England to Poland and landing after a difficult flight (in winter conditions) in Warsaw on December 10, 1934.