Andrzej Jaraczewski

Who was Andrzej Jaraczewski?

Andrzej Antoni Jaraczewski, nickname Andrew, was a Polish Navy officer.

He was born into the Polish noble family, Jaraczewski, holding the Zaremba coat of arms. After graduating from the Naval Cadet School in Toruń he was made Sub-Lieutenant on October 1, 1938. After the Second World War broke out, he participated in evacuating Polish submarines to the United Kingdom, where he was commanding officer of submarine chasers within 3. MGB Flotilla and torpedo boat within 8. MTB Flotilla. Lt Jaraczewski, alongside Lt Cdr N. B. Weir, accepted the surrender of U-249, the first German submarine surrendered after the capitulation of Nazi Germany.

In 1944 he married Fg Off Jadwiga Piłsudska, an Air Transport Auxiliary pilot and daughter of Marshal Józef Piłsudski. They had two children; a son, Christopher Joseph and daughter, Jane Mary, who later married Polish politician Janusz Onyszkiewicz. In 1977, he and his wife took part in the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II on board the MGB S-3 during the Thames River Pageant.