Following the Polish defeat he made his way around Europe and arrived in France. He was in a training role when the Germans attacked. After the fall of France he escaped to north Africa and then reached Gibraltar, before arriving in England in late June 1940. He converted to Hurricanes and joined No 303 Squadron at Northolt on 21 August.
Pisarek claimed a Bf 109 destroyed on 7 September, the day of the first mass German attack on London. He was then, though, shot down by a Bf 109 and baled out, unhurt. His Hurricane fell in the back garden of 40 Roding Road, Loughton, Essex, killing three ARP personnel in an air raid shelter. The pilot, on landing, was treated roughly by Home Guard personnel until they accepted that he was Polish, not German.
After destroying a Bf 109 on 15 September, Pisarek became joint ‘B’ Flight Commander on the 28th. On 5 October he destroyed a Bf 110 and damaged another, and on the 7th he destroyed another Bf 109. He went to No 315 Squadron on its formation at the beginning of 1941 and moved to No 308 Squadron, where he later took command. More victories followed and Pisarek was awarded the DFC in October 1941. He had already received a number of Polish decorations.
After a staff job he was appointed to lead the Polish Wing at Northolt in April 1942. On the 29th of that month he was shot down by a German fighter while leading the Wing over France and probably crashed into the sea. He was not found and is remembered on the Polish Air Force Memorial at Northolt. The artists Eric Kennington and Cuthbert Orde both produced portraits of Marian Pisarek
