Mieczyslaw Frackiewicz Cross of Valour, Air Medal, Cross of Siberian Exiles

"Polish pilot Lt. Mieczysław Frąckiewicz has died in Britain at the age of 104.
In its announcement of the news on Tuesday, Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance described him as “probably the last living WWII Polish Air Force veteran.”
The British Poles website writes that the Polish community in the UK received the news of Frąckiewicz’s passing with “deep sadness.”
It recalls that Frąckiewicz was a wireless operator with No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron, as one of over 17,000 airmen serving in the Polish Air Force in Britain during World War II.
According to Polishairforce.pl, Frąckiewicz was born on November 3, 1919 in the part of Augustów County, northeastern Poland, which now belongs to Belarus.
Following the invasion of Poland by the German and Soviet forces in September 1939, Frąckiewicz and his family were deported by the Soviets to Siberia. Separated from his family, he worked on the construction of a railway line until 1941.
After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, he joined the Second Polish Corps under Gen. Władysław Anders, and eventually, through Persia and Iraq, he arrived in Britain.
Frąckiewicz volunteered to serve in the Polish Air Force there, and was assigned to the 304th Bomber Squadron based at RAF Chivenor, southwestern England.
He made his first combat flight on August 20, 1944 as a radar operator.
He took part in 27 combat missions. He twice received the Cross of Valour and the Air Medal, and also won the Radio Telegraphist's Field Mark award.
In 1949, he retired to civilian life, received British nationality, adopted the name John Franklin, married Pamela, a British citizen, and settled in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. They had two daughters.
In 2019, on his 100th birthday, Frąckiewicz received the Cross of Siberian Exiles from Polish President Andrzej Duda, and was promoted to second lieutenant."
Mieczysław Frąckiewicz, Polish WWII airman, dies at 104 - English Section - polskieradio.pl