Józef Bartosik
| Józef Czeslaw Bartosik | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
20 July 1917 Topola Wielka, Poland |
| Died | 14 January 2008 (aged 90) Dorset, England |
| Allegiance |
 Poland United Kingdom
|
| Service/ |
Polish Navy Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1935–1948 Poland 1948–1969 UK |
| Rank | Rear Admiral |
| Awards |
|
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Józef Czeslaw Bartosik CB DSC (20 July 1917 – 14 January 2008) was a Polish Naval officer, born in Topola Wielka near Ostrów Wielkopolski, who served in Polish destroyers during World War II, under British naval command. Shortly after World War II, he joined the British Royal Navy and advanced to the rank of rear admiral, before his retirement in 1969. He died in England in January 2008.
In 1935, at the age of 18, he joined the Naval officer cadet school in Toruń. He graduated in 1938 and in 1939 he was the first watch officer in the cadet schooner ORP Iskra. During the latter half of 1939, he led the wooden sailing ship on a voyage through the Mediterranean and into Southern Atlantic waters. On learning of the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi forces, Iskra returned from the Atlantic and left two crew members with the ship in Morocco. Along with the rest of Iskra's crew, Bartosik boarded a French ship and departed for France, where after deliberations between the French Navy's War Department and free Polish forces, he reported as a member of the reserve officer group at the ship-base ORP Gdynia in Great Britain.
In 1940, he served as a watch keeping officer and deputy gunnery officer aboard the destroyer ORP Błyskawica. During this time, he was instrumental in Błyskawica's downing of two Luftwaffe aircraft during the Norwegian campaign. He was also in the first crew of the destroyer ORP Garland where he was a watch keeping officer. After promotion to first lieutenant in 1941 he took over responsibilities of the gunnery officer. In Garland he participated in action in the Mediterranean and the raid on Spitsbergen involving the evacuation of the Norwegian Royal family; as well as serving in convoys in the Arctic, Atlantic, near Iceland and the Mediterranean. In 1942 he became flag lieutenant to the chief operating officer of the navy. In 1943 he served aboard Błyskawica as the gunnery officer and participated in Operation Neptune. In 1944 he was promoted captain and returned to the department of the navy. In 1945 he became the gunnery officer of the Polish cruiser ORP Conrad. Bartosik helped to carry Red Cross supplies to Norway and Denmark before Conrad was returned to the Royal Navy in September 1946. For his actions he was awarded a Virtuti Militari, a Cross of Valour and a British DSC.
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