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BOXART STORY #82109
Stanisław Skalski was one of few pilots who
successfully engaged Luftwaffe on the first day
of World War II. Within the first four days of the
conflict he was credited with four individual
and one shared victories, thus becoming the
first fighter ace of the war. When W/C Skalski
was appointed Wing Commander Flying of
No 133 (Polish) Wing in April 1944 he was already
a seasoned veteran, and one of the leading
Polish fighter aces. His new Wing consisted
of British No 129 Mysore Squadron and Polish
Nos 306 Toruń and 315 Dęblin Sqns.
The Wing took part in Normandy Invasion
from the very first day. Just on the second day,
the Wing set a record by destroying 16 German
aircraft. In the following days, more victories
were earned, but Skalski’s score remained
unchanged. A misfortune of a war, no enemy
aircraft were encountered during the missions
he took part in. It was only on 24 June that
fortune smiled to him at last, during a mission to
bomb the railway station at Tillières-sur-Avre,
when finally he saw German aircraft. On return
Skalski reported:
I was leading Wing with 12 a/c as bombers
& 8 a/c as escort to bomb railway station at
Tilliers. During the bombing I called escort to stay
at 10000 feet over the target area. After bombing
I pulled out on a left hand circuit & climbed
above clouds to 6000 feet. On about a half circuit
2 a/c were reported on the deck. I gave orders
to identify by section of 4 aircraft following them
behind. Then the leader called that they have
climbed above clouds. I pulled out & chased
1 a/c on left-hand circuit, then I recognised it as
a Mustang. Being at about 6000 feet in the sun
I called 30-40 a/c climbing above clouds to NW
& another formation of about 20 a/c below
clouds following them approx 6 miles behind
and below. I called escort to stay above. Then
we turned to the right attacking first formation.
I gave the order not to fire until we recognised
them as foes. Before we took off I was informed
that in this area 4 Squadrons of Typhoons would
be operating. Being dead astern, I recognised
them as ME 109Fs & FW 190s flying in no
formation at all. I called pilots to attack, taking
first 2 ME 109Fs flying in very close formation
& slightly behind about 400 yards. I tried to close
to 100 yards, we were not seen by E/A. When
I was about 200–150 yards, 2 E/A in making
a quick half roll collided by touching each others
wings. One immediately caught fire. Both were
seen spinning to the ground where they crashed.
This was witnessed by F/O Swistun, who was my
No. 2, and F/Lt Sporny. Following this incident,
I made a sharp turn to the right, endeavouring
to catch the larger formation mentioned above.
We closed to approx. 400 yards when the
E/A made a sharp climbing turn to port. I gave
two short bursts, but owing to the angle being
about 90 degrees I did not see any strikes.
We did not follow as a further enemy formation
of approx. 20 a/c were chasing us, at a range of
some 1000 yards. At this time we were flying just
above 5/10 clouds, & I instructed Wing to go into
clouds for coverage, fly on a vector 336 degrees.
After about two minutes flying we again went
above clouds having lost the enemy. We made
circuit and sighted five Mustangs flying singly
& in pairs. I called them to join formation and
made for base. I claim 2 ME 109Fs as destroyed.
In the ensuing dog fight Polish airmen of Nos
306 and 315 Squadrons added further 3-0-3
Bf 109F and 1-0-2 Fw 190s for one 315 Sqn
Mustang lost with its pilot, P/O Jan Adamiak.
The German formation encountered consisted
a mixed bag of Fw 190s of I/JG 2 and Bf 109s of
II/JG 2 and III/JG 3. Only a single Bf 109G-6 of
II/JG 2 was reported missing that day, obviously
not making a good match for Polish victories.
Nonetheless each of the three aforementioned
units reported heavy losses on the following
days in the general area of combat, so possibly
in the chaos some of them were reported on
a wrong date or not reported at all. Unfortunately,
for the time being it is not possible to verify
actual score of No 133 Wing.
This was the last fight of Skalski. Within
few weeks No 133 Wing was withdrawn from
offensive operations to counter V1 Doodlebugs.
Skalski, due to reorganisation of 2 TAF bid
farewell to his Wing, which, with 36 destroyed
enemy aircraft, was officially recognised as
the most successful unit of the 2 TAF during
June 1944. Despite attempts, Skalski never
flew operationally again. Nonetheless these
victories over Normandy secured his position
as the highest scoring Polish fighter pilot, with
18 individual and 2 shared destroyed, 2 probables,
and 4 individual and 1 shared damaged.
Text: Franek Grabowski
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
Touche over Tillières
INFO Eduard36
November 2024