View source for Mieczysław Garsztka

{{Short description|Polish flying ace}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Mieczysław Sylwester Garsztka
|image=Grasztka Mieczyslaw.jpg
|caption=
|birth_date= {{Birth date|1896|12|31|df=yes}}
|death_date= {{Death date and age|1919|06|10|1896|12|31|df=yes}} 
|birth_place=[[Bydgoszcz|Bromberg]], [[Province of Posen]] [[Imperial Germany]]<br>(now [[Bydgoszcz]], [[Poland]])
|death_place=[[Lwów]], [[Poland]] (now [[Lviv]], [[Ukraine]])
|placeofburial=[[Łyczakowski Cemetery]]
|placeofburial_label=
|nickname=Sylvester
|allegiance={{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Germany]]<br />{{flagicon|Poland}} [[Poland]]
|branch=German Air Force (''[[Luftstreitkräfte]]'');<br />[[Polish Air Force]]
|serviceyears=1915-1919
|rank=Lieutenant<br>[[Podporucznik]] ([[Second Lieutenant]])
|unit=Grenadier Regiment 110<br>1st Nassau Infantry Regiment 87<br>Jagdstaffel 31 fighter squadron;<br />[[Polish 7th Air Escadrille|7th Air Escadrille]]
|commands=1st BN, 1st Nassau Infantry Regiment Nr. 87
|battles=World War I 1915-1918<br>[[Polish–Ukrainian War]] 1918-1919
|awards=Virtuti Militari 5th Class<br/>Iron Cross 1st Class<br /> Iron Cross 2nd class
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}

'''Mieczysław Sylwester Garsztka''' (31 December 1896 - 10 June 1919) was a Polish pilot and a [[flying ace]] of the [[Germany|German]] air force during [[World War I]] and later the Polish air force during the [[Polish-Ukrainian War]].

==World War I German service==

He was born to a Polish family in [[Bydgoszcz|Bromberg]] (Bydgoszcz). Some sources state his forename as Sylvester, but Mieczysław was his first name and was the one used by him.<ref name=tjk>Kopański, T.J.</ref> He intended to study medicine, but in November 1915 he was mobilized into the [[German Army (German Empire)|German army]]. Initially he served in the [[infantry]] on the Western Front with Grenadier Regiment 110 and Infantry Regiment 87. After completing officer training in April 1917 he became a Leutnant.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

He was slightly injured commanding a company in the 1st battalion of the 1st Nassau Infantry Regiment Nr. 87, and was awarded the [[Iron Cross]] 2nd class. Then he asked to be transferred to the air service, and in November 1917 he was sent to flying school.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

After completing his flying training in [[Poznań|Posen]] (Poznań), and then a fighter pilot course in Nivelles, he was assigned to [[Jagdstaffel 31]] (''Jasta'' 31) in St. Loup in [[Champagne (province)|Champagne]] on 7 June 1918. Initially he flew the [[Albatros D.V]] and later the [[Fokker D.VII]] fighter.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

His combat career was short but successful. He shot down his first claim, a SPAD fighter, on 16 July 1918 and was given a fighter pilot badge. On 18 September he shot down an [[Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5|S.E.5a]] and a [[DH.9]] bomber, then another DH.9 on 25 September. The following day he shot down a [[Sopwith Camel]] of No. 208 Squadron, and on 30 September he claimed his sixth (and last) kill, an S.E.5a. from No. 92 Squadron.<ref name=tjk/><ref>[http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/garsztka.php Garsztka at The Aerodrome]</ref>

On 2 October he was wounded during combat with Camels of [[No. 46 Squadron RAF]], but managed to land and was hospitalised. His probable victors were Captain [[Donald MacLaren]], James Leith and Cyril H. Sawyer. Garsztka was the only pilot of Jasta 31 to become a [[fighter ace]].<ref name=tjk/> On 25 September 1918 he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

==Polish service==

After the war, when [[Poland]] regained independence, Garsztka broke through the border to Poland and on 7 December 1918 joined the [[Polish Air Force]]. At first he was made an instructor pilot in Warsaw as he was skilled in German aircraft pilotage, but he asked to be sent to the front. At that time, the Polish forces were [[Polish-Ukrainian War|fighting with Ukrainian forces]] for control of Lwów ([[Lviv]]) and the surrounding area. On 9 May 1919 Garsztka was sent to the [[Polish 7th Air Escadrille|7th Air Escadrille]] (later known as the [[Kościuszko Squadron]]) in Lwów. From 10 May to 7 June he undertook sixteen combat missions, mostly as a pilot of a bomber-reconnaissance [[LVG C.VI]]. Among others on 14 May, he flew three times bombing Ukrainian positions.<ref name=tjk/>

On 10 June 1919, Mieczysław Garsztka was killed in an air crash, flying a newly reconstructed [[SPAD S.VII]] fighter in [[Lwów]]. The cause of the crash was wing fabric failure. He was posthumously awarded the [[Virtuti Militari]] 5th Class. He was buried in [[Łyczakowski Cemetery]].{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

==Endnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==

*Kopański, Tomasz J., ''Mieczysław Garsztka - polski as Kajzera'', in: Militaria vol.4 No.1/1999, ISSN 1231-692X, p.&nbsp;47-53 {{in lang|pl}}

==Further reading==

* [[Norman Franks|Franks, Norman]]; Bailey, Frank W.; Guest, Russell. ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918''. Grub Street, 1993. {{ISBN|0-948817-73-9}}, {{ISBN|978-0-948817-73-1}}.

==External links==

*[http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/garsztka.php Garsztka at The Aerodrome]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garsztka, Mieczyslaw}}
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1919 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Bydgoszcz]]
[[Category:Polish aviators]]
[[Category:Polish Air Force officers]]
[[Category:Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War]]
[[Category:German World War I flying aces]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari]]
[[Category:German people of Polish descent]]
[[Category:Military personnel from the Province of Posen]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class]]
[[Category:Prussian Army personnel]]
[[Category:Luftstreitkräfte personnel]]
[[Category:Polish people of the Polish–Ukrainian War]]
[[Category:Burials at Lychakiv Cemetery]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1919]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Poland]]