Air Vice-Marshal Mateusz Iżycki was a senior officer of the Polish Air Force.  After a distinguished military career in Poland, he played an important leadership role within the Polish Air Force community in exile in the United Kingdom.

During the war, he served in high-ranking command and staff positions within the Polish Air Forces operating under British command. After 1945, when many Polish airmen remained in Britain rather than return to communist-controlled Poland, Iżycki became one of the leading figures representing the Polish Air Force in exile.

He later served as:

• Inspector of the Polish Air Force in exile

• A senior representative of the Polish Air Force community in the UK

• A prominent figure within the Polish Air Force Association (Stowarzyszenie Lotników Polskich / Polish Air Force Association)

His role was largely organisational and representative — safeguarding the traditions of the Polish Air Force, supporting former airmen, and maintaining continuity of the Polish military heritage abroad after the dissolution of the wartime Polish Armed Forces in the West.

Air Vice-Marshal Mateusz Iżycki chaired the committee that oversaw the creation of the Polish Air Force Memorial at RAF Northolt, dedicated to the Polish airmen who served with the Royal Air Force and lost their lives during the Second World War.

The Polish Air Force Memorial in Northolt was unveiled on 2 November 1948 and honours over 2,400 Polish airmen who lost their lives during the war. Iżycki’s role was largely organisational and ceremonial, helping coordinate fundraising, planning, and cooperation with British authorities and the Polish exile community to ensure the memorial was built. You can read more about the Memorial in our article History of the Polish War Memorial – VIDEO.

Iżycki passed away in Lyon, France, on 12 February 1952 and is buried at Northwood Cemetery. Every year, British Poles organise a joint Polish–British commemoration of All Saints’ Day and Polish Independence Day to honour the many Polish and British airmen whose graves are located there. We organise the ceremony together with Polska Macierz Szkolna w Wielkiej Brytanii and Bentley Priory Museum, where the headquarters of RAF Fighter Command was based during the Battle of Britain.

Last year, the Polish Air Force Memorial Committee restored Mateusz Iżycki’s grave, returning it to its original state. British Poles, together with children taking part in our annual event, lit candles, laid wreaths and paid tribute to Mateusz Iżycki and the 53 heroic Polish airmen laid to rest there, who fought for freedom far from their homeland.

The Polish Air Force Memorial Committee organise also annual event at the Polish Air Force Memorial attended by many distinguished guests. You can read more about it in our article Commemoration of Fallen Polish Airmen at the Polish Air Force Memorial in London.

Maria Byczynski

Photos: British Poles