Richard Marian Ogorkiewicz (2 May 1926 – 24 November 2019) was a Polish British engineer and

armoured fighting vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (British English) or armored fighting vehicle (American English) (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by vehicle armour, armour, generally combining operational mobility with Offensive (military), offensive a ...

historian.

Life

Richard Ogorkiewicz, born Ryszard Marian Ogórkiewicz, was born in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

. He was a son of Polish Colonel Oberst Marian Ogórkiewicz (1898–1962). Following the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

by Germany in 1939 his family fled first to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, then to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in February 1940. In May they moved to Scotland, where Richard attended school. Richard studied mechanical engineering at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

. After completing his studies, he continued to teach at Imperial. He then worked at

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Trent, Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms ...

and Ford on gas turbine engines. From 1957 through 1985 he was back at Imperial and concentrated on armoured fighting vehicles. From 1972 to 2006, he was an independent member of various committees of the British Defence Scientific Advisory Council. In 1979 he became a lecturer, and from 1988 a visiting professor at the

Royal Military College of Science The Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) was a British postgraduate school, research institution and training provider with origins dating back to 1772. It became part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in 2009, and ceased to exis ...

Shrivenham Shrivenham is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Faringdon. The village is close to the county boundary with Wiltshire and about east-northeast of the centre of Swindon. The 201 ...

. In 1993 he became curator of the Tank Museum in Bovington.

Works

Richard Ogorkiewicz has published numerous articles in journals, most notably in

Jane's International Defence Review Jane's International Defence Review (IDR) was a monthly magazine reporting on military news and technology. History and profile ''International Defense Review'' was established in 1968. It was published by Interavia SA (Geneva, Switzerland) until ...

. * ''Design and Development of Fighting Vehicles'', 1968, * ''Thermoplastics: Effects of Processing'', 1969, * ''Armoured Forces: A history of Armoured Forces and Their Vehicles'', Arms and Armour Press 1970, * ''Engineering Properties of Plastics (Engineering Design Guides)'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

1977, * ''Technology of Tanks'', Jane's Information Group 1991, * ''Tanks: 100 years of evolution'',

Osprey Publishing Osprey Publishing is a British publishing company specializing in military history formerly based in Oxford. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company p ...

2015,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogorkiewicz, Richard 2019 deaths 1926 births Alumni of the University of London Academics of Imperial College London British military historians People from Bydgoszcz Polish engineers Polish military historians