No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron
No. 307 (Lwow) Squadron RAF | |
---|---|
Eagle-owls | |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Stanisław Grodzicki |
Insignia | |
Squadron Codes | EW (Aug 1940 – Jan 1947) |
No. 307 (Polish) Squadron, also known as No. 307 (City of Lwów) Squadron (
History
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The nickname Lwowskie Puchacze (NOM) – "Lwów Eagle Owls" was chosen for the night fighter squadron, as the eagle owl is a nighttime avian predator that is present in Poland. The squadron inherited the traditions of the Polish pre-war 6th Aviation Regiment, that was stationed in Lwów (now Lviv), with a history dating back to the defence of Lwów and Galicia from invading Ukrainian forces in the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918–1919.
After its formation in
In August 1941 the squadron converted to Beaufighters which it flew until being re-equipped with Mosquitoes in December 1942.
Between April 1941 and April 1943 the squadron was based at RAF Clyst Honiton, now Exeter Airport, defending the south-west of England from enemy night bombers.[3] The first Beaufighter victory was on 1 November 1941, when a crew shot down one Dornier Do 217 from II./KG 2 and damaged another (claimed as shot down).[4] That month, two more bombers were shot down and one damaged.[4] However, several of the squadron's aircraft were lost in crashes in the following months, mostly due to weather conditions or the unreliable engines of the Beaufighter Mk IIF variant.[5]
On 3/4 May 1942 when 40
From 1943 the squadron was based at
Commanding officers
From | To | Name | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Sep 1940 | Mar 1941 | S/Ldr. George Charlie Tomlinson
|
British Officer |
Sep 1940 | Oct 1940 | Kpt. Stanisław Pietraszkiewicz | Polish co-commander |
Oct 1940 | Nov 1940 | Maj. Kazimierz Benz | Polish co-commander |
Nov 1940 | Jun 1941 | Lt.Col. Stanisław Grodzicki | First as co-commander, later as Squadron Leader |
Jun 1941 | Oct 1941 | Kpt. Jerzy Antonowicz | |
Oct 1941 | Nov 1941 | Por. Maksymilian Lewandowski | temporary commander |
Nov 1941 | Aug 1942 | Maj. Stanisław Brejniak | Wing Commander |
Aug 1942 | Mar 1943 | Kpt. Jan Michałowski, KW, DFC
|
Wing Commander |
Mar 1943 | Apr 1943 | Kpt. Gerard Ranoszek | temporary commander |
Apr 1943 | Jan 1944 | Maj. Jerzy Orzechowski | Wing Commander |
Jan 1944 | May 1944 | Kpt. Maksymilian Lewandowski | Wing Commander |
May 1944 | Mar 1945 | Kpt. Gerard Ranoszek | Wing Commander |
Mar 1945 | Mar 1946 | Kpt. Stanisław Andrzejewski | Wing Commander |
Mar 1946 | Jan 1947 | Kpt. Jerzy Damsz | Wing Commander |
Aircraft operated
From | To | Aircraft | Version |
---|---|---|---|
17 September 1940[12] | August 1941 | Boulton Paul Defiant | Mk.I |
14 August 1941 | May 1942 | Bristol Beaufighter | Mk.IIf |
5 May 1942 | February 1943 | Bristol Beaufighter | Mk.VIf |
21 December 1942 | January 1945 | de Havilland Mosquito | NF.II |
19 June 1943 | October 1943 | de Havilland Mosquito | NF.VI |
22 January 1944 | November 1944 | de Havilland Mosquito | NF.XII, NF.XIII |
24 October 1944 | January 1947 | de Havilland Mosquito | NF.30 |
Honors
On 15 November 2019, the Polish 307 night fighter squadron was honoured for defending the British city of Exeter from a German blitz campaign during the second World War. A Polish white-and-red flag fluttered over the city in the south-west England honouring the pilots who prevented the complete destruction of Exeter in the 1942 Luftwaffe attack.[13]
See also
- MV Kerlogue neutral ship attacked
- Polish Air Forces in Great Britain
- Polish contribution to World War II
- List of RAF squadrons
References
Notes
- ^ Gretzyngier 1998, p. 30.
- ^ a b c d pl:Dywizjon 307
- ^ Morris, Jonathan (14 November 2015). "The Eagle Owls Polish squadron who defended Exeter". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ a b Janowicz 2018, p.30–33
- ^ Janowicz 2018, p.33–33
- ^ a b Janowicz 2018, p.37–38
- ^ Janowicz 2018, p.39
- ^ Janowicz 2018, p.42–44
- ^ a b c Rawlings 1978, p. 394.
- ^ Halley 1988, p. 360.
- ^ Jefford 2001, p. 87.
- ^ Simpson, Andrew (2013). "Boulton Paul Defiant I N1671/837OM Museum Accession No.74/A/16" (PDF). RAF Museum. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
- ^ "British city honors Polish WWII pilots". Polskie Radio. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
Bibliography
- Delve, Ken. The Source Book of the RAF. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 1994. ISBN 1-85310-451-5.
- Gretzyngier, Robert. Polish Aces of World War 2, Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 1998.
- Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
- Jefford, Wing Commander C.G. RAF Squadrons: a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2001. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
- Rawlings, John D.R. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1969 (Revised edition 1976). ISBN 0-354-01028-X.
- Janowicz, Krzysztof. Polacy i Beaufightery. "Aeroplan" nr. 5-6/2018 (134–135) (in Polish)