Bastyr, Stefan

Oberleutnant Stefan Bastyr


* 17. 08. 1890 Poland
+ 06. 08. 1920 Lvov, Ukraine


Pilot of K. u K. Luftfahrtruppe
Pilot of the Polish Air Force


He was born in Ulanów, according to other data in Olesno in the territory of today's Poland. He finished high school in Tarnów. Subsequently, he studied at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Lvov. In 1913 he participated in the construction of the ZASPL (Polytechnic Student Association of Lviv) aircraft. The aircraft was built according to the designs of engineer Wladyslaw Kohman-Florianski, whose model was the French Farman IV. However, work on the construction of the aircraft was stopped, due to the use of unsuitable building materials.


After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army. He served in the 27th Field Artillery Regiment (27. Feldkanonenregiment - the regiment had its home garrison in Hradec Králové - Königgrätz). He fought with this regiment on the Eastern Front.
In the second half of 1915 he volunteered for the air force. He completed an aerial observation course in Wiener Neustadt in January 1916. He then worked as a technical officer and aerial observer first with Flik 10 from 1 February 1916 to 12 October 1917 on the Eastern Front. He was then transferred to Flik 12D in Italy, where he served from 21 December 1917 to 4 April 1918. After completing a pilot course at Campoformido, he flew as a pilot in Flik 37 from 24 June 1918 to October 1918 in Italy. A Polish aviator Oberleutnant Stanislaw Jasinski served as commander in Flik 37.


On 2 November 1918, he participated in the capture of Lvov Lewandowka airfield and was appointed to lead a group of Polish airmen - air observers Janusz de Beaurain and Wladyslaw Torun. On 7 November, Stefan Stec and other pilots and air observers joined the unit.
Over the next few days, they defended the airfield and the city from the Ukrainians with few aircraft. In the next days, the deputy commander of the defense of the airport and the airport itself, Lviv Maczynski Czeslaw, was appointed commander. Lieutenant Bastyr remained the commander of the air group.
On 5 November, together with the air observer Janusz de Beaurain, he made the first combat flight in the history of Polish aviation in independent Poland (Poland formally became independent on 11 November 1918). With a Brandenburg C.I aircraft, they dropped bombs on Ukrainian soldiers during an attack on the Main Railway Station in Lvov. The second combat flight was on the same day with air observer Wladyslaw Torun.
On 8 November Bastyr made the first courier flight from Lvov to Kraków.


During the fighting for Lvov he made about 28 combat flights to reconnoiter or bomb Ukrainian positions.
He also fought later in the Polish-Ukrainian War against the Ukrainians and then in 1920 against the Bolsheviks.


Bastyr was promoted to captain in 1919 and made commander of the III Air Group, subsequently renamed the 3rd Air Division.
In 1920 he became commander of the 6th Air Force. Army.


Stefan Bastyr was killed in an air crash on 6 August 1920. He crashed with a Fokker D. VII at the airport in Lviv Lewandowka. The cause of the crash has not been fully explained, but most likely the cause was determined to be a sudden heart ailment, of which he had been complaining for some time.
He was buried at the Defenders Cemetery in Lviv.


He was promoted to the rank of Oberleutnant in the Austro-Hungarian Army.
In the Polish Air Force he received the rank of captain of the air force.


For his service in the Polish Air Force, he was awarded the following decorations: the Order of Virtuti Militari V Class, 4x Krzyz Walecznych (War Cross), the Cross of the Defenders of Lvov


Notes:
During his service in the Austro-Hungarian Air Force he made about 100 combat flights.



List of victories:

Order Date of kill / Time Unit On aircraft Enemy Place of kill
1st04. 06. 1916 Flik 10?Farman 35 miles southwest of Równe




Sources:
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Bastyr
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://pl.wikipedia.org
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Stefan Bastyr






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