During World War I, he volunteered for the Russian Army, graduated from an officer school in Irkutsk, and served in infantry, fighting against the Germans.

After the corps was disbanded in 1918, he enlisted in Gen. Anton Denikin's Volunteer Army and fought against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War.

Thanks to his new post, he could increase his sporting activity, meeting young aviation enthusiasts - mostly students of Warsaw University of Technology.

Between 9 August and 6 September 1929, Żwirko and Wigura flew the RWD-2 prototype across Europe, on Warsaw–Paris–Barcelona–Milan–Warsaw 5,000 kilometres (5,000,000 m) route, and on October 6 they won in the 1st Rally of South-Eastern Poland.

In April 1932 he was selected for the Polish team for the International Tourist Plane Competition Challenge 1932, taking place between August 20-August 28, 1932, and he chose Wigura as his crewmate.

On 11 September 1932, while flying to an air meeting in Prague, Żwirko and Wigura fatally crashed in their RWD-6 in the forest at Cierlicko, near Cieszyn in Czechoslovakia, when the wing broke in a heavy storm.