Ryszard Danilo, Polish combat pilot who eventually made his way to England where his son, Jan, was born and who now lives in Kerikeri with his family.
Ryszard Danilo, Polish combat pilot who eventually made his way to England where his son, Jan, was born and who now lives in Kerikeri with his family.
The 85th anniversary of the German and Soviet invasion of Poland, which triggered the start of World War II, is remembered by the Danilo family of Kerikeri.
The family settled in Kerikeri, from England, 13 years ago and for Jan Danilo the memory of his father Ryszard is top ofmind.
Ryszard Danilo was a young, recently trained fighter pilot with the Polish Air Force. With the ink barely dry on the so-called “non-aggression” pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, Ryszard – who was serving in a squadron near the Carpathian Mountains in the far east of Poland – found himself dodging Russian gunfire as USSR troops rolled into eastern Poland.
Meanwhile, with rapid German advances in the west, it became clear that Ryszard and his fellow airmen were running out of options. Jan remembers his father talking about those final hours before Poland – the “accordion” of Europe – surrendered.
“My father spent three days trying to resist enemy aircraft, and was nearly killed on several occasions during that time,” said Jan.
“In one of his last missions over Poland, he came in to land after nearly running out of fuel. Above him were German bombers, and as he set his plane down three bombs fell close to him in rapid succession. The third one was so big and close that Dad felt the plane bounce after it hit the ground. Incredibly, the bomb didn’t go off. If it had, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Jan Danilo from Kerikeri pictured with a framed photo of his Polish combat pilot father, Ryszard Danilo. Photo / Supplied
The battle for Poland lasted three days, though the fighting spirit of Ryszard and his comrades in arms remained undiminished. As Poland was forced to surrender, the pilots of the Polish Air Force flew to Romania determined to keep up the fight.
“The Romanian Government was unfriendly to the Poles and initially my father and the other airmen were incarcerated in appalling camps where they were fed dried salted fish by the guards who didn’t bother to explain to their interns that they needed to soak the salted fish in water before eating it,” he said.
“Soon after, they were put on a transport ship bound for Beirut. My father spent Christmas 1939 in Lebanon, though shortly after was shipped off to the south of France. Because dad was a pilot who could speak a bit of French the plan was for him to fly for the French Air Force.”
The capitulation of France in 1940 put paid to that. Instead, Ryszard found himself leaving the Bay of Biscay on the Andorra Star – one of the last ships to escape for England. He arrived in Britain more or less on the eve of the Battle of Britain.
“Dad spent the time during the Battle of Britain training and learning the language. He had arrived in the country without being able to speak a word of English so that was a priority,” said Jan.
“He spotted what appeared to be a manor house with a tree-lined avenue which he then attempted to use as a landing strip. Unfortunately, the avenue was a little narrow, and Dad was severely knocked about during the crash landing. Ironically his comrade at the back of the plane hopped out without a scratch.”
He was out of action for a year and wasn’t cleared for combat duty after that. Instead, he served the rest of the war in a gunnery school where he flew a plane towing a drogue.
Jan’s parents returned to Poland on several occasions after the war, as tourists holding British passports, and were able to inform family members they had survived. For many years, family in Poland hadn’t heard whether their loved ones who had escaped were still alive.
It is with a great deal of pride that Jan remembers his father who died at the age of 91, and shares many of the memories passed down to him with his two sons.
