Air Commodore Władysław Józef
Marian Turowicz, (April 23, 1908 – November 8, 1980)
SP (MI),
SK (MI),
TP (MI),
SQA [MI],
SI [MI], usually referred to as
Air. Cdre.
W.
J. M. Turowicz, was a prominent
and noted Polish-Pakistani
military scientist and an aeronautical engineer. Turowicz
is considered as one of the chief architects of the
Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan's space
program. He was the leading and central figure in Pakistan's drive
to develop high-tech rocket and missile technology of its
own.
As Turowicz was the administrator of Pakistan's
Space and Upper
Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) from 1967 to 1970, and
towards the end of his career, he was appointed to the post of
Air Marshal of the
Pakistan Air Force.
He was one of thirty
high ranking Polish pilots who served in Pakistan Air Force during
the Indo-Pakistani War of
1965, and is considered one of the pioneers of Pakistan's space
program, playing a central role in Pakistan
's aviation
and aerospace industry.
Turowicz made significant contributions to Pakistan's
missile/rocket program as a chief
aeronautical engineer and has recently
been referred to as the "Rocket-Missile Man of Pakistan" by some of
the prominent defense analysts for his work towards the development
of ballistic missile and space rocket technology. In Pakistan, he
is highly respected as a scientist and noted aeronautical
engineer.
Early life and education
Turowicz
was born in Zabrze
, Poland
, in 1908,
where he graduated from High School. From an early age on,
Turowicz was fascinated by aviation technology and had collected
different models of aircraft.
Due to this passion, he moved to Warsaw
where he
attended Warsaw University of Technology
in 1920, majoring in aeronautical engineering; upon
graduation, he received his PhD
with honors in 1926. In addition,
he completed an
MSc in
astrodynamics in 1927 from the same
institution.
He joined the Polish Air Force as an aeronautical engineer and fighter
pilot, but later emigrated to United Kingdom
where he joined the Royal Air Force in 1930 as a reservist
Polish pilot.
World War II and RAF Career
Though initially joining the Polish Air Force, Turowicz enlisted as
a Royal Air Force reservist during
World
War II.
He was immediately sent to Great Britain
where he flew the British-built
Handley Page Halifax during the
war. Later, he was transferred into the Royal Air Force
Aeronautics division where he served as Technical Inspector, and
was put in charge of aircraft electrical and system information,
organizing, testing, and evaluating aircraft. After World War II,
Turowicz returned to Poland but, due to the political situation at
the time, was informed that the country had no interest in those
who had served in the British military during World War II.
Moving to Pakistan
As the
political situation in Poland got worse, many Polish Air Force
commanders began to move to United States
, Australia, Norway
and Canada
.
Turowicz and his commanders were asked to move to Pakistan by the
Government of Pakistan.
Turowicz,
together with a group of thirty Polish officers, scientists, engineers, and aviators arrived in Karachi
by the end
of 1948. They were received a warm welcomed from the people
of Pakistan. His task was to train Pakistan Air Force's fighter
pilots. He, along with the Polish Air Force General, signed a
three-year agreement with Pakistan.
Career with Pakistan Air Force
The three-year contract with Pakistan Air Force was to transform
Pakistan Air Force into permanent and effective Air Force of the
region. Turowicz set up technical institutes in Karachi. He taught
and revitalized
Pakistan Air
Force Academy where he worked there as a chief scientist. He
initially led the technical training in the airbase and a part of
the Polish specialists in the technical section in Karachi.
However,
they were transferred and accommodated in Peshawar
.
In 1952, Turowicz, along with several Polish fighters, were
promoted in the rank of
Wing
Commander.
He was also promoted to the rank Lieutenant Commander when he became an
Air Force Commander of Pakistan Air Force's Chaklala
Airbase
. In 1959, Turowicz was promoted in the rank
of
Group Captain. In 1960, he, along
with other Polish Air Force general, became an
Air Commodore and a Deputy Chief of Air Staff,
in charge of Pakistan Air Force Training Department.
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
During
the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Turowicz flew the American-built
F-86 Sabre and defended Lahore
from the
Indian Air Force. On
September 6, 1965, after successfully driving out the Pakistan
militants and rebels, the
Indian Army
crossed the border at Lahore to relieve pressure off the Chamb
Jaurian sector.
He, along with other Polish pilots, rose to prominence and fame as
he successfully defended Lahore and Pakistan. After the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Turowicz along with several other
Polish pilots, were framed as Heroes of Pakistan. Turowicz,
squadron leader
Major Anotnii Zbigniew Jedryszek, and
other Polish pilots were awarded the
Sitara-e-Pakistan.
Honorary Pakistani
citizenship was bestowed upon Turowicz as well the other Polish
pilots by the President of
Pakistan, Ayub Khan, in a grand public
ceremony held in Islamabad
.
Pakistan's Space Program
Gen. Turowicz was actively and heavily involved in Pakistan's space
program. According to his close sources, Gen. Turowicz was
passionate and fascinated about the Russian and American space
program.
He showed deep interests in the emerging
ICBM technology that was being built by the Soviet Union
. In 1966, the Government of Pakistan
transferred him to SUPARCO, Pakistan's national space agency, where
he worked there as a chief scientist and an aeronautical engineer.
He, along with noted Pakistani
theoretical physicist, Dr.
Abdus Salam, who later won the
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979, met
with President Khan where he successfully convinced him of the
importance of a space program for a developing country like
Pakistan after Russia's launch of Sputnik. He expressed his
thoughts to
I. H. Usmani that one
day Pakistan will be able to possess high-tech satellites and
high-powered rocket technology as a part of Pakistan's peaceful
purpose space program. He also expressed that in few decades
Pakistan will launch its first satellite. His prediction came true,
when 10 years after the death of Air. Mar. Gen.
Władysław Turowicz,
Pakistan launched its first indigenously developed experimental
digital communication satellite from Xichang
Satellite Launch Center
, People's Republic of China
aboard a Long March
2E. His vision did come true but unfortunately, he
wasn't there to see it.
He along with Dr. Salam traveled through to the United States to
reach a space-cooperation agreement. He successfully convinced the
United States Government to
invest and train Pakistan's scientists in the field of rocket
technology. He is widely credited with setting up the rocket fuel
factories and rocket technology laboratories and research
institutes in Pakistan.
He was one of the chief designers and the
main architect of design and construction of Sonmiani Satellite Launch
Centre
.
SUPARCO administrator
Turowicz was appointed head of SUPARCO in 1967 by the Government of
Pakistan. As the administrator, he revitalized and initiated the
space program as quickly as possible. He was responsible for
Pakistan's weather satellite program, Rehbar-II, which was
indigenously designed by him. Rehbar-II, a geo-stationary and small
weather satellite was launched from the Sonmiani Satellite Launch
Centre under his guidance. The successful launch carried a payload
of 80 pounds of sodium, and it streaked up about 130 km into
the atmosphere.
After his tenure as administrator was completed, Turowicz was
appointed as Pakistan Air Force's
Air
Marshal. However, the Government of Pakistan, on the request of
Dr. Salam, initiated him with the Pakistan's space program where he
was appointed head of SUPARCO's Aeronautical Engineering Division.
As a noted aeronautical engineer, Air. Mar. Władysław Turowicz
upgraded Sonmiani Satellite Launch Centre in which he was
responsible for installing Flight-Test Control Command, Launch Pad
Control System and
System
Engineering Division.
Rehbar Sounding Rocket Program
Turowicz, as an
aeronautical
engineer, was chosen by Dr. Abdus Salam to lead Pakistan in
rocket and
space technology. The
Rehbar Program was entirely designed and developed by him. He was
also in charge of the team of aerospace scientists and engineers in
the
Rehbar Sounding Rocket Project.
Turowicz started a project for the fabrication and launch of a
Pakistani
satellite. As a result Pakistan
mastered the field of rocket technology by the end of 1970s. He
also set up the educational engineering institute at the
SUPARCO.
He and his students published science papers and articles
extensively in the field of long-range rocket system and
technology. He has provided a major contribution to the Pakistan's
space program and modernization of Pakistan's missiles
capabilities. In recognition of his honest and effective effort, he
was conferred with high-civilian/military award Tamgha-i-Pakistan
and
Sitara-i-Khidmat [Military] in
1967 in a grand public ceremony.
Pakistan's Missile and Nuclear Program
Turowicz was appointed administrator of
SUPARCO in 1967. He was given autonomous control of
the scientific organization. In 1972, then-
Prime Minister of Pakistan,
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, initiated
the nuclear weapon program, starting the
Project-706. Turowicz was given responsibility
to develop a sophisticated missile program to meet
Nuclear weapons delivery
requirements. He is one of the
European
scientist who collaborated and participated in Pakistan's secret
research program,
Project-706.
He founded the
Hatf Missile Program, a
program under his guidance, become a leading source of Pakistan's
Rocket and Missile Program. As the SUPARCO chairman, Turowicz used
his influence to bring the space technology to Pakistan in a short
time. By the 1970s, Pakistan's Space Agency, under his direction,
had developed the ability to fabricate rocket motors from raw
materials at solid and liquid propellant manufacturing
plants.
He
quickly set up the missile and rocket facility near Lahore. He
was responsible for the development of electronic delivery system
and inertial turbine engines in the rocket. He was a noted
scientist and pioneer of launching the research institution to
develop and designed Pakistan's first satellite program in 1970s.
He also received permission from the
Prime Minister to research and develop the
Pakistan's first communication satellite.
Due to his efforts,
Pakistan's SUPARCO successfully completed the work on the Hatf
Program and tested publicly from Sonmiani
Satellite Launch Center
in 1989.
Family
Zofia, Turowicz's wife, and his two daughters joined him in Karachi
in 1949, where a third daughter was born. Between 1950 and 1954,
Zofia taught gliding to the Shaheen Air Cadets in Karachi and
Rawalpindi. Many officers, both serving and retired, remember her
with fondness. Two of his daughters married Pakistanis. The third
daughter married a Bangladeshi, but she lives in Pakistan with her
husband. In 1955, a son was born in Karachi. His grandchildren were
a source of great joy.
His widow, Zofia Turowicz is now over 90
years old and lives in Islamabad. She was awarded
Pride of Performance and
Sitara-i-Imtiaz, and was teaching
applied mathematics and
particle physics at the
Quaid-i-Azam University. Turowicz's
son is currently working at the SUPARCO as an
aerospace engineer and chief
scientist.
Documentary
A documentary film on the life and scientific work of Air Com.
Władysław Turowicz has been completed, directed by Anna T.
Pietraszek, a Polish journalist and film maker with an honorary
Pakistani citizenship. The film shows how Air. Cdre. Turowicz and
other Polish officers and technicians have contributed in building
the PAF and SUPARCO soon after independence. The documentary film
was released on October 25, 2008.
This documentary will preserve and pass on to future generations
the pages of our common history and tell them about our air force
officers’ cooperation and the generosity and hospitality of
Pakistani people,” said the Consul General of Poland in Karachi,
Ireneusz Makles. The consul general believes that the documentary
would act to encourage the contemporary activities of the two
countries and their future generations. “This is an example of how
the two countries can work together to serve our nations” remarked
Makles and wished to enhance the Polish-Pakistani cooperation
through such efforts.
Death and legacy
Air. Com. Turowicz was involved in a car accident on January 8,
1980 along with his driver. He was quickly taken to the
military hospital where he was pronounced
dead. He was buried in the Catholic Cemetery in Karachi with full
military honors. Both Polish and Pakistani military and civilian
personnel attended his funeral in Karachi. The Government of
Pakistan issued a commemorative letter to his family, stating that
Turowicz was not only an Air Force General, but also a scientist,
and had served in the country's strategic program.
In 2005,
PAF Museum, Karachi,
placed a memorial plaque in the honor of Air. Com. Gen Władysław
Turowicz where both Polish and Pakistani civilian and military
personnel attended.
On this occasion the Consul General of the
Republic of
Poland
in Karachi Ireneusz Makles profoundly thanked the
PAF and especially Air Chief
Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman and
other officers for their efforts to make this memorial a
reality. He underlined that this ceremony marks the friendly
and historical relations between the Polish and PAF officers.
Colonel Piotr Lukasiewcz, Defence Attache of Polish Embassy in
Islamabad, read and handed over a special message from Chief
Commanding Officer of Polish Air Force
Stanislaw Targosz to Air Chief Marshal Rao
Qamar Suleman.
Honorary monument
- Monument of General Władysław Turowicz in Karachi (PAF Museum,
Karachi).
- General Władysław Turowicz Space Complex (SUPARCO), Lahore
Center.
Awards
- Sitara-e-Pakistan [Military]
(1965)
- Tamgha-i-Pakistan [Military] (1967)
- Sitara-i-Khidmat [Military]
(1967)
- Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam [Military] (1971)
- Sitara-e-Imtiaz [Military] (1972)
- Abdus Salam Award in Aeronautical Engineering (1978)
- ICTP Award in Space Physics (1979)
See also
References
- Bravehart
External links
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