No. 315 Polish Fighter Squadron

"315 Squadron" redirects here. For the Indian Naval Air Arm squadron, see INAS 315.
No. 315 (City of Dęblin) Polish Fighter Squadron
315 Squadron Logo
Active21 January 1941 – 14 January 1947
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
AllegiancePoland Polish government in exile
Branch Royal Air Force
RoleFighter Squadron
Part ofRAF Fighter Command
Nickname(s)Deblin
Dywizjon Myśliwski "Dębliński"
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Eugeniusz Horbaczewski
Insignia
Squadron CodesPK (January – July 1941) SZ (July 1941 – January 1946)

No. 315 (City of Dęblin) Polish Fighter Squadron (Polish: 315 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Dębliński") was a Polish fighter squadron formed in Great Britain as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom in 1941. It was one of 15 squadrons of the Polish Air Force in exile that served alongside the Royal Air Force (RAF) in World War II.[1] It was named after the city of Dęblin, where the main Polish Air Force Academy has been since 1927.

History

Aircraft of Fighter Command on display for the press at Grangemouth in Scotland, 25 April 1941. In the foreground is a Hawker Hurricane Mk I of No. 315 (Polish) Squadron; in the background a Bristol Blenheim Mk IF of No. 23 Squadron; and overhead, three Supermarine Spitfires of No. 58 Operational Training Unit.
Squadron Leader Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, the CO of the No. 315 Polish Fighter Squadron, standing by his new North American Mustang Mark III, FB387 'PK-G, at Brenzett, Kent. He was shot down and killed on 18 August 1944, after destroying three Focke Wulf Fw 190s to bring his score to 16 and a half victories.

The squadron was formed at RAF Acklington, England, on 21 January 1941. The squadron, equipped with Hurricanes, was moved in March to RAF Speke, Liverpool, where it made frequent patrols over naval convoys as part of No. 9 Group RAF. Before July, when it came under Polish command. No 315 was commanded by Squadron Leader H. D. Cooke.

In July it was moved to RAF Northolt, West London, re-equipped with Spitfires and began to conduct offensive fighter sweeps over occupied Europe. During two operations over France, on 9 August, the squadron achieved its first aircraft claims—two Bf 109s destroyed, three probables and three damaged. The squadron returned to Lancashire in April 1942, located at RAF Woodvale, Sefton. The squadron returned to Northolt in September and resumed operations over France. In June 1943, the squadron was withdrawn to Yorkshire, then to County Down, Northern Ireland in July.

Having returned to England in November, the squadron moved to the south west in April 1944, where it joined No. 133 Wing RAF of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. The squadron was re-equipped with the Mustang Mk III, which the squadron used for the remainder of the war. The squadron formed part of southern England's defence against the V-1 flying bombs and served in the Battle of Normandy.

During a sweep over France on 18 August, 12 Mustangs of No. 315 engaged 60 German fighters of JG2 and JG26, which was in the process of taking off and landing near Beauvais, France. In the ensuing battle, the squadron was credited with 16 victories, 1 probable and 3 damaged for the loss of one pilot, Squadron Leader Eugeniusz Horbaczewski. Conversely, German claims were that 12 aircraft had been lost and that they had themselves shot down 6 aircraft (one of which was claimed to be a Lockheed P-38 Lightning).

The squadron later carried out operations over Germany, Norway and the Netherlands, where the squadron carried out sorties until the end of the war. The squadron claimed 86.33 confirmed victories, 18 probable and 26 damaged. After the war, 315 Squadron remained part of RAF Fighter Command until it was disbanded on 14 January 1947.

Commanding officers

Commanding Officers, 1941–1947[2]
From To Name Remark
Jan 1941 Jun 1941 S/Ldr. H.D. Cooke British Officer
Jun 1941 Sep 1941 Maj. Stanisław Pietraszkiewicz
Sep 1941 Nov 1941 Kpt. Władysław Szczęśniewski
Nov 1941 May 1942 Maj. Stefan Janus, VM, DFC
May 1942 Oct 1942 Maj. Mieczysław Wiórkiewicz
Oct 1942 Apr 1943 Kpt. Tadeusz Sawicz
Apr 1943 Feb 1944 Kpt. Jerzy Popławski, DFC
Feb 1944 Aug 1944 Kpt. Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, DSO
Aug 1944 Apr 1945 Kpt. Tadeusz Andersz
Apr 1945 Feb 1946 Kpt. Władysław Potocki
Feb 1946 Dec 1946 Kpt. Janusz Siekierski
Jan 1947 Jan 1947 Tadeusz Tamowicz

Aircraft operated

Aircraft[3][4][5]
From To Aircraft Version
February 1941 July 1941 Hawker Hurricane Mk.I
July 1941 August 1941 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IIa
August 1941 November 1942 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb
November 1942 June 1943 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX
February 1943 March 1944 Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Vb
LF.Vc
March 1944 December 1946 North American Mustang Mk.III

Notable pilots

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Lewis 1968, pp. 95–97; 125.
  2. ^ Rawlings 1978, p. 401.
  3. ^ Rawlings, 1978, p. 401
  4. ^ Halley 1988, p. 365.
  5. ^ Jefford 2001, p. 88.

Bibliography

  • Halley, James J (1988). The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988. Tonbridge: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
  • Jefford, CG (2001). RAF Squadrons: A Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
  • Lewis, Peter (1968) [1959]. Squadron Histories, RFC, RNAS and RAF, Since 1912. London: Putnam. SBN 370-00022-6.
  • Matusiak, Wojtek; Gretzyngier, Robert; Wiśniewski, Piotr (2004). 315 Squadron. Sandomierz; Redbourn: Mushroom Model Publications. ISBN 83-89450-00-3.
  • Rawlings, John DR (1976) [1969]. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald & Jane's (Publishers)Ltd. ISBN 0-354-01028-X.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to No. 315 (Polish) Squadron RAF.