Adolf Pilch

Adolf Pilch (22 May 1914, Wisła, Austrian Silesia – 26 January 2000, London) was a Polish resistance fighter (codenames Góra and Dolina). He became part of the Polish special forces (cichociemni) trained in the United Kingdom, and was parachuted into occupied Poland on February 17, 1943. There, as a member of the Armia Krajowa Polish resistance, he organized a cavalry partisan unit in the Nowogródek area, and broke through to the Kampinos forest near Warsaw, taking control of this area. At its height of operations his unit consisted of up to 1000 men. Between June 3, 1943 and January 17, 1945, his partisans fought in 235 battles.

Life

Adolf Pilch was born in Wisła. He attended the school for Polish officer cadets (podchorąży), and was assigned to the 26th Infantry Division. He was not, however, mobilized during the German invasion of Poland; he would escape the country through Hungary and Yugoslavia and join the recreated Polish Army in France. In France he was assigned to the Polish 3rd Infantry Division in France. He fought in the Battle of France, and then managed to join the Polish Army in the United Kingdom. He was assigned to Polish special forces, the cichociemni unit, which was a Polish division of the Special Operations Executive (SOE).