Lieutenant Colonel Jan Zumbach

Born April 14, 1915 in Ursynów, died January 3, 1986 in Paris

One of the best Polish pilots of World War II, an ace in the skies, an outstanding member of the fighter crew of the 303 Squadron. Tadeusz Kościuszko.

Jan Zumbach was born on April 15 1915 in Ursynów. At the age of 7, he and his family moved to Bobrow, where his education began. His love for airplanes arose during the aviation shows held in Brodnica in 1928, which is when Jan decided to pursue a career as a pilot. As a 21-year-old man, he forged his mother’s consent and volunteered to join the army. After completing his service in the infantry in 1936, in the same year he started studying at the Aviation Cadet School in Dęblin, graduating in 1938 with the rank of second lieutenant. Before the outbreak of World War II, as a member of the crew of the 111th Fighter Squadron, he had a car accident and was sent to a rehabilitation center in Zaleszczyki. After the outbreak of World War II, Zumbach began searching for his squadron, but in vain. On September 17, 1939, he went to Romania, where he was not welcome and had to flee to Beirut and then to France. After safely reaching the destination, he was sent to the Polish Aviation Training Center. In May 1940, he was assigned to a Polish air unit called I Klucz Kominowy, subordinated to the French air forces. He didn’t have much success there. In the summer of 1940, he was evacuated on the ship “Kmicic” to Great Britain, where on August 2 he was incorporated into the 303 Squadron, “Tadeusz Kościuszko”, stationed in Norholt. The first plane flown by Donald Duck, as Zumbach was called by his friends, was the Hawker Hurricane Mk.I. Piloting this fighter during the Battle of Britain, Jan showed great courage, not without bravado. From August 1944 to January 30, 1945, he commanded the 133rd Polish Fighter Wing. It was confirmed that during World War II Jan Zumbach shot down 13 planes, with the number of successful shots probably reaching 18. In addition to the Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari, he was awarded the Cross of Valor four times, the Air Medal twice, the Pilot’s Field Sign and the British Distinguished Flying Cross twice.