Captain Mieczysław Olszewski Memorial Plaque

The plaque in Stanisławów Drugi commemorates Captain Mieczysław Leonard Olszewski, a pilot killed on 1 September 1939 during the defence of Warsaw. He commanded the 123rd Fighter Squadron, part of the Pursuit Brigade.

That morning, Polish aircraft took off to intercept a German formation heading towards the capital. The pilots attacked the bombers and their fighter escort, forcing some of the German aircraft to drop their bombs away from the target. The squadron suffered heavy losses in the battle. Captain Olszewski’s aircraft was hit and crashed near Stanisławów Drugi.

Captain Olszewski was killed in the first hours of the war. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari War Order. The plaque commemorates his last flight and the part played by Polish pilots in the defence of the capital.