Mirosław Ferić

Mirosław Ferić (June 17, 1915 - February 14, 1942), was a Polish fighter pilot of Croat origin, a flying ace of World War II.

Early life

Ferić was born in Travnik in Bosnia and Herzegovina, his father was Croatian (who died during World War I), and his mother was Polish. In 1919 his family moved to Poland. He graduated in 1938 from a cadet flying school in Dęblin as a fighter pilot, and served with fighter escadre No. 111 with a rank of podporucznik pilot (2nd Lt. pilot).

War service

During the Invasion of Poland in 1939, he served with Escadre No. 111, assigned to the Pursuit Brigade (Brygada Poscigowa) and defending the Warsaw area. On 3 September his PZL P.11c fighter was damaged in combat but he successfully bailed out. During the campaign he shot down a Hs 126 on 8 September as a 'shared' victory (other sources also credit him with a Bf 110 shared with others, but this victory was not officially credited).

On 17 September he and other pilots were ordered to evacuate to Romania. There he was interned, but escaped and travelled to France by sea. After training on French aircraft, he was assigned to a flight commanded by Kazimierz Kuzian flying Morane MS-406 fighters protecting aircraft works around Nantes. However, Ferić saw no air combat. After the fall of France, Ferić evacuated in June 1940 to Great Britain.