Tadeusz Janikowski
Born on 20 January 1909 in Sambor (Poland), Tadeusz was one of fourteen children, four of whom did not survive beyond birth. His father worked on the railway being built between Krakow and Lvov. The ten surviving siblings were born in different places along the route as the family moved. His education was limited to primary level, which was the norm. This was something he always regretted.
In 1929, Tadeusz enlisted in the Nineteenth armoured regiment in Lvov and went to the non-commissioned officer school. At the time of the invasion, he was attached to the Second Krakow Air Regiment. He was evacuated to France via Bucharest. He joined the Villard-de-Lans high school in 1940, passed his baccalaureate in 1941 and moved to Toulouse to work in the aeronautical factories. When the free zone was invaded, he crossed the Pyrenees to eventually reach Scotland, where he joined the air force.
After the war, he worked briefly at the Polish embassy in London, where he met his wife. They left London and settled in Huntingdon, where he resumed his career as an engineer. He retired in 1976 and died in 1978.
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