Jadwiga Piłsudska, born on 28 February 1920 in Warsaw, was the daughter of the Polish Marshal Józef Piłsudski and his second wife Aleksandra, née Szczerbińska. She started building aviation models at age 12, and since then her life has been connected to aviation. She was one of a few voluntary Polish female pilots serving in the RAF during the 2 World War.
In 1937 Jadwiga Piłsudska received a full glider pilot training at Sokola Góra in Volhynia. She mastered her pilot skills in Bezmiechowa and later became a member of the Warsaw Aeroclub.
One of her most important achievements was a glider flight in a ‘Delfin’ type glider in 1938 from Bezmiechowa in the Bieszczady Mountains to Łuków in Polasie during which Piłsudska flew 270 kilometres in five hours.
She intended to begin studying aeronautical engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology, but the outbreak of war thwarted her plans.
Just after the start of the 2 World War Jadwiga Piłsudska, together with her mother and sister, volunteered to help civilians at a rescue station in Warsaw. A few days after she left Warsaw for Vilnius which at the time seemed safer than the besieged capital.
After the Soviet aggression of 17 September 1939, the Piłsudski family had to flee the occupation zone. Happily, she was able to travel to Riga from where she left for Stockholm. From there the family migrated to the UK and lived under the protection of Ambassador Edward Raczyński.
Jadwiga Piłsudska studied architecture at Cambridge, but desperately wanted to support the war effort with her aviation talent.
She entered service on 15 July 1942 with the IFTS (Initial Flying Training School), where she trained on light aircraft types, achieving ATA pilot class 1.
After completing the course, Pilsudski was permanently assigned to the aircraft distribution unit 1 Ferry Pool at White Waltham. Jadwiga Piłsudska visited Polish units on many occasions, including delivering Spitfires to fighter squadrons. Piłsudska was one of 17 Polish pilots, including one of three Polish women in the entire Air Transport Auxiliary.
In 1944, Piłsudska married an officer of Navy Capt Andrzej Jaraczewski and accepted the double surname of Piłsudska-Jaraczewska. She graduated from the Polish School of Architecture at Liverpool University. After the war, she remained in political exile in the United Kingdom.
She moved back to Poland after the collapse of communism in 1990 and settled in Warsaw, where she spent the rest of her life. She focused on promoting the Piłsudski family heritage in various NGOs and also took part in many initiatives for Air Force veterans across the country. She was also welcomed as a special guest in many airshows in Poland.
Jadwiga Piłsudska regained her father’s house in Sulejuwek and made great efforts to create Józef Piłsudski’s museum on the historic site.
For her post-war activities, she was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Jadwiga Piłsudska died on 16 November 2014.
Source: PAI
Photo: IPN
Colourisation: Mikołaj Kaczmarek
Tomasz Modrzejewski
