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Gold-chasing twins pay special tribute to hero granddad

Michael Byrne
6/12/2005

A BATTLE of Britain fighter pilot has been honoured by his granddaughters who have named their boats after the aeroplanes he flew.

Jozef Walczak had just completed his pilot training in the Polish Air Force when the Second World War broke out.

When Germany invaded Poland Mr Walczak travelled across Europe to Great Britain, where he joined the Royal Air Force.

He flew dozens of missions in Hurricanes and Spitfires during the Battle of Britain and went on to train pilots.

After the war Mr Walczak opened a chip shop in Heywood with his wife Marion, a Rochdale girl he met while based in Blackpool. He died in 1998 aged 86.

His 17-year-old twin granddaughters, Ruth and Lucy Walczak, of Burwell Close, Lower Healey, are two of the rising young stars of British rowing and are aiming for gold at the World Junior Championships next August.

The former Wardle High School pupils named their boats Hurricane and Spitfire in his honour and invited their grandmother to carry out the official christening ceremony with a bottle of champagne at Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club.

Lucy said: "We're both very proud of what our grandather did in the war. He died before he could see us growing up so we wanted to pay a tribute to him."

Ruth added: "We will be rowing in these boats at competitions across the country so people will see the names."

Their schoolteacher father Gary said: "My father never talked much about what he did during the war but he must have spent thousands of hours in the air on missions. I still have all his old log books and medals from the war.

"It's brilliant that the girls are doing this because my dad never saw them row so this is a great way to remember him."

Marion Walczak said: "I met Jozef when I was on holiday in Blackpool and although he was based in different parts of the country we wrote to each other and we were married in 1943. I'm very proud of my granddaughters for doing this."

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