After training with the RAF he was posted to a Polish Squadron, based in Northolt, flying Hurricane fighter planes. His squadron was assigned to defend London and the South East against attacks from the German Luftwaffe.
One morning, his aircraft was targeted and he had to bale out with his parachute. Fortunately, he landed in South London and a passing lorry driver returned him to base. Four hours later, he was back in the air again.
He was later transferred to a coastal command station in Cornwall, flying long sorties over the Atlantic, protecting shipping convoys and hunting enemy submarines. One of the first pilots to fly the new Mosquito light bomber, his plane was targeted again, hit this time by anti-aircraft fire, while en route to bomb submarine pens off the French Atlantic coast.
Bailing out with his navigator, he landed in German-occupied France, aware of the risk, as a Pole. They both hid in a haystack and eventually the French Resistance helped them escape through occupied France over the Pyrenees into Spain, Gibraltar and England.
Kaczan became a flying instructor at RAF East Fortune in Scotland, training Commonwealth student pilots. Discharged as Flight Lieutenant Kaczan, he was awarded 10 medals for his service, five from the Polish authorities, including The Cross of Valour, and five from the RAF.
Returning to Poland years later, he was greeted as a hero and saviour and made an honorary Colonel in the modern Polish Air Force.
He settled in London after the war, but his marriage ended in divorce. He then set up a successful heating engineering business in Newcastle. He married his second wife Margaret in 1965. They had a son and daughter.
An active AJEX member, he was well known throughout Tyneside as a cheerful, friendly and modest man who was also an accomplished musician. But few knew of his escape and dangerous wartime pursuits. He is survived by his son, his daughter and grandchildren. Margaret predeceased him.
faga speker
Willi Kaczan: Born July 3, 1923. Died September 25, 2016