Page 51
P-51B-15-NA, s/n 42-106763, Capt. George R. Rew, 374th FS, 361st FG,
8th AF, Bottisham, Great Britain, June 1944
Mustang Mk.III, FB382, S/Ldr Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, No. 315 (Polish) Squadron,
RAF Coolham, Great Britain, June 1944
The 361st Fighter Group was activated on January
28, 1943, subsequently joining the 8th Air Force
at RAF Bottisham, England. Initially flying P-47s,
it rearmed to P-51s during May 1944. Although
its pilots primarily provided long-range escort to
bomber formations, they did not neglect attacks
against ground targets, either by strafing or
bombing. This is evidenced by one hundred of
painted bomb symbols under the cockpit of the
“Scarlet Kate” Mustang flown by Capt. George
Robert Rew, who later commanded the 374th FS.
The entire 361st FG achieved 226 aerial victories
during World War II, and on the ground its pilots
destroyed another 106 enemy aircraft.
Eugeniusz Horbaczewski was born on September
28, 1917, in Kiev and educated in Brest-Litovsk.
He joined the Polish Air Force in 1937. In
September 1939 he fled to France via Romania
and from there he came to the UK. After
completing his training with the RAF, he was
assigned to No. 303 Squadron in late 1940 and in
early 1943 was selected for a special Polish Flying
Team, formed by Stanislaw Skalski and operated
under umbrella of No. 145 Squadron. Over Tunisia
Horbaczewski became the most successful pilot
of this group, achieving five victories in less than
a month. After the Team was disbanded he was
assigned to No. 601 Squadron operating in the
Mediterranean area and in early July to No. 43
Squadron which he commanded from August.
On his return to the UK in February 1944 he took
command of No. 315 Squadron, flying Mustang
Mk. III. On August 18, 1944, he was shot down in
the Beauvais area and killed, having previously
shot down three Fw 190s in the combat himself.
KITS 05/2024
INFO Eduard
51
May 2024