him in and tried to force him to land. As he approached a German airfield configured for landing, Gladych suddenly opened fire on the airfield with his remaining ammunition. German flak gunners responded, but missed Gladych and shot down the two following Fw 190s. When he crossed the English coast his P-47 ran out of fuel, forcing Gladych to bail out. It was then claimed he flew further (unofficial?) operations with an unnamed P-51 group, claiming a Me-262 jet downed, but this is not confirmed by USAAF records and his ten credited kills were all made with the 61st FS. It is also claimed he intentionally understated the total of his air victories lest he be promoted and transferred off combat duties. He was awarded the Virtuti Militari, Cross of Valour with three bars by the Polish Air Force, the DFC by the RAF, and the Silver Star and two clusters, the Air Medal and three clusters by the USAAF. He also claimed to have been awarded the Croix de Guerre for the sortie on 8 March 1944 when he strafed an airfield after shooting down an Fw 190. He nicknamed the numerous P-47's assigned to him Pengie, after the nickname of his then girlfriend, a Canadian WAAF, continuing the series up to Pengie V as he received newer aircraft. The name included a cartoon image of a penguin on the left side of the engine cowling. His wartime 'score' totals 17 claimed destroyed, 2 probables, 1 shared damaged, and 5 ground kills. His ten kills with the 56th FG are officially recognized by the U.S. Air Force, as are the 4 kills by Lanowski. (USAF Historical Study No. 85: USAF Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, World War II, Air Force Historical Research Agency). Post-war biography After the war ended, Gladych was allegedly involved in black market smuggling across Europe. In the early 1950s, he was recruited by the CIA to join a newly composed Project ARTICHOKE operating from Washington DC. He also located his brother (a Polish resistance fighter) in a German POW camp in Austria, which had been liberated by the Russians in 1945. Anticipating the fact that most of the Polish resistance falling into the hands of the Soviets were likely to be deported to Siberia, Gladych used his USAAF status to visit the camp and managed to smuggle his brother out to the West.