Marian Pisarek was born to Adam Pisarek and Marianna (nee Chotkiewicz) on 3rd January 1912 at Losie near Radzymin, east of Warsaw, Poland. He was educated at Radzymin, Chelm, and Warsaw. In 1932 he commenced his military service and spent two years in the infantry.

 

He volunteered for the air force in 1934 and a year later graduated from flying school and was posted to the 6th Aviation Regiment in Lviv. He was later sent for further training at the Air Firing and Bombing School at Grudziadz. He then went to the 4th Aviation Regiment in Torun.

 

At the time of the German attack on 1 September 1939, he was serving with the 141st Fighter Squadron, operating the PZL P-11C. On the 1st he shot down a Hs126. On 4th September he shot down a Ju87.

 

He escaped to Romania and made his way to France via Yugoslavia and Italy, and was posted to the fighter section of Captain Tadeusz Rolski. He was involved there with the training of Polish airmen and did not fly operationally. Moving from airfield to airfield as the Germans advanced, Pisarek ended up at Gaillac near Toulouse. He was part of a group of Polish airmen who flew in a Caudron Goeland aircraft to Oran via Perpignan. They then travelled via Casablanca and Gibraltar to the UK, arriving in Great Britain on 23 June 1940.

 

After assessment and converting to the Hurricane, Marian was posted to 303 "Kosciuszko" Squadron at Northolt on 21st August, and took part in the Battle of Britain. On 7 September 1940, after shooting down one Messerschmitt Bf 109, he was shot down and had to bail out.  Despite being shot down, Pisarek went on to shoot down at least 4 German planes during the Battle of Britain.

 

In June 1941, Pisarek was posted to command the 308 "City of Krakow" Squadron. On 14 August 1941, Pisarek claimed a Bf 109F destroyed.

 

In April 1942, Pisarek was made Wing Commander of the 1st Polish Fighter Wing at Northolt (consisting of  303, 316, and 317 Squadrons). A few days later, the wing was attacked over Le Touquet/Boulogne in France by a formation of JG 26 Fw 190's. Squadron Leader Piotr Ozyra (of 317 Squadron) and Wing Commander Pisarek were shot down and killed. Pisarek was probably shot down by the Commander of II/JG 26, Htpm. Joachim Müncheberg.

 

Pisarek is credited with 11 destroyed, 2 shared destroyed, 1 probable destroyed, and 2 damaged.

 

Pisarek was awarded:

• the Gold Virtuti Militari Cross (posthumously)

• the Silver Virtuti Militari Cross

• the Cross of Valour (four times)

• the Air Force Medal 1939-45

• the Field Pilot Badge, and

• the British Distinguished Flying Cross

 

A street in Warsaw was named after him in 1979, as was a primary school at Radzymin in 1991. His biography by Krzysztof Kubala was published in Polish in 2005 under the title “Start w nieskończoność” (Take-off Into Eternity). Marian Pisarek is also remembered on the Polish Air Force Memorial at Northolt.

 

His story also appears in the book: "303 Squadron: The Legendary Battle of Britain Fighter Squadron," written by Arkady Fiedler during the war with the squadron's top pilots.