KITS 08/2022

AB380, W/Cdr Ian R. Gleed, CO of Ibsley Wing, RAF Ibsley, Surrey, Great Britain, April – July 1942

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In November 1941, Ian “Widge" Gleed was named commander of Ibsley Wing, a unit made up of three Spitfire squadrons. Specifically, these were No. 66, 118

and 501 Squadrons, RAF. He held this position until

July 1942, when he was placed in the function of Wing

Commander Tactics. All the aircraft that Gleed flew

had a marking of the black cat “Figaro” under the

cockpit on the right side of the plane. This character

hails from the Pinocchio stories. It was no different

with two other Spitfires that he flew as Ibsley Wing

Commander (Mk.Vb AA742 and Mk.Vc AB380). Both

carried Gleed‘s initials IR-G as their codes, rende-

red in Sky. He was shot down on April 16, 1943, as

No. 244 Wing Commander, over North Africa during

a patrol flight near Cap Bon. He was likely the victim of

Lt. Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert, an ace with JG 77. Over the

course of his career, Gleed shot down sixteen aircraft, seven probables and four were damaged.

AR548, F/Sgt Miroslav A. Liškutín, No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron, RAF Churchstanton,

Somerset, Great Britain, December 1942 – January 1943

Miroslav Antonín Liškutín was born August 23, 1919

near Brno. He learned to fly in the Aero Club Brno, and

was accepted for pilot training in a recruitment drive

for 1,000 pilots in 1937. In July 1938, he joined the Air

Regiment 2 in Olomouc as a student pilot, but his road

to full fighter squadron membership was interrupted

by the arrival of Hitler’s Wehrmacht. He escaped from

his occupied homeland via Poland, Sweden and Great

Britain to France, where he joined the Foreign Legion,

and was sent to Africa for a six-month training period. After the fall of France, he made his way to Great

Britain, where he would complete his pilot training,

and from August 1941, he flew with No. 145 Squadron

RAF. He was later reassigned to No. 312 (Czechoslovak)

Squadron RAF and in May 1945, to No. 313 (Czechoslovak) Squadron. He took part in the protection of naval convoys and bomber escort missions over France,

Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. He flew a total

of 465 operational hours and 131 sorties over enemy

territory, making him one of the busiest fighter pilots

of World War Two. In aerial combat, according to either

official records or his personal memoirs, he destroyed

two aircraft and two V-1 rockets. He also was credited with a probable kill, and three he damaged. After

1948, he returned to Great Britain to become a Flight

Instructor and a Commissioner for Pilot Evaluation.

He passed away on February 19, 2018. Flying Spitfire

AR548, which he did regularly at the end of 1942 and

beginning of 1943, he shot down an Fw 190 on November 7, 1942. On January 6, 1943, he crashed during landing in inclement weather at Harrowbeer. Incredibly,

he emerged from the wreckage unscathed.

EE681, F/O Jerzy Zbrożek, No. 317 (Polish) Squadron, RAF Perranporth,

Cornwall, Great Britain, September 1943

No. 317 ‘City of Wilno‘ (Polish) Squadron was formed on

February 22, 1941, and achieved combat readiness two

months later. As with most Fighter Command elements,

the unit’s duties switched between offensive missions

from bases in the south and defensive duties from the

north. In June 1943, the unit was incorporated into

No. 2 TAF (Tactical Air Force) and moved to RAF Heston. During its preparations leading up to the invasion

of Normandy, the unit conducted attacks in support

August 2022

of the landings. One of these was the deception named

Operation Starkey, which saw the first use of black and

white invasion stripes at the ends of the wings. After

the invasion in June 1944, No. 317 (Polish) Squadron

flew missions in support of the invading ground forces

and moved onto the continent in August. From October

1944, the unit operated from Belgium from the bases

of B-70 Deurne, B-61 Sint-Denijs-Westrem, B-60

Grimbergen and B-82 Grave. From April 1945, it flew

from the German based B-101 Nordhorn, B-113 Varrelbusch and B-111 Ahlhorn, where it was a part of the

Occupation Force until disbandment on December

18, 1946. During its three month service with No. 317

(Polish) Squadron, pilots flying Spitfire EE681 shot

down two aircraft. The first was by P/O Zbygniew

Makowski who downed an Fw 190 on July 14, 1943, and

the second was by F/O J. Zbrożek who’s victim was

a Bf 109 on September 8, 1943.

INFO Eduard

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