Polish Spitfire pilot leads RAF hero poll

Kornicki, the last surviving Polish WWII squadron commander, stands the biggest chance of becoming one of the faces representing RAF at a future exhibition dedicated to the British air force’s 100-year history. Titled “RAF : The First 100 Years”, the display is scheduled to be unveiled in 2018.

The Pole is ahead of other contenders by over 250,000 votes.

The Royal Air Force Museum in London, jointly with The Telegraph newspaper, invited Britons to vote online for the best individual wartime story from among a list compiled by historians and the museum’s staff.

“We have made no attempt to give you a list of the greatest pilots” said a statement by RAF Museum curator Peter Devitt published on the museum’s website. “Instead we’ve selected a wide, and perhaps surprising, range of people... to demonstrate to people of all walks that the RAF is relevant to them, and by extension the RAF Museum’s Centenary Exhibition also has something for everyone,” he added.

The Telegraph reported that the online poll was “hijacked by a massive groundswell of public support” from the Polish diaspora in Britain, totalling nearly 1 million people, with the support of the Polish Embassy in London and Polish Radio London, alongside Polish weekly Newsweek and the daily Gazeta Wyborcza.

Internet users have until Sunday to vote in the poll. (aba/pk)

Source: PAP