In their own words...

[bobbysocks]

Three Squadron flew the last Kittyhawk operation of 1942 on 30 December, and it is reported in "Fighters Over The Desert" (by Shores and Ring) as follows:

"At 1350 hours seven aircraft of this unit patrolled over Bir el Zidan, refuelling at Alem el Gzina so that they were able to remain in the area until 1730 hours. During the afternoon, fifteen Bf 109's of 11 JG77 attacked, but the Australians were able to claim victories without losses, F/Lt Watt, F/Lt Bordman and Sgt Righetti each shooting down one fighter. Watts claiming a second probably destroyed. Oblt. Burchard Boker was killed, and Uffz. Gunter Mielenz became a POW."

My diary notes help reconstruct the scene that day:

We had flown to Gzina, a landing ground that had been found by Danny Boardman, and which we knew as "Danny's Acre", refuelled, and took off at about 3.15pm to patrol over our forward troops, who were south west of Buerat. Danny was leading, and the gaggle included Randall Watt, his No.2 Alan Righetti, and David Ritchie with me as his No.2. David had to return early.

Nearing the area, we saw trucks burning, where 109's had apparently been strafing. We were at 10,000ft when Danny reported 12 aircraft at 2 o'clock on the same level and ordered us to climb. Six 109's came out of the sun, two were behind us, and seven more were above. They attacked from all directions and split us up completely.

I was attacked by two of them, and in taking evasive action, spun from 8,000 to 1,500 ft; thought I’d "had it", not from the spin which I controlled OK, but from the 109's. Fortunately for some reason, they didn't follow me down.

I climbed back and was attacked by two more 109's who did very poor "head ons", which allowed me to get a quick shot at one, with no result. Pulled away and climbed up to 5,000ft where I saw a 109 sitting about 1,000ft above me. We watched each other for a while, and he was so intent on trying to get into position to lodge an attack, that he didn't see Watty who came in behind him. The next moment I saw the 109 simply disintegrate and catch fire, (on our return to base I was able to confirm this for him). Watty got so excited that he called to me to "come on up Russ and we'll get some more". I climbed as quickly as I could, but didn't get anywhere near him, because he had seen 4 more 109's west of him, engaged them and got a probable.

I was on my own now, saw another aircraft east of me, thought it may have been a 109, but it turned out to be Danny Boardman, and we came back to base together.

In his excellent book "Desert Warriors", Russell Brown includes reports from Danny, Watt and Alan Righetti. Each of those three destroyed a 109.

And so ended 1942.

January of 1943 was to be a time of conflicting emotions for us. On the morning of the 14th, we were excited because mail had come in, but the day was to end on a very distressing note: we were to have five aircraft shot down.

Our first job was to be top cover to 260 squadron, who was to strafe, but they couldn't find the target, so we returned to base. Late in the morning, 12 Kittys led by Bob Gibbes were to be close escort to Bostons, who were to bomb Bir Dufan airfield. 450 squadron was to be medium cover, 250 as top, and 260 had a roving commission; 48 Kittyhawks was thought to be impregnable.

However, a fair force of 109's from the ace Staffel 1/JG 77, led by Major Muncheberg (who just 8 days later was to shoot down Alan Righetti, who became a POW, and also do a fair bit of damage to my own aircraft). There were also some Macchi 202's in the enemy force. The 109's attacked and the result for 3 Squadron was five aircraft lost. Les Weatherburn became a POW, Norm Caldwell was found in a hospital as the Allies advanced, Bob Gibbes aircraft was hit, he belly landed and later returned to base. Sadly Bill Diehm and Allan Tonkin (on his first operation) were killed. 450 also lost two pilots.

In the afternoon conditions were very poor with sandstorms around, and only seven of us got off. Garth Clabburn was leading but was forced to return with engine problems, and Rex Bayly took over. We were to do a dive bombing job, and also act as top cover to 450 Squadron. Six 109's attacked us and I was lucky to be able to avoid one who was right on my tail. I saw a 109 closing in on Nev Austin's aircraft, and was making my way over to try and help, but before I could get there Nev was shot down. Rex Bayly had also seen Nev in trouble, was closer than me and able to get behind the 109 and shoot him down. When we left the area there were two fires on the ground. Ted Hankey was missing for a while, but it turned out he had put down at another landing ground. Rex Bayly’s account of this encounter is also reported in Russell Brown's book. While Gibby was missing, Randall Watt took over. On the 27th, Randall was the fourth pilot from the operations of the14th, to be killed. He was also one of four sons, all of whom who were lost to a mother, during the war.

Major Muncheberg was probably the top German pilot of this time, and at the time of his death was credited with 135 victories. He had done most of his fighting in the European theatre of war, and his score there was 124, plus 11 in North Africa. His death occurred in a bizarre manner, and is recorded in "Fighters Over Tunisia":

"Around 0930 on the 23rd March 1943, Major Muncheberg of Stab/JG 77 took off from La Fauconnerie with his wingman, Lt. Strasen, and headed for the Mareth area to see "if there was anything to shoot down". Strasen saw below some Spitfires of the 52nd Fighter Group near Sened, and both dived to attack, Muncheberg attacking Captain Theodore Sweetland, whose aircraft began to pour smoke as it was hit in the engine. Muncheberg's speed was so great that he got too near to his 135th victim, and what happened next is not very clear. Strasen reported that Sweetland's aircraft exploded and that debris fell on Muncheberg's wings, one of which snapped off. Captain Hugh L. Williamson reported however, that Sweetland deliberately rammed the Messerschmidt with his burning Spitfire. Whatever the truth was, both aircraft fell to the ground in flames; at this moment Strasen shot down Williamson, who baled out, all three aircraft crashing near kilometre stone No.82 on the Gabes-Gafsa road, the wreckage of the Messerschmidt flanked by that of the two Spitfires. So died one of the Luftwaffe's most outstanding fighter pilots and leader."

MOMENTS TO REMEMBER ... by BRUCE BURCHFIELD.



Momentous, indeed incredible, the might of Rommel's Army, which had almost cracked the gate to Egypt, the Suez and the Far East, was now, in August 1943, hell bent to get to Messina in the NE tip of Sicily and evacuate across the Straits of Messina to Regio on the Italian mainland.

We for our part, had to inflict as much damage as we could in daylight hours. In the closing days of August the narrow Straits of Messina and the air space above was an incredible sight. It was estimated that there was more AA fire concentrated in this tiny area than in the Ruhr valley.

88mm, 40mm and 20mm guns were spewing out metal, RN cruisers at a respectable distance were softening up the Regio area; Spitfires, Kittyhawks, Boston bombers and German FW190 s and JU88 s were in the melee.

We flew into this madness, dive bombing port installations and quite frankly we were very relieved to break away and head for home. Regrettably His Majesty's Kittyhawk CV-L was modestly holed.

Italy capitulated on 3/9/43, her navy went to Malta, her Axis partner Germany dug in and fought a tenacious retreat throughout Italy over many months.

On a more personal experience, my diary records 10th January 1944: our six aircraft were strafing German motor transport - I was 3rd down this valley, had some success and weaving along the valley. I passed over two armoured cars off the road and on a slope. Climbing away, bingo ... holes in starboard wing, two more through engine and plenty of wind behind my head - a shell had taken my radio right out - about 18" to the rear.

The motor was spluttering, engine gauges crazy, black smoke in abundance and I was too low to bail our. Undid my harness - mouth very dry and the landscape most inhospitable to crash land. Rocked the aircraft, jiggled the throttle and mixture controls - motor picked up in spasmodic bursts and air speed recorded a very slow 120 mph. Weaved along a valley to the Adriatic coast near city of Pescara and noticed that my landing flaps had dropped to about 30 degrees - no hydraulics.

The AA batteries on the coast gave me a warm welcome - a ponderous smoking aircraft but perhaps my laboured progress upset them for the "black stuff" was bursting well ahead. More splutters so down to water level to ditch - motor picked up - by this time I was on friendly waters and could see our coastal landing strip ahead. Coaxed the air craft to about 800ft, still barely airborne - a horrible smell of burning.

The duty pilot in the strip could see me - fired a green flare - a great sight. Stuffed the nose down and came into friendly territory, landed with a thump - too fast for landing flaps would not lower fully and at about 40mph the fire in the engine manifested itself.

I had switched off everything. pointed the plane to a sand dune on the beach and went out of the cockpit onto the wing and bingo, on to "terra firma" a great feeling. A momentous happening - maybe; but there are many other air crew who would have been less fortunate and I salute them.

Incidentally the aircraft was a Warhawk powered by a Packard manufactured "Rolls Royce" Merlin. There was a fist size hole in the super charger housing which exuded fuel mixture into the exhaust stack. Whilst the aircraft was moving at some speed the fire could not take control because of slip stream. One engine mounting and one ignition bank had been shot away as well ... but I will always have a soft spot for Packard Merlins.

Did a fighter pilot's Instructors' course at Point Cook and was posted to Mildura as an Instructor. It was here that I heard of the end of the war and in the celebrations that followed many of us paused to recall the mates that did not make it and also pay tribute to the efficiency of our ground staff both at home and abroad.

J.C.Waters tells the story of "BLACKIE and BLONDIE" in his book:

"VALIANT YOUTH"



This is a story of the remarkable parallels in the fighting life of "Blackie" - Wing Commander Alan Charles Rawlinson, D.F.C. and Bar, and of "Blondie" - Squadron Leader John Rowley Perrin, D.F.C.

They joined the R.A.A.F on the same day; they were cadet sergeants together; they were posted to the same squadron and were in the same flight; they left the Middle East, each with a bag of eight enemy planes destroyed; each shot down three on two occasions; they were flight commanders together; they were shot down within a week of each other in the same spot in the desert, and rescued by the same General. Back home they were together leading companion squadrons on the Advanced Air-line in New Guinea.

Rawlinson was 19 and Perrin 21 when they joined the R.A.A.F. on July 15 1938. That was Perrin's birthday. Both were clerks in Melbourne offices. They met that day for the first time. Both were State High School boys. Rawlinson, East Melbourne Harrier Club champion in 1935-36, dark, with high cheek-bones and the quick, flashing eyes of a Bedouin; Perrin, snowy-headed, light blue eyes in a smiling, hot-blooded, Huckleberry Finn face. They became Good Companions. It was not long before they were dubbed the Flying Twins, one called Blackie, the other Blondie.

They were together when they first drew enemy blood. It was over Bardia when the Italian armies were being routed by Wavell in the first big push of '41. They were leading sections when eight of their machines came up against 10 enemy bombers and 45 enemy fighters. Eight against 55. Giving away heavy odds - as they had to in those days - held no terrors for the Australians. Blondie, with "Woof" Arthur, belted a fighter into the sea, and Blackie, fighting from 17,000 feet down to 10,000, got a probable.

Not long after that, Blackie, through no fault of his own, broke away from the parallel line. Blondie was away collecting Hurricanes. Blackie, in a Gladiator, was forced out of a fight with Italians. His engine cut out and he force-landed in the desert. He got the engine going again and staggered off with dozens of shrapnel holes in wings and fuselage. A mile from the drome the engine gave up. He landed and walked in.

One day in February '41, Blondie went off leading three of the new Hurricanes. They were south of Benghazi. Wavell's army had travelled over 400 miles in 56 days. Blondie spotted nine German Stukas dive-bombing and strafing Australian troops. He could not see any fighter escort.

"Too good to miss," he said.

He dived to the attack, shot down a Stuka. Suddenly, out of the blue, swooped 15 Messerschmitt twin-engine fighters. It was the first time they had appeared in the desert. A few seconds, and Blondie was alone - one against 15.

Probably there was a smile on his stubborn lips. In the colourful jargon of the air, he "got stuck into them." He shot down one. Then a cannon shell burst in his petrol tank. Slightly wounded, soaked in petrol, and with the Hurricane afire, he turned furiously as a wasp on his assailant, pressed the button, and shot him down in flames. He tried to get still another German before he crash-landed. The Germans followed him down to strafe him. He dodged over the sand like a hare at a Plumpton and was picked up by Major-General Stan Savige of the 6th Australian Division.

In that fight Blondie won his D.F.C.

Seven days later, Blackie was doing a reconnaissance over the same area. He crash-landed in a mine-field and was picked up by the same general and staff. In April he caught up with Blondie's score. Eight Hurricanes took on 18 Stukas and Messerschmitts. They knocked out nine of them. Blackie bagged three Stukas one after the other. Two days later Blondie forged ahead again. A flight of eight mixed it with 15 of the enemy. They shot down eight. Blondie bagged three Stukas, too. One after the other, just like that.

After that they moved to Syria for the war against the Vichy French. They changed from Hurricanes to Tomahawks. Blackie became O.C. C Flight and Blondie O.C. B Flight. Peter Jeffrey, D.S.O., D.F.C., who had destroyed four German planes in single-handed combat, one in the air, three on the ground, was squadron C.O. He was their original instructor at Point Cook.

Over in Syria Blondie quickly added a Vichy French to his tally. It was in a fight over the oil pipe-line at Palmyra. Two days later Blackie's flight met up with six Vichy French light bombers over the same zone. The six were shot down in flames and Blackie got his second three in a row. For his leadership and courage in that operation, on top of his desert record, he won his D.F.C.

The partnership was broken then. The days of fighting against heavy odds and strafing in companionship ended. Blackie, with an ammunition train and several staff cars to his credit, Blondie wearing the scalps of despatch riders at his belt. Each had his own speciality when not in combat or beating up aerodromes, trains, and enemy dumps.

Blondie came home. Blackie, appointed C.O. of the famous No. 3 Squadron, went back to the desert. There, very soon, 22 Tomahawks were jumped by 25 Messerschmitt 109s, the new crack German fighter. The fight lasted for 65 minutes, one of the longest desert air battles on record. It was fairly even going, with the scale just slightly in our favour. Six Messerschmitts were destroyed. We lost five. Blackie added to his score one in flames, one probable, one damaged.

His last desert scrap was on November 30, a year after the first. Twenty-two Tomahawks took on a German-Italian circus of 60 to 70. The battle swirled from 10,000 feet down to ground level. When it ended 12 more enemy planes had been destroyed and the squadron's total pushed to 106. When Blackie left to join Blondie in Australia's fight against the Japanese, the aggregate was 135. Fifty had been shot down in ten weeks.

That is how Blackie won his Bar.

[bobbysocks]

Philip Wright and Pickle Barrel Bombing

Mid-February of 1945 Major General Elwood "Pete" Quesada, the legendary commanding general of IX Tactical Air Command 9th Air Force, zipped on to our field, A-89, at the village of Le Culot, Belgium - trailed by a host of aides and staff members.

He had come to fly a mission with our 36th Fighter Group to check out why the new "Pickle Barrel Bombing" technique wasn't living up to expectations.

"Pete" Quesada's fame stemmed from his daring and "can do" spirit. On D-Day + 1 he flew a P-38 into the beachhead to establish his own headquarters next to General Bradley's. He often visited the front to check on how his fighter-bombers were doing. On one trip his jeep took a direct hit from a German Panther tank's 75mm. shell, smashing the jeep to smithereens and wounding the driver. The General spent the next twenty minutes ignominiously crawling away under small-arms fire.

But his most famous exploit had raised all kinds of hullabaloo in high places. During a visit by General Eisenhower to Normandy in mid-June '45, Quesada left a staff meeting to go on a fighter sweep.
Eisenhower asked, "Can I come?"
"Sure." Quesada answered.
Eisenhower was crammed into the rear seat of a P-51 and they flew a few miles over the lines, before Quesada thought better of the idea and aborted the flight. Both Eisenhower and Quesada received holy hell from the big-wigs in Washington for this nutty escapade.

Now, "Pete" Quesada was here in Le Culot to fly a Pickle Barrel Bombing mission with us. The us being: 1st Lt. Robert "Red" Ferris, 2nd Lt. Clyde Hartszelle, and me, 1st Lt. Philip N. Wright, Jr., better known as "Junior," because I was always the youngest officer in the Group the entire time I was there.*

Pickle Barrel Bombing was a spin-off from a new radar system, touted to be accurate within fifty feet from a distance of fifty miles. They thought the idea was simple. Send a bunch of P-47s out over solid cloud cover at 10,000 ft. and 250 mph. in tight formation. Guide them to the target with the new radar, and tell them exactly when to drop their bombs. Bingo! It was a great idea, but it wasn't working.

The operation was run out of a site well back of the lines. A Norden Bombsight was hooked up to the new radar, and specially trained bombardiers that gave the order to drop the bombs. We bellyached that these guys were probably yelling, "Bombs Away!" and rushing out for a shot and a beer to ease their "combat fatigue." They probably even expected D.F.C.s for heroism. Damn it, they weren't the ones getting shot at - we were!

At 10,000 ft. and 250 mph., flying straight and level in tight formation, we were sitting ducks for the German radar controlled 88mm flak. Pickle Barrel Bombing missions had turned us into a bunch of lousy bomber pilots. We hated these missions.

On this mission there would be one critical difference- there would be no cloud cover. With clear skies the General hoped to find out why "Pickle Barrel" wasn't working. The idea was nuts! Cloud cover was the only protection we had. If we'd been sitting ducks before, we'd be dead ducks now. Our only hope was we'd be flying behind a two star general's skirts. The Germans wouldn't dare shoot him down!

Why the 36th Fighter Group was chosen for this mission, I have no idea - even more why the 23rd Fighter Squadron was selected, and even more than that why we three were picked.

Our briefing was like no other we'd had before one major general and three lowly pilots, hovered over by a bunch of brass. The target selected was a German Panzer division headquarters, because it was close to the lines. If anyone got hit, he'd have a better chance to make it back before going down.

"Red" Ferris was picked to lead the mission, with General Quesada flying his wing as Vibrate Red Two. I would lead the second element, with Clyde Hartszelle as my wing-man. On the way out to our Thunderbolts, armed with two 500 lb. bombs and full loads of ammunition, General Quesada grinned and said, "Gentlemen, just forget I'm a general," then wryly added, "If you can?" We laughed but knew there wasn't a chance in hell we would.

We took-off, formed up, and it was immediately apparent our new colleague wasn't used to flying our combat formation of low and forward, but instead, he flew the old training command formation of level and back. How was "Red" Ferris going to radio him, "Damn it, Vibrate Red Two, close it up, and get in formation!" So much for forgetting who was what.

Ten minutes out a call came in, "Vibrate Red Two to Vibrate Red Leader, my engine is cutting out when I switch fuel tanks, but I'll keep going." We didn't know what to do about this- and did nothing.

Pickle Barrel Control took over before we reached the target area, and gave us our heading. We snugged up tight and flew straight and level at 10,000 ft. and 250 mph. towards the target, sweating out the inevitable bursts of 88mm. flak. Then "Pickle Barrel" radioed up, "Our radar is acting up, and you'll have start over."

We went through this, on again - off again thing several more times, sweating out the flak each time. Finally, the controllers called and said, "Our radar still isn't working, and we have to scrub the mission. Out."
"Okay. Roger and out." "Red" Ferris responded.
We spread out - "Whoosh." I looked back- "WHOOMPH," six bursts of "88" went off right where we had been. It never fails that the sight of those orange-red fireballs inside the black bursts, turns courage to mush. Without knowing it the Germans had come within a gnat's eyebrow of bagging a renowned two star general. Maybe, those controllers weren't so
dumb after all.

"Vibrate Red Leader, this is Vibrate Red Two. We still have all of our bombs and ammunition. Let's dive-bomb and strafe the target.
Out," the General urged.
"Roger, Vibrate Red Two." Ferris came back.

We dove down on the Panzer division headquarters, each of us firing bursts from our eight 50cal. machine guns, in hopes of shaking up the German gunners firing 20 and 40 millimeter flak at us. We lined up on the target, and let fly. For once, my bombs made a terrific hit, and I hoped Vibrate Red Two was as impressed with me as I was. One run was
enough, and we headed home, happy to be in one piece.

Back at the field, we were de-briefed, then stood around bragging about what hot shot pilots we were. The General's P.R. photographer snapped away, as the rest of the squadron gawked in envy. We played our parts to the hilt.

It turned out the reason General Quesada's engine kept cutting out was that he was turning his fuel tank selector valve through "Off" when he changed tanks a big No-No. But he had a lot of guts and had flown the entire mission on one tank of gas. He was a good sport about his boo-boo. On the other hand, our sympathy towards him was shamefully condescending. We owed him better.

With all the hoopla and good-byes over, the General and his staff took off for IX TAC Headquarters. We continued to carry on in our self-anointed glory. But it didn't last. The next day we were back to where we were- three not so hot-shot fighter-pilots. But thanks to General Quesada and the good Lord, there were no more "Pickle Barrel" bombing missions.

In Aspen, Colorado in the late 1960s, Aspen resident and friend, former Secretary of the Navy, Jim Smith, came into our store with a familiar figure. I approached him and asked, "Are you General Quesada?"
"Yes, I am" he replied.
I reminded him of the mission we'd flown together, which he remembered. I took him into my office and showed him the picture of the four of us of on that long ago day. We went across the street to the Red Onion saloon, downed a couple of beers, and laughed over the great "Pickle Barrel Bombing" fiasco. We agreed it was just another of those great ideas... that didn't work.

At a marvelous party in Vail, Colorado in the 1980s, that Mrs. Quesada also attended, she told me the General was nearly blind and unable to travel, or he would have come.
"Please, say, 'Hi' to him for me, and give him my very, very best," I asked her. She thanked me and said she would be happy to pass along my message.
General Quesada passed away several years later.

* To this day, whenever I attend a 36th Ftr. Grp. reunion, someone always comes up to me and says, "Hi 'Junior.' How are ya?" Despite the incongruity of my bald pate and a more rotund figure, I consider it a compliment.



a story of years later and a reunion of sorts...( by philip wright)

While on a 1986 sojourn in southwest France, a love of fine wine put me in touch with Monsieur Guy Schyler, a distinguished Bordeaux wine négociant and consultant to Chateau Lafite-Rothchild, arguably, the greatest vineyard of the Medoc. Kindly, Guy had arranged a private tour of Lafite for my wife and myself.

Traveling through the famous vineyard towns of Margaux, Beychevelle, St. Julien, and Pauillac, it was a treat for me to see the renowned chateaux, so often read about - but whose product was so less often savored.

Schylers have been prominent members of the Bordeaux wine trade since 1739, and along the way Guy stopped at Chateau Beychevelle, with its lovely filigreed iron gates hinged to massive stone pillars. Gazing wistfully down the long gravel drive to the magnificent 18th century Chateau, he revealed his great grandfather had once owned this renowned estate and contemplated what might have been.

Learning Madame Schyler was a member of the prestigious Pol-Roger champagne family of Épernay, made it even more intriguing. Pol Roger champagne was Winston Churchill's favorite. Once, in a gesture of appreciation, he named one of his race horses for his friend, Odette Pol-Roger. Sadly, the filly was not a speedster.

My enthusiasm for fine wine does not translate to profound knowledge, and I hoped not to make a fool of myself while discussing it with Guy. However, my stock soared, when he learned I had been a sixty-mission P-47 pilot and a P.O.W. in Germany. He had been a fighter pilot in the French Air Force until France's fall in 1940, and following the war he had served with distinction as French liaison to the U.S.A.F. in Bordeaux. It was the start of a lifelong fondness for American airmen. I count myself fortunate, he calls me - "tres cher ami."

In February 1990 my wife and I arrived in Bordeaux on the way to Biarritz for several months stay. Later we would join the 36th Fighter Group tour of our wartime airfields. While lunching with Guy, he told us of two P-51s that had recently emerged from the sand on the beach near Arcachon, west of Bordeaux. They had belly landed in 1944, and wind and sea had buried them. Now, forty-six years later, the same elements had brought these phantom aircraft back to view and memory.


He related how on August 26, 1944 three P-51s were seen by members of the Marquis or French Resistance cruising around Arcachon Bay, then up and down the coast, as if lost. One flew out to sea and disappeared; the other two landed at a spot known as Truc Vert.

Responding to the request of the head of the local Marquis to investigate, Schyler contacted his friend and neighbor, Prince Stanislav Poniatowski, and the two set out by sail across the bay to aid the downed fliers.

Prince Stanislav was a remarkable gentleman. Though a descendant of the royal family of Poland and a pretender to that throne, he was an astute businessman who suffered badly under the Germans. As C.E.O. of the renowned aircraft engine manufacturer, Hispano-Suiza, he was jailed in Paris, then Berlin, for refusing to produce engines for the Nazis. During his military court trial, he escaped severe punishment only through a remarkable bit of luck.* He was freed on condition that he cease all industrial activities, and went to Arcachon in November 1940 under house arrest. Nevertheless, in spite of the risk of deportation and worse for himself and family, he joined the underground.

Reaching the downed planes, Schyler and Poniatowski took the two pilots, Lieutenants Sam Gevorkian and John Kester, in hand, and together they scrambled up and over the dunes. There they were met by the Marquisards and loaded into a truck for the ride back to the boat. The four sailed back to Arcachon, where Prince Stanislav hid Gevorkian and Kester in his home for twelve days.

Guy then took them to his grandmother's, Mme. Guestier of the renowned house of Barton & Guestier [B&G], home in Bordeaux. There they stayed several days making plans for their escape through Spain, to Portugal,
and back to England.

The pilots related the circumstances of their forced landings as follows: Returning from an escort mission to Ludwigshafen in bad weather, the three P-51s became separated from the main formation. Lost, they mistook the Gironde estuary for the Loire, and could not locate themselves. Low on fuel, Gevorkian and Kester opted to belly land on the beach at Truc Vert. The third pilot, 1st Lieutenant Sam Hansard, mistaking the Bay of Biscay for the English Channel, headed out over the open Atlantic. He was not heard from again. One can only shudder at the horror he felt, upon discovering his error.
Completing the saga, Guy showed me the extraordinary photographs he had taken in 1944 of the downed planes and the pilots' rescue. Examining them, it occurred, if I could learn the squadron's designation from the plane's ''CL" markings in the photo, we could contact the Group veterans' organization. Perhaps, Gevorkian and Kester were members? The prospect was exciting.

From our villa in Biarritz, I called Colonel Lewis "Bull" Curry, former C.O. of my 36th Fighter Group, for help. He succeeded, advising that Gevorkian and Kester had been members of the 55th Fighter Group, 338 Fighter Squadron of 8th Air Force. Further, he had contacted Bob Littlefield in Carmel, Ca., who headed the Group veterans' organization. I passed the information on to Guy and told him I'd follow up with Littlefield when I returned home.

Later, when the 36th Fighter Group tour reached Épernay, near one of our old fields, we were met by Christian and Danielle Pol-Roger, and their British friend, Richard Dumbrill. What a day was planned for us! First, a champagne reception, Vin d'Honneur, at Chateau Pol Roger.

Next, we were taken by a grand convoy of French Army armored personnel carriers to a small airport for a magnificent champagne luncheon. With sommelier, Odil Girardin, pouring, there wasn't a dry glass in the house!

Following the luncheon French Air Force Raphaels performed a spectacular fly-by for us. Then we went on in the APCs to the site of our old strip for dedication ceremonies and then to Tour-sur-Marne for more ceremonies and a final glass of champagne for "Auld Lang Syne." It was a never-to-be-forgotten day for the anciens warriors of the 36th Fighter Group.

Without the friendship of Guy and Nicole Schyler, it could never have happened!

Back in Montana, a letter from Bob Littlefield revealed that both Sam Gevorkian and John Kester had later been killed. However, he did have good news. Sam's sister, Alice Davey, lived in California. He thought a letter from Guy, along with the long ago photographs, would be a wonderful surprise. I forwarded his suggestion on to Guy, hoping he would respond. Of course, he did.

It was sometime before we heard from Mrs. Davey, but when her response came it was all we could have hoped for. She was astonished and grateful for what we had done, particularly for the photos and fascinating detail of her brother's 1944 rescue.

For Guy and myself, when we next meet, over a bottle of Ch. Lafite-Rothschild, we shall raise our glasses in tribute:
"Salut! pilotes du chasses, Sam Gevorkian et John Kester - and your 'Phantoms in the Sand.'"

[bobbysocks]

Joy Ride

The department head's meeting was over, and Major Broadhead, our CO, said the only fair way was to choose numbers. I guessed number one; it turned out to be the lucky one. I had won a ride in a piggyback Mustang!

I suppose there have been piggyback P-51's converted before, but some ingenious mechanic in our top-scoring 357th Fighter Group had dreamed this one up by himself. The radio was taken out, the guns were taken out, and an extra seat complete with air speed indicator and altimeter was directly behind the pilot. As a "paddlefoot" usually on friendly relations with pilots, I had gotten quite a few rides, but never in an operational, single-seater fighter aircraft. I've always wanted to ride in one - but I was a little bit scared, too. Major Broadhead, on his second tour and with eight ME 109s to his credit, didn't make me any more at ease by explaining how difficult it would be to bail out. The make-shift canopy may stick, and things happen awfully fast.

It seemed that at least half the GI's in the squadron were watching me climb into the ship - secretly hoping I'd get the hell scared out of me. Which - I did.

Bob taxied to 06 (the long runway), and before I knew it we were airborne. It was a beautiful day, with a layer of white baby wool clouds at 5,000 feet. Bob climbed up slowly through a hole, although to me the altimeter seemed to be spinning like the second hand of a watch. Then before I knew what was happening, the nose of the ship dropped and the plane seemed to be falling right out of the sky. The aie speed rose..200..250..300..350...and the nose came up again. All the weight of my body seemed to be directly against the seat. Ice water was flowing through my legs instead of blood. My jaw had involuntarily dropped, and I could feel my cheeks and eyes sag like an old man's. I tried to lift my arms; they seemed glued to my lap. This, then, was G strain. Approximately four G's, Bob said later.

Now the nose was going straight up. If the altimeter had looked like a second hand before, it looked like a Ferris Wheel now. Before I knew it, we had looped. Not being satisfied with a gentle pullout, Broadhead dropped her on one wing, and did a barrel roll.

After a few minutes of straight and level flying (while I got my breath back), Bob decided to hedgehop some clouds. A beautiful layer of white fleece stretched, endless as earth, as far as the eye could see. Toward it we dived, 300 miles per hour. For five minutes Bob indulged in his favorite relaxation of clipping the tops off clouds and turning on one wing. Occasionally the earth would wink at us, or clouds would engulf us from every direction.

"Now what would you like to do?" Bob seemed to signal from his cockpit. Ther was nothing I would rather do at the moment than get out and walk home - but that seemed a little impractical. Bob seemed to be making all sorts of "hangar flying" motions with his hand. In my brief experience, that hinted of violent maneuvers to come. Happily, I pointed to a lone fortress at seven o'clock. I thought we might fly alongside and wave at the pilot. Instead, we peeled off and made a pass at him.

There turned out to be two forts, and two mustangs were already giving them a bad time. It wasn't long until a flight of four more arrived from nowhere and joined in the fun. It was about that thime that everything from nowhere I had ever heard about "ratraces" was completely forgotten; I was learning from scratch. For a while I kept my eyes on two 51's directly overhead. I looked straight down, and there was the sun. We were up, down and around the bombers - right on the tail of a 51 - on our side, upside down, in a dive, in a pullout, I lost all trace of horizon, airspeed, ground...my head was spinning...the prop was spinning... I was conscious only of the throb of the engine and the occasional flash of an airplane overhead.

After a king-size eternity, the ratrace was over, and although I could not see Bob's face, I knew he was grinning from ear to ear. We had been up about thirty minutes. Seeing nothing else of interest, Bob headed "Eager Beaver" for 373. we flew straight and level, on a compass heading, all the way home. I saw a town of around 90,000 from the air, but I couldn't get very interested in it. I felt dead tired, as if I had worked a week without resting and had suddenly stopped. I had the thought that I was dead weight as much as a sack of flour. I wanted to collapse.

By the time we arrived at the station I felt much better. The field looked like three toothpicks touching, with the ends overlapping. The altimeter read 8,500 feet.

"Fifteen minutes more, and we'll be landing," I thought. bob grinned back at me. More maneuvers with his left had. I nodded agreement, and wondered what would come next.

One wing suddenly slipped out from under us, and we were upside down. Little pieces of mud an debris went past my eyes and hit the canopy, I remember thinking they were falling upside down. Then the nose dropped, and we split-essed out, going straight for the ground. The airspeed increased; the earth grew larger. The huge prop was spinning like a man gone mad. I watched the airspeed: 350...400...425. The altimeter was spinning backward like a watch going the wrong way...6,000...5,000...4,000. The earth had never looked so hard. At 2,000 we leveled out, with the airspeed indication 450.

After that, the peeloff and landing seemed dull. We had traveled a vertical mile in a matter of seconds, and had reached approximately 550 miles pre hour ground speed. The landing was rough. I tried to swallow, and couldn't. My throat was dry. My hair was tousled, my legs were cold, my face was white, and I was glad to be on the ground.

Thanks to Major Broadhead, that was forty-five minutes of my life I'll never forget. And each time I remember it, the more I enjoy it!

By Paul Henslee, 362nd FS Adjutant and Executive Officer



The Norwegian Odyssey of Bill Dunlop

By Merle Olmsted

As the 357th FG Historian, the name of William Dunlop was familiar to me because of a brief note in the group records for September 1944. An added paragraph to the mission report for 15 September has to say: "Lt. W.R. Dunlop, spare on mission separated from group on West Frisian Islands. With his gyro out, Lt. Dunlop got lost in the clouds and when he finally found his bearings, he was over Christiansand harbor in Norway. He strafed three seaplanes at 1045 anchored in the harbor, damaged a DO 24. He then took heading for nearest land and landed at Crail, Scotland at 1630."

I had often wished I could ask him about that adventure but Dunlop was listed as a lost sheep. In mid 1972, by a stroke of luck, I found him, now a Psychiatrist living nearby in the San Francisco Bay area. Subsequently, he and his sons and later he and his wife, came to visit us and they also attended the Long Beach Reunion. During these visits, I asked Bill about the long ride to Norway and asked him to write it up for the newsletter. Following is the story of Bill Dunlop's Scandinavian adventure on the 15th of Sept, 1944. Merle Olmsted

I did preplan going to Norway. For the trip, I could only procure maps of the nearest Norwegian coast. The night before, I asked to be put on spare. The next morning we were briefed for a mission to the Stettin area via the Frisian Chain and Denmark. We took off as low squadron, me with the second spare on my wing. After a non-eventful takeoff and assembly, we began the long climb to the enemy coast. Five to ten minutes from the first of the Frisians, we suddenly ran into a solid front. Trying to get through, the entire squadron split up. Just before entering the soup, I told my wingman to return to base. He had lost one of his drop tanks and had insufficient fuel to make the long trip ahead. Once in and split up, I was alone and spotting one of the islands thru a temporary break, I felt my responsibilities to the mission were over. A spare is only requited to accompany to the coast. I began a tight spiral in an attempt to stay in the hole. At 3000 ft., I had built up 300-350 mph airspeed and couldn't keep it tight enough with a full gas load. Entering the stuff half ready to spin, I barely gained straight and level at 500 ft. still on instruments edging down to 200 ft., I broke out in a driving rain storm and over a high running sea. Turning to my heading and setting the airspeed and mentally noting the time so as to make a bend into the Skatterak, I snuggled down to 50 ft. over the North Sea. I switched to channel B, Air Sea Rescue and hoped I was low enough and far enough away from the Danish coast to elude the radar sweep. I had computed an 1 hr steady course prior to the turn. As the first hr. passed, it was only with great concentration that I kept from hitting the wave tops. The water had a disillusioning effect on depth perception and it seemed to draw me like a magnet. Somewhere enroute I passed over a drifting mine. From my low altitude it looked huge and it's protrusions very deadly. I contemplated exploding it with the 50s, but thought better and let it alone. After approximately one and three quarters hrs. of this mist flying, I had the surprise of my life. The mist and rain ended suddenly in a wall just as it had begun. Bathed in sunlight and framed by pearl-like clouds, the mountains of Norway rose straight out of the sea. For a moment, it took my breath away. I almost went into the water again. There was no doubt I had overshot and come upon the south coast somewhere in the vicinity of Lister. I decided to parallel the coastline hoping to pick up a plane or a transport a few minutes after climbing up over the mountains from the sea. The country is wild and rugged in terrain almost beyond imagination. The mountain ridges and ranges run into the North Sea to make contact perpendicularly, the dividing valleys with rushing rivers, hurdled cliffs to form water falls of great violence. The only agriculture seemed to lie along the narrow space between the river bank and the valley walls. There was however an abundance of lumbering. The streams were choked with logs and great floats lined the edges of the Fiords. Still attempting to elude German Radar, I would dive down into the valleys and zoom up the other side flat on the deck in a porpoising motion. Perhaps due to the kick I was getting out of it or the maps, I never did locate myself. Off the coast several miles, there was considerable shipping. In each of the larger Fiords, there seemed to be at least one fair sized town usually one half on the mountain side. The houses were always wood, generally white, sometimes red or unpainted. Everything seemed extremely neat and gave the impression of a hardy civilization below.

At first I contented myself staying away from built-up areas, but attracted by a wood church, beautifully and massively built and receiving no flak, I flew over everything from then on. I never tired of flipping over a ridge and diving down the next valley. Each time there was a new and awesome sight. Finally I came on a Fiord which dwarfed the others with a lush green, well planned countryside, extending 5 to 10 miles along either side. I later learned this was Oslo Fiord. Here I notice my first railroad and partly looking for something German to shoot at, but also just curious, I followed it flying about 50 ft. above the tracks. I had been over Norway for one hour and was about to retrace my flight when I stumbled across the German Seaplane Base at Horten, just south of Oslo. It was in a cavity in the Fiord with bordering hills and an Island in the harbor, making it an ideal spot to defend and providing smooth water for takeoff and landings. On the island, a half-moon affair, stood a powerhouse and I was soon to learn 20 or 40 mm flak guns. In the town of Horten due south, several ocean going vessels were docked, perhaps transporting aircraft parts that a factory nearby produced to Germany. What particularly interested me and had me excited were a HE 115 and two large Dornier Flying Boats floating serenely in the center of the bay. (Journal lost, from this point on, the rest from memory 48 yrs later.)

I remember popping over hills on the west side of the small harbor, firing at one of the Dorniers most of the fire missing, kicking rudder to bring the fire back, but getting only a few hits on one wing. Later I found all the guns on the left side had not fired. I could not let the fat target go, circled low and made another pass from the west. All hell broke loose with AAA from a number of locations around the harbor. I can't remember if I fired again, but I do remember the AAA was heavy and I took off south down the Fiord full throttle, little balls of fire floating by on all sides. I remember feeling amazed that nothing had hit me. Out of range, I briefly considered going to Sweden, which was in plain view to my left. I knew I had used too much gas and could not get back to England. I decided I might be able to make it to Scotland. I remember thinning the mixture, lowering the RPMs and climbing back into the clouds to approximately 10,000 ft. I set a course for what I thought was the nearest part of Scotland. Now that radar could pick me up, I wondered if the Germans would send up fighters? I flew instruments all the way west. I tried to make some kind of radio contact but couldn't. As the gas gauge became near empty, I descended gradually wondering if I could make it to the coast. I had it in my mind that the Scottish coastal range was 1000-2000 ft. high. As I got down to that altitude, the visibility was still zero. I thought about bailing out at the end of the gas, but that was an unattractive option at best. Finally, I decided to inch down hoping to come out over the sea near land. I broke out at no more that 100 ft., not over the sea, but miraculously over an airfield. I dumped it in without ground contact, I couldn't wait and taxied to an apron. A British officer, probably the C.O., met me in a jeep. He seemed irritated by my unexpected arrival. I don't think he believed my story, that I had been lost in Norway, more like I was another crazy Yank. Finally he became a little more friendly, promised to put me up and service my airplane. We did have a momentary run-in. He wanted me to give him my gun camera film. I refused saying it was US property. Later I hid it under the cockpit seat. The airfield was the British Naval Airbase at Crail, Scotland. I was shown to the mess and later to the Officers Club. It was a scene hard to believe. Not a sober citizen to be found, everyone was smashed, singing and shouting. It seemed they had sunk the German pocket battleship Tirpitz earlier that day, of all places in a Norwegian Fiord. I remember talking to a flying officer from Ceylon. The pilots were from countries all over the world. The next day I checked my airplane, it had been serviced as promised. The line mechanic told me I had landed with 4 gallons of gas. I made a hot takeoff wanting to show the British what a P51 could do, pulling it off quickly and as straight up as it would go. At something like 500ft. over the end of the runway, it started to fall off in a stall, but I was able to get the nose down and steady it with the rudder and regain flying speed. I remember thinking how foolish I was, but also happy that the British could see what our plane could do. The trip south was uneventful except for some Spits and Hurricanes that wanted to dogfight. I left them behind. The hills in southern Scotland and northern England were rose colored and quite beautiful at that time of year.

Further Note by Merle Olmsted:

Although Bill remembers that the escapade caused him to be grounded for a week, the grounding did not "take", as two days later, he was aloft with the rest of the group over the airborne landing at Arnhem. Here he shot down an ME 109 and another the next day. He scored a total of four victories before he was shot down on "The Big Day" - 14 January, 1945, and spent the remaining few months of the war in a Stalag Luft.

[bobbysocks]

Joaquin Garcia-Morato - Best Ace of Spanish Civil War.

Born in Melilla in 1904. At 19 he was called up and posted to the Infantry. In April 1925 he enrolled in the civil flying school, and on 6th August received his F.A.I. pilot's license. Subsequently he took a course on the Avro 504 biplane and obtained the corresponding military qualification, on completion of which he was sent to a reconnaissance and bombing unit equipped with the DH9A. When the unit was sent to Morocco he took part in actions against the insurgents. He volunteered for the Bristol fighter squadron at Nador (Melilla), where in 57 missions he logged over 100 hours' flying, for which he was commended.After that he was posted to the float-plane base at Mar Chica, and later transferred to a reconnaissance group at Getafe.

In 1929 he was appointed flying instructor at the pilot Conversion School. He qualified as an observer, and in 1930 as a wireless telegraphist. He learned to fly multi-engined aircraft, fighters and float-planes, and he was an outstanding aerobatic pilot. In 1932 he added aircraft mechanic to his other qualifications. He took part in many aerobatic competitions, winning several. Among other aircraft he flew a Consolidated Fleet 2. In 1934 he saw action in the Asturias campaign.He taught blind flying at the Aereo-Club of Madrid. In 1935 Morato organized the air section of the General Directorate of Safety.

The Civil War found him on holiday (vacation) in Great Britain, from where he flew across France to Burgos and Cordoba. His part in the war started with the defense of Cordoba. Over that city on 3rd August, at the controls of a Nieuport 52, he threw an enemy formation into total confusion and forced it to withdraw. On the 12th Morato had his first victory when he shot down a Vickers Vildebeest bomber over Antequera.

Garcia-Morato was one of the first Spanish pilots to fly the He-51 biplanes when they became available, and on 18th August he shot down a Potez 54 and a Nieuport while flying one. He shot down another Nieuport on 2nd September. He also piloted Ju-52s on bombing missions.

When the Fiat CR-32 fighters arrived in Spain he was the first Spanish pilot to try them out, having been posted with two comrades to one of the Italian units. On 11th September he scored his fifth victory, and his first with the CR-32, achieving three more by the end of the month. He shot down three more aircraft in October, and in November he tangled over Madrid with Russian-made I-15 aircraft, shooting down three of them - and a Potez 54 into the bargain.

In December the Nationalist air force had sufficient Fiats to constitute an independent group, whose command went to Garcia-Morato. Dubbed Blue Patrol, it operated in the south flying cover for the Nationalist Breguets. The Cordoba zone was being targeted by Soviet SB-2 bombers, modern, fast and hard to intercept. On 3rd January 1937, attacking from high altitude, he pounced on a pair of them and shot them down. In February he returned to the Madrid front to support the Jarama offensive.

On the 18th, acting with other Italian CR-32 fighters, the Blue Patrol took off on a sortie to escort Ju-52 bombers. Because of losses they had sustained the Italians were forbidden to cross the front line. When the bombers crossed the front line with no escort a large number of enemy fighters pounced on them. Morato and his comrades Salvador and Berm?dez de Castro gave fight, which persuaded the Italians to disobey orders and join them. That day, at the cost of the loss of one of their own aircraft, the Nationalist fliers inflicted several losses on the enemy and redressed the balance of mastery of the air in the sector.

On 17 th May, 1937 he was decorated with the Cruz Laureada de San Fernando for his actions until 18th February, 1937. Until the latter date he had made 150 sorties and participated in 46 combats, achieving 18 victories.

Blue Patrol was upgraded to a full squadron and later a group of two squadrons, designated 2G3. In September 1937, with a total of 27 victories, Garcia-Morato was sent to Italy, from where he returned in December that year. He was appointed Commander of the Hispana Air Brigade, embracing all air units in the north. In July 1938 he was given command of a new fighter group, 3G3, in which he increased his tally of victories to 35.

On 3 rd October neither Salvador not Morato returned to base: the former had been shot down and taken prisoner and Garc?a-Morato, shot up by Third "Mosca" Squadron's Lt. Luis Sirvent Cerrillo, had made a forced landing.

On 24th December his unit, Fontllonga, 20 km. north of Balaguer (Lerida), shot down nine enemy R-5 bombers, three of which were attributed to Morato. Of the 9 Natashas, 3 returned to their own side's airfields, (2 to La Garriga and 1 to Vic). Six were shot down, of which 3 were lost, while the remainder managed to land with varying fortune inside their own lines.

Overall the Natasha squadron suffered 3 dead, 8 wounded and 2 taken prisoner. Garcha Morato's unit suffered the shooting down and taking prisoner of captain Rafael de Mendiz?bal Am?zaga, while another Fiat had to land because of damage at Almenar (Lerida). His last victory, number 40, was an I-15 shot down on 19th January 1939.

At the end of the war he was Chief of Operations of the Nationalist fighter force. His log book showed 1,012 hours flown on 511 sorties, of which 56 were in aerial combat, with 40 aircraft shot down.

On 4th April 1939 he was putting his Fiat CR-32 (3-51) through various maneuvers over Gri??n airfield when, during low-level inverted flight, the engine failed. The aircraft crashed, killing the pilot. He was posthumously awarded the Individual Medal and promoted to substantive major for meritorious war service.

In 1950 he was given the noble title of Count of the Jarama, also posthumously.

Morato's emblem is currently worn by Ala de Caza No 11 (No 11 Fighter Wing), based at Mor?n de la Frontera and equipped with the F-18. This will be the first Spanish unit to receive the Eurofighter. This Air Force unit has inherited the weapons and ancient tradition of Spanish fighter aviation which belonged to Ala 11 (11 Wing) based at Manises, Valencia until its disbandment in 1999.

Angel Salas Larrazabal - A Fighter Ace in Two Wars.

DURING World War II, the Nationalist government of General Francisco Franco Bahanmonde decided to send a volunteer force to fight on the Russian front in a way to repay the assistance that Germany and Italy had given him during the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939.

A complete infantry division was raised with a fighter squadron “Escuadrilla” to provide protection to the “Division Azul”. But in the actual fighting the division and the squadrons would fight in different areas of the Russian front. The Spanish pilots would even had encounters with the Free French pilots, of the “Normandie-Niemen” fighter regiment.

A total of five “Escuadrillas” would fly on the Russian front being relieved every six month with a Junkers Ju-52 flight, that flew mail to the “Division Azul”. By 1944 Franco seeing the writing on the wall and under pressure by the US government, decided to pull the Division and by the 5/o. Escuadrilla Azul out of Russia and declare Spain a “Neutral” country.

A Spanish Legion was formed in place of the Division to continue the fight against the Russians, but even this Legion was eventually recalled home, leaving a number of Spanish volunteers that fought in the German SS until the end of the war.

As for the Spanish squadrons, they received their training in Germany and later in France, they would first fly the BF-109E, F and G models and the FW-190A-3. These Spanish “Escuadrillas” would fly as part of the JG27 and JG51 in Russia. A total of 659 Spanish air force personnel would serve in these units.

During the course of their stay in Russia the Spanish pilots would claim the destruction of about 163 Russian aircraft and 12 pilots scoring 5 or more victories. On the debit side a total of between 24-25 pilots including ground personnel would lose their lives, some posted as missing in action, while one pilot was taken POW, only to return back to Spain in April 1954.

Among the notable Spanish fighter pilots only one would become an “Ace” not only in the Spanish Civil war but in Russia as well, this honor fell upon Cmdte. Angel Salas Larrazabal who had shot-down 17 Republican aircraft over Spain and would add 7 more Russian aircraft to his score.

Angel Salas was born on October 10, 1906 in Orduna, Viscaya Spain. He joined the army in 1921. Later in 1927 he joined the military aviation, graduating as a aerial observer, in 1929 he undertook pilot training to receive his pilot wings in 1930.

At the start of the Civil War, now Captain Salas, defected to the Nationalist side in a Breguet XIX general purpose biplane. During the course of the civil was, he flew the De Havilland Dragoon, and later fighters like the Nieuport Ni-52, Heinkel He-51 and the Fiat CR-32 biplane fighters.

He became one of the original members of the “Patrulla Azul” led by Joaquin Garcia Morato ( who finnish the war as the top scoring pilot with 40 claimed victories). Salas flew Fiat CR.32 No. 3-61 (c/n.111) he later became commander of 2-G-3 in September 1937.

His most notable combat came on September 2, 1938, during the battle of Ebro, when in a single pass he shot-down 3 SB-2 bombers of the 4o.Escuadrilla de “Katiuskas” of Grupo 24 and one Polikarpov I-16 of the 1o.Escuadrilla de Moscas, it pilot Tte. Jose Martin Redondo managing to bailed out.

Salas was one of two pilots who would claim four kills in a single combat, the other was the German Oblt. Wilhelm Balthasar of 2./J88 claimed four SB-2’s on February 7, 1938.

At the end of the war Salas had flown 618 missions, 1,215 fight hours, was involved in 49 aerial combats, he was shot-down four times. But to his credit he had destroyed 48 vehicules and was credited with shooting down 16 Republican aircraft and shared one.

After the war he served in the following positions commander of the 21st fighter regiment and chief of the 4th section of the Estado Mayor.

He volunteer and was designated as the commander of the 1a. Escuadrilla Azul, (Escuadrilla Expedicionaria) that was formed with 17 pilots, some veterans of the civil war, with thier combined score totaled 79 aerial victories.

The unit crossed into France on July 24, 1941, later arriving in Germany in late part of the month, they were assigned to training at the Jagdfliegerrschule 1 at Werneuchen near Berlin, after completing their training on the BF-109E’s, the 1o.Escuadrilla left for Russia on September 26, 1941. At first the Spanish pilots were worried that they would arrive late to see any action, since they were kept informed of the progress of the German advance towards Moscu.

Celebration of Azul Escuadrilla's welcoming on East Front, Moschna airfield, September 1941.

The 1/o.Escuadrilla received a total of 12 BF-109E-4 and –7’s’s and they were assigned to JG 27 VIII FliegerKorps of LuftFlotte 2. They were known as the “15 Spanische Staffel”, and they started to fly their first combat operations October 2nd , 1941 and suffering its first pilot in that same day. Escorting German bombers and reconnaissance aircraft, they operated from 12 different airfields, On October 4th, the Escuadrilla Azul score its first aerial victories, when Cmdte. Salas opens the score board with the destruction of one I-16 fighter and a Pe-2 as he described in his after combat report:

I saw coming 6 Pe-2 and I went after them, cutting the distance between us I found myself below I opened fire from 150 meters with my small machine and much closer with my canons, I saw pieces jump from the aircraft after the second burst, it occupant taking to his parachute. Later I continue towards Cholm to join up with the group and see a “Rata” I attack him in a turn while trying to flee in a fast dive that rips his left wing and he crashes near the confluence between Dnieper and Wjasna. Later I attack twice another “Rata” with no effects.

On October 7th, the Escuadrilla undertakes 42 sorties and in the course of the day Cmdte. Salas shot-down an “I-18” for his third personal and unit victory. Days later on the 13th, two of Salas pilots shoot-down a Biplane and another “I-18” fighter. On the next day Salas in the company with three other pilots in a “free hunt” near Kalinin surprise three DB-3 bombers in the resulting combat Salas downs two, while Capt. Carlos Bayo Alessandri destroys the third DB-3, but during the heat of the combat Salas and Bayo collide resulting in Salas BF-109’s rudder being partially destroyed but he made back to base. But during this combat Cmdte.

Salas became the first Spanish pilot to become an “Ace” in the skies of Russia.

On the 25th,Salas with two other pilots destroyed on the ground three “I-18” Soviet fighters at the airfield of Klin. On the 27th, Salas during an combat between five Spanish pilot and reportedly 10 “I-18” fighters shot-down another “DB-3” bomber for his sixth personal and the 10th victory for the Spanish squadron.

On November 4th, Cmdte. Salas is force to land between German and Russian lines during an aerial combat, he was rescued the next day by German troops and returned to the squadron.

In the later part of November Cmdte. Salas reportedly shot-down an Russian biplane for his 7th personal victory, but there is some confusion, as his this kill was actually a ground victory, since in the listing of victories by the Escuadrilla Salas is listed with 6 aerial and 2 ground victories. That would end the score card for the 1/o.Escuadrilla Azul. For the remainder of their stay in Russia, they would continue fighting, flying escort mission, ground attacks etc, etc. but sustaining losses to it pilots.

The 1/o.Escuadrilla Azul receive the orders to return to Spain on January 6th, 1942. during their time in Russia the unit flew a total of 460 missions, engaged in 94 aerial combats and destroyed 10 enemy aircraft plus four on the ground, for the lost of 5 pilots (one KIFA, three WIA and one KIA) plus one wounded in action. Of the three missing in action, one is reported to have been taken POW by the Russians, but stayed in Russia and married a Russian woman and reportedly was living South of Moscu.

As for Comandate Salas he received the German Iron Cross .

After his return from Russia Cmdte. Salas served as a Air attaché in Rome, Berlin and Lisboa Portugal and during the 1950’s he was posted to Paris France. In 1956 he undertook training to become a jet pilot, he would retire from the Air Force in 1972 with the rank of Capitan General and his last post was Chief of Tactical Aviation and the commander of a Air Region.

He passed away on April 26, 1991.

[bobbysocks]

Siergiey Luganski - Master of 'Taran' Attack.

Siergiey Luganski (1918-1977) was one of the best Soviet pilots. He achieved a total of 37 kills during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) - two of these kills were by "Taran" attacks (air-to-air ramming). He was highly awarded, twice appointed Hero of the Soviet Union.

Born in Alma Ata, Kazakhstan, he was facinated by aviation since early ages. In 1936 he joined the Military Aviation school in Orienbursk. In 1938, Luganski completed the Pilot’s School with the award of Best Student. Next, he went to a fighter regiment, first as an ordinary pilot, next - as leader of a section, and finally as deputy regimental commander. In 1939, he completed the Military Aviation Academy.

During the Soviet-Finnish War (1939-40) he flew 59 combat missions, downing one enemy aircraft. Luganski's Squadron (25 IAP), commanded by Ivan Ivanovich Popov, part of the 14th Soviet Fighter Corps, operated from the frozen lake Karchu-Lampi. The main task for this unit was ground-attack sorties against Finnish troops. During one of these sorties, on 28 February 1940, Luganski’s plane was hit by artillery shell (probably Soviet!), and he was forced to bail out, despite the fact that he was flying at a very low altitude. His parachute developed only a few metres above the ground. During the jump he lost his flying boots - which was some quite serious business at 40 Centigrades below zero. But the front line was close. Luganski, running only in his socks, was lucky to reach the Soviet positions. Next day he was airborne again, scoring his first aerial victory against a less fortunate Finnish aircrew. Flying together with his commander, Sen.Lt. Vladimir Nikolayevich Pieshkov (who was appointed Hero of the Soviet Union on 20 September 1940, after 3 kills in Winter War), he managed to down a Finnish reconnaissance biplane.

Luganski’s next kill almost finished his career: By mistake he destroyed a Soviet R-5 reconn-bomber. But Luganski was lucky again, escaping with only a few days in confinement. Following the Finnish surrender in the Winter War, all pilots were awarded, and Luganski received the Red Star Order. The combat missions he had flown during the war with Finland provided him with experience which would prove very useful in the coming years.

In beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Luganski flew a LaGG-3 fighter, and downed a few enemies. The squadron, commanded by Ivan Gluhih, was re-equipped with old I-16s. In air combat over Bataysk on 9 September 1941, two sections (6 planes) of Soviet fighters encountered 18 Germans. A German (whom Luganski assumed must have been an ace) shot down Vladimir Pieshkov. Luganski followed German in a long persuit, to revenge himself for his friend's death, but instead he got himself shot down. But once again, luck had not completely deserted him, as he managed to bail out and survive.

While covering Soviet Army’s river crossings, he downed enemy aircraft through ramming attacks twice. The first occasion was on September 14th, 1942. Having run out of ammunition, Luganski decided to perform a "Taran" attack against an enemy formation, which was approaching River Volga in the air above General Rodimtsev's division. He knocked down a Romanian He 112 with a damaged wing. Next time, the "Taran" attack was accomplished while flying cover over the Dnepr River - this time the victim was an He 111. And luck stayed with Luganski, who in both cases came out of the ramming attacks alive (unlike most Soviet pilots, who performed this type of attack). On the same day as he scored his second ”Taran” kill, he was awarded with the Alexander Nevski Medal.

In June 1943, Luganski’s squadron (12 aircraft) was engaged in a famous battle. Over the front lines, they spotted about 80 German bombers, from which they bagged 12. Several pilots scored multiple victories in this melee). One month later, Luganski's squadron came across 30 Bf 109's. During a prolonged and stiff battle, the Soviets managed to shoot down 8 enemies. On 12 September 1943, acting as squadron commander in the 270th Guards Regiment, Sergeiy Luganski was appointed Hero of the Soviet Union. At this moment he had 18 kills to his credit.

In another aerial combat, Luganski was seriously injured. Still not completely recovered, he returned to Alma Ata in the end of December 1943. The people of the city welcomed him with great enthusiasm, and raised funds which bought him a new Yak-1M. In May 1944, Luganski was put in charge of a Guards Fighter aviation Regiment in the 1st Guards Ground-attack Aviation Corps (1 GvShAK, commanded by V. G. Ryazanov), supporting the 1st Ukrainian Front. At this moment he had 18 kills to his credit. Shortly after taking command of this crack unit, Luganski downed a German fighter ace. In his memoirs 'Glubokiye Wirazhi' (Deep Turns), Luganski describes this event with the following words: In one of the days of May 1944 , Sergiey Luganski and his wingman took off on an important reconnaissance mission. While Viktor Usov accomplished his task of covering his commander, Luganski discovered some German tanks and armoured columns. They flew at low altitude in order to avoid enemy fighters. Having fulfilled their mission, the two Soviets entered their return flight. What they didn't notice was that a 'hidden' pair of Bf 109s followed them. Later, Luganski assumed they must have noticed the rich ace 'ornaments' on his Yakovlev, which made them decide to avoid an open confrontation, and instead seeking the chance in a surprise attack. They waited patiently, and when Luganski, having reduced the speed of his aircraft, started landing - they decided to hit.

The Ground control noticed the danger and warned both pilots by R/T. Viktor Usov turned sharply to defend his leader and soon he had shot the German wingman in flames. But just in that moment, the leader of the German section hit Usov's plane and he was forced to bail out. Now only the two leaders, the Russian and the German, remained in the air. The German pilot turned against Luganski. The Soviet ace was just come in to land. A small touch down with lowered landing gears probably saved his life. A stream of enemy rounds passed slightly above his plane. While closing his landing gears, Luganski entered combat. Following his first run, the German climbed to make his next attack. He had the advantage - Luganski was flying slowly at deck. The Bf 109 came after him again and opened fire. Several shells slammed into Luganski's Yak. The canopy and instruments panel were damaged, but the plane still was able to fight.

Luganski, noticing the top class of his adversary and aware that his own aircraft was almost out of fuel, realized that he had only one chance of surviving - to use the Yak's superior horizontal. The German pilot, obviously certain of his success, entered a turn fight. After few very sharp rounds, Luganski had the Bf 109 in his gun sight. A fire burst shattered the German’s cockpit hood, injured the pilot and cut the engine power off. The German aircraft slid in the air for a moment, then it made a belly-landing 3 kms from the Soviet airfield. Soviet soldier rushed to capture him and suddenly the hunter had become the prey. Luganski saw this and a few minutes later he landed on nothing but fuel fumes. The duel had lasted no more than 7 minuts long, but it was enough to completely exhaust Luganski. The German pilot was captured: It turned out that his name was Otto. On his killboard were 70 victories, including 30 on Eastern Front. He had just been appointed for the Oak Leaves to his Knight’s Cross. Next day the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal I.S. Koniev arrived at airfield. He inspected the wreck of the German ace’s Bf 109, and decided to award Luganski a second Golden Star, so Luganski received his second Soviet Hero title on 1 July 1944. By that time, his victory score had rosen to 33, achieved during 335 combat sorties.

During the battle of Lvov, Luganski often flew on free hunting missions with the Soviet Hero Yewgeniy Mienshutin acting as wing man. Once, they encountered a pair of Bf 109, one of them with a bright red nose, over the front line Mienshutin soon downed the leader of the pair, while Luganski hit the 'red-nosed' wingman with a long burst from a very short distance. The enemy plane hit the ground, but did not explode. The Soviets 'investigated' the body of this Bf 109’s pilot - it turned out to be an Italian pilot named Gibelli, credited with 50 (!? - after Luganski relation) kills.

In that period, the people of Alma Ata decided to raise funds to equip Luganski’s whole squadron with twelve of the brand new Yak-3 fighters! The 'Komsomolec Kazakhstana' squadron was included to Luganski's 157th GvIAP. Shortly afterwards, the regimment recived the name-of-honour 'Sandomirskiy' after its great achievements in the air over the city of Sandomierz (Poland). Unit also was awarded with the Bohdan Chmielnickiy and Alexander Nevski Medals.

Luganski finished the war with the rank of Major. His final score was 37 personal and 6 shared victories, on a total of 390 combat missions. Luganski's Fighter Aviation Regiment was credited with the destruction of 245 enemy aircraft in the air. In 1957 Luganski was promoted to Major-General, and in 1964 he retired. He passed away in 1977, in Alma Ata.

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Stanislaw Skalski and His "African Circus

Stanislaw Skalski was born on 27 October 1915 in the country village of Kodyma. Completing Pilot Training School in 1938, Stanislaw was ordered to the 142nd Fighter Squadron in Torun. On 1 September 1939 he downed a German Hs 126 reconnaissance aircraft at 5:32 a.m (after his own interview's relation). A note of interest - - if Wladyslaw Gnys had not destroyed two Do-17s at 5:30 a.m. (as some sources claim), but instead at 7:00 a.m. (as Gnys himself reported), this would mean, that Skalski scored the FIRST victory of WWII! In September 1939, Skalski reached "ace status", by personally downing 6 German aircraft (1 Ju 86, 2 Do 17, 1 Ju 87, 2 Hs 126), plus 1 Hs 126 shared with another pilot. Furthermore, he damaged another three planes (1 Bf 109, 1 Hs 126, 1 Ju 87). Skalski flew his last sortie with his P-11c on 16 September. The next day he fled the country, as did several other Polish pilots, to Rumania, and from there to fight in France and England.

On 12 August 1940, 2/Lt Skalski joined 501st Squadron RAF (commander S/Ldr H.A.V. Hogan) and took part in the "Battle of Britain". Stanislaw Skalski's part in the combat of 5 September 1940, was very dramatic. Early in the morning, 501 Squadron took off to attack a large group of German aircraft. In first attack Skalski managed to hit an He 111 bomber, and set its right engine on fire. Following this, the Polish pilot shot down one of the escorting Bf 109s. The pilot of the Bf 109 bailed out. A few minutes later, as Skalski flew alone at 8000 meters altitude, he made a surprise attack on another Messerschmitt. With success! But in turning to his map to note the area of the victory, his own aircraft was hit by a well-aimed burst of fire. The shells slammed into the fuel tanks and the "Hurricane" immediately caught fire. Skalski bailed out from his diving fighter and parachuted to the ground. Severe burns kept him in a hospital for six weeks. During the Battle of Britain, Skalski shot down a total of six German planes.

Following the combat death of Capt. Ozyra on 29 April 1942 (in the same battle, Maj. Marian Pisarek was also killed), Capt. Skalski was given the command of the Polish 317 Squadron for five months. On 1 October 1942 317 Sqn was given a new commander, Capt. Zbigniew Czajkowski, and Skalski's African career began.

The Polish Fighting Team (PFT), popularly called "Skalski's Circus", was made up of the best Polish fighter pilots. All fifteen of them volunteered and Capt. Stanislaw Skalski was their commander. After a month«s transition, the Polish pilots arrived at Bu Grara airfield (250 km west of Tripoli) on 13 March 1943. They at first became part of 145 RAF Squadron (commanded by S/Ldr Lance Wade) as the "C" Flight. The call code of 145 Squadron was "ZX" and the aircraft of the Polish Flight received the individual code numbers "1" to "9".

Operational duty for the PFT began 17 March 1943. The first combat missions were in "Spitfire" Mk Vc trop fighters, but after a week the unit was re-equipped with new "Spitfire" Mk IX (while other flights of the 145th still flew the Mk V!). On 28 March 1943, the PFT drew its first blood. The flight led by Skalski encountered a group of Ju 88's escorted by Bf 109Gs of II./JG 77. No fighter planes were shot down on either side, but Skalski and Lt. Horbaczewski claimed killings of two Ju 88s.

On 2 April 1943, four Polish "Spitfire" pilots from 145 Squadron attacked 16 Bf 109s of II./JG 77 and claimed three Messerschmitt 109s shot down, one of them by Skalski. The record of II./JG 77 'Herzas' shows: the Bf 109s attacked a formation of Douglas Bostons escorted by "Spitfires", and Feldwebel Alexander Preinfalk claimed one Boston shot down (his 64th victory). Oberleutnant Heinz Dudeck's Bf 109 G-6 was the only German loss. Dudeck belly-landed and escaped the wreck unhurt. He was taken care of by some local Tunisians who fed him milk and ten raw eggs! On the Polish side the "Spitfire" piloted by Lt. Arct was damaged, but he was able return to base.

Two days later, the Polish fighters attacked a group of Ju 88s accompanied by Bf 109s. The German escort prevented them from attacking the bombers, but Skalski and Capt. Krol each downed one Bf 109. Lt. Martel claimed one 109 damaged. Next day, Lt. Horbaczewski scored a single Bf 109, but his "Spitfire" was heavily damaged on the mission. On the afternoon of 6 April, Lt. Sporny and Sgt. Malinowski destroyed two Bf 109s.

On 18 April 1943, the Polish Team of 145 Sqn ('C' Flight) sustained its only loss, as F/Lt Wyszkowski, lagging behind a formation, was bounced from the sun by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 - Rotte of 7./JG 53 'Pik As'. Unteroffizier Georg Amon shot down the "Spitfire". Wyszkowski crash-landed in enemy territory and was taken prisoner by the Germans. This was Amon«s first victory. Two months later (on 25 June 1943, vividly accounted in Johannes Steinhoff's book 'Die Strasse von Messina'), when JG 53 was based in Sicily, the Luftwaffe's Fighter General Adolf Galland (visiting Sicily at that time) personally ordered Amon to be court-martialled for 'cowardness'; Galland claimed that Amon had deliberately turned away from combat to avoid confrontation with B-17s. However, the general confusion on Sicily at that time saved Amon from the court-martial. With a total of nine victories, Amon was shot down by AA over Germany on 2 April 1945 and was taken prisoner by the Allies.

On 20 April 1943, the "Spitfires" of 145 Squadron made a surprise attack on a mixed formation of German and Italian fighters and claimed to have shot down nine, of which the Polish pilots claimed three Bf 109s and three Macchi Mc-202 "Folgores". That day, I. and II./JG 53 'Pik As' lost a total of five Bf 109 Gs in aerial combat. At least one - piloted by Leutnant Rolf Schlegel - was shot down by Spitfires.

On 22 April 1943, the entire 244 Fighter Wing with 145 Squadron acting as top cover attacked a formation of six-engine Me 323 Gigant of TG 5 escorted by Italian fighters and the Messerschmitt 109s of JG 27, JG 53 and JG 77. The P-40s of 7 Wing, SAAF, also took part in the attack, claiming the destruction of 31 Me 323s! Transportgeschwader 5 lost sixteen Me 323s. The Polish fighter pilots, led by F/Lt. Pniak, engaged the escort and claimed five Bf 109s and one Mc-202 shot down. In II./JG 27, three Bf 109s were lost: Leutnant Schlechter was shot down over sea and was saved by air-sea rescue, while Feldwebel Rudolf Lenz and Unteroffizier Heinz Golletz were missing. The only claims by II./JG 27 were made by Leutnant Schneider - two P-40s (his first and only victories in the war). JG 53 'Pik As' had one Bf 109 shot down: Leutnant Friedrich Fiebig of 6. Staffel bailed out with injuries. I./JG 77 'Herzas' suffered no losses, while one of its pilots - Leutnant Heinz-Edgar Berres claimed one "Spitfire" (his 43rd victory).

On 6 May 1943, "Skalski Circus" fought its last aerial combat. On this occasion, Skalski and Sgt. Sztramko downed 2 Bf 109s. On 13 May 1943 the war in Africa was over. During two months, the Polish pilots had shot down a total of 26 German and Italian planes. Capt. Skalski scored 4 aircraft, but the most successful of the unit had been Lt. Eugeniusz Horbaczewski been, with 5 confirmed victories.

After the Flight was disbanded, Capt. Skalski did not leave this theatre of war. As commander of 601 Squadron RAF "County of London", he took part in the invasions of Sicily and Italy. He returned to England in the end of 1943.

During period 13 December 1943 - 3 April 1944, Major Skalski commanded the 131 Fighter Wing (Polish Squadrons: 302nd, 308th, 317th, till October 15th, 1944 - Ist Polish Fighter Wing). On 4 April 1944 (remaining in this position until 3 August 1944) he was appointed commander of the other Polish Fighter Wing - the 133th (Polish Squadrons: 306th, 315th and British 129th). On 24 June 1944 Skalski, leaded the whole Wing, scored two air victories in a battle over Rouen. Altogether, Polish fighters claimed 6-1-4 enemy planes in this action, but unfortunatelly they lost Sgt. Adamiak from the 315th Squadron, when his "Mustang", FZ157, crashed in the St. Croix/Beaux area (north-west of Dreux).

Stanislaw Skalski was the most successful Polish ace of WW II, with a record of 22 confirmed victories, 1 probable, and 1 damaged enemy aircraft. Three times he was awarded the British DFC, and he received many other medals. Following his return to Poland after the war, he was imprisoned by the Communist regime in 1949, on a charge of espionage for the West. He spent 6 long years in a jail, waiting for execution. That was his "reward" from the communists, a fate he shared with many other Polish soldiers returning from the West for their heroic and sacrificing duty. In 1956, Skalski was finally released from prison.

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Hannes Gentzen - first Luftwaffe ace in WW2.

When at the end of the September Campaign the Luftwaffe counted the successes of the German fighter units it appeared that in the air battles 90 Polish aircraft were shot down. In the second place in respect of the air wins was Jagdgruppe 102, the leader of which, Hauptmann Johannes Gentzen, claimed shooting down of as many as seven opponents. Altogether, his unit claimed the destruction of 78 Polish planes, of which 28 were destroyed in the air, and Gentzen appeared at the top of Luftwaffe shooters in the new conflict.

Hannes Gentzen was born in 1906 and succeeded in obtaining full training in the pre-war Germany, and at the end of the 20’s in the area of the USSR in Lipeck to the south west of Moscow. On Hitler’s seizure of powers, for people such as him the green light turned on and as a proffessional officer he undertook the training and organizing of new units. On the 1st of May 1939, in the rank of Hauptmann, he takes charge of Jagdgruppe 102 equipped with one-seated Messerschmitts Bf109D, which stayed at Bernberg airfield. At the end of August the unit was moved to Gross Stein (Kamień Wielki) near Opole (Opeln), from where it made attack on Poland.

For the first three days of the war the Jagdgruppe 102 pilots had no luck and they failed to meet Polish aircraft despite their performing of many flights to the close support of German bombers and Stukas’s. However, on the 4th of September the account of the unit was opened by Hauptmann Gentzen, who at about 9.30 a.m. shot down a lone Polish bomber PZL P37B Łoś (factory number 72.1. It was a machine of the 211th Eskadra Bombowa (211th Bomb Squadron) pursuing a reconaissance flight, and its crew was por. obs. Górniak, sierż. strz. Zejdler, plut. pil. Bonkowski, and kpr. strz. Puchała. And the crew fell down in flames around the mansion Gieczno near Rychłocice. Then Górniak and Puchała died.

It was not the end of the lucky day of Gentzen. Just after noon he led to ‘Freie Jagd’ in Lodz region the 1st Staffel of his unit and he succeeded one more time. Here is how he later remembered the flight:

“The Polish fighters were not tracked down without problems. However, bringing them to the ground is extremely important. Every Polish pilot is a master of acrobatics, and the green-brown color of their airplanes is an ideal camouflage. The Poles flying in their machines often were able to so color-wise remind a burning forest that it was very difficult to spot them.

However, in the first air fight my Staffel had a great success. We were flying over Lodz in the ‘stairway’ formation at the height of about 1000 meters, when we saw two Polish fighters climbing up in our direction. A part of the Staffel at once began the diver’s flight. I myself attacked one of the two Poles. My missiles must have hit in the engine because he immediately went down in the slide fight. We went after him, and to our surprise we saw that the field he wanted to land on was a perfectly disguised airfield. What a surprise! We would have certainly not found their hiding place were it not for the escaping pilot who led us to the airfield. During landing the shot down aircraft stood ‘on its head’ and then caught fire. The pilot jumped out of the machine and hid very quickly. Of the nine Polish aircraft that we discovered on the airfield, five stood in a row. We flew right above the ground and we shot them all and burned. Four others were standing with their ‘mouths’ in haystacks. It was not difficult – after a few machine gun series into the stacks they caught fire and four planes burned.

Meanwhile another Pole appeared above us. My friend jumped on him but he slid away and escaped. Anyway, he was attacked by another one and shot down.

The airfield Widzew near Lodz, base III/6 of Fighter Division belonging to the ‘Lodz’ Army Air Force fell victim to Jagdgruppe 102. Five fighters PZL P11 and P7 burned on land and further three were damaged. The unlucky pilot shot by Gentzen was ppor. Zadrozinski of 161th Fighter Squadron, and another Pole shot down was por. Jeziorowski. However, for Gentzen the day was not over. He keeps on saying this way:

“During our return flight we met three Polish bombers, of which two were sent to the ground by us, and the third found refuge high in the sky. Three flyers jumped out in parachutes. Unfortunately, one of them touched the fin and fell down with the plane. Another one was soaring right behind him and landed slightly aside.’’

The flight of the three Los’s belonged to the 212th Bomber Squadron and all of them were shot down by Jagdgruppe 102 pilots. Among them, one of the shot down was taken by Hauptmann Gentzen. During that flight the Jagdgruppe 102 pilots claimed destroying of four Los’s and two P24’s in the air as well as destroying nine further Polish planes on the ground. In this way Gentzen gained during one day three victories in two fighting flights.

For the two following days Jagdgruppe 102 fought Polish airplanes claiming victories almost everyday. The unit moved to Krakow on 9th September, but only two days later it seized the airfield in Dębica. Another Gentzen’s great day came on the 14th September, when a German reconaissance aircraft discovered in Hutniki near Brody (40 miles from the Russian border) the airfield of the VIth (Light) Bomber Squadron of Bomber Brigade. Knowing the moveability of the Polish fighting units the Germans decided to immediately force an attack expecting a strong defense of the Polish fighters. They decided to direct the first Jagdgruppe 102 before Heinkel He111 of KG 4, and the first Jagdgruppe 102 dispatched to flight its 1 Staffel of eight planes Bf1109D. When the Germans were approaching the airfield a group of light bombers PZL P23 Karaś appeared, which group was immediately attacked. Johannes Gentzen remembered the flight this way:

“One time, near Brody, as far as I remember we met Polish two-seated ground attack planes, where the shooter sits at the back. Of fourteen enemy airplanes, against our eight, only one escaped.’’

The pilots of 1st Staffel stopped air fight at the news of the closing bombers, claiming to have shot down five Karaś’s, of which Gentzen shot four in only ten minutes. It should be mentioned that the Polish planes flying on the remaining amount of fuel sat down on the ground where they could as they had not enough fuel to escape or defend from the attacks. As a result four PZL P23’s were shot down – two of them of the 64th Bomber Squadron as well as two of Reserve Reconaissance Squadron SPL Dęblin. On the ground were destroyed seven Karaś’s and two unarmed Los’s, and all the remaining P23 were damaged as well as one high-wing monoplane R.XIII. Gentzen enriched his account to seven shot downs and took lead among the German pilots in the September Campaign. As soon as the next day he received at the hands of Hermann Göring the Eisern Kreuzen First Class.

No later than 18 September Jagdgruppe 102 moved to Breslau (Wrocław), to quickly take the airfield Lachen/Speyerdorf near the western German border. Its Bf109D appeared to be obsolete against the modern allied fighters, which was confirmed on the 6th November, when in fight against Curtiss H75A’s of GC II/5’s, in spite of a great advantage numberwise the Germans lost four aircrafts and four others were seriously damaged. Gentzen alone shot down one of the opponents, and he was threatened by court martial for such high losses of his unit. However, he defended himself, and in February 1940 Jagdgruppe 102 was moved to Bonn, where it was given new two-engine aircraft Messerschmitt Bf110C as well as a new mark I/ZG 2. Gentzen was granted with a promotion to a Major’s rank, which he celebrated as well as he could by shooting one more Curtiss H75A on 7th April, this time together with a GC I/5.

After starting the offensive in the West, Major Hannes Gentzen in less than two weeks made his account of shot downs amount to 18. That successful career began in the Polish sky was suddenly abrupted on the 26th May 1940. During the takeoff from Neuchateau airfield to take over a group of British light bombers Battle his Bf110C crashed as a result of loss of power in one of the engines. Both Gentzen and his shooter, Oberleutenant Domeier, died. Gentzen was at that time the most efficient pilot of Luftwaffe.

Jorma Sarvanto and six kills in five minutes. (Finland)

The 'Winter War' was being fought and it was on 6 January 1940 in. At dawn (about 8:30) the weather in Southern Finland was fairly favourable to enemy bombers. The cloud cover at 300 to 400 m was patchy, providing enough visibility for orientation, but also protecting bombers from surveillance and interceptors, and then haze up to 4000m.

Four Fokker D-XXI fighters with ski undercarrige of the 4th flight of the 24th Squadron were located in the Utti air base. The reason that the Flight was there was that during the first days of the year Finnish intelligence had intercepted radio messages from Soviet weather recce a/c flying over Jyväskylä and Kuopio. This indicated that the enemy had targeted these towns. Col.Lt Lorenz, the commander of the 2nd Wing, instructed Maj Magnusson to place his fighters accordingly.

At 9:30 the air surveillance reported enemy planes. The Fokkers were sent in pairs to intercept, but due to poor visibility the enemies could be encountered by chance only.

At the same time Lieutenant Pehr-Erik "Pelle" (his nickname is shortened from the original, as “Bob” from “Robert”) Sovelius was ferrying FR-92 to Utti from Lappeenranta where the fighter had been undergoing periodic major maintenance in one of the few warm hangars of the FAF. As usual the machine guns of the Fokker were loaded even though it was to be a ferrying mission.

Sovelius was near the base as at 10.10 hrs he heard in his headphones: - 'Enemy planes north of Hamina at 3000m!'.

He saw eight DB-3 bombers flying in an abreast formation right in his direction.

Sovelus’ battle report of the engagement:

Place of the aerial battle: “Northern edge of the Utti airfield.”

Enemy a/c: “ DB”

Fate of the enemy a/c: “Dived burning to the ground between Utti and Kaipiainen, North of the railway line.”

Course of the aerial battle: “On a ferrying flight Lappeenranta-Utti I was informed by radio about the movement of enemy a/c at the Southern fringe of the Haukkasuo swamp, eight a/c, on a course to North from Kotka, flying altitude 3000 m. I intercepted the formation on “collision course”. Having climbed above the enemy I half-rolled my Fokker at the left wing a/c. I shot the gunner at 300m and then approached to a distance of 100m. At that moment the third a/c from the left fired at me, so I gave her a brief burst and the gunner fell silent.

Then I fired brief bursts (at the bomber) and the a/c caught fire. The left engine and wing were burning. The a/c crashed.”

Ammunition consumption: “500 pcs.”

Eventual evidence: “A/c found between Utti and Kaipiainen near the railway line.”

Other obervations: “The enemy a/c supported each other by flanking fire. My fighter took 8 hits.”

Signed by : Lt. P.-E. Sovelius Aircraft: FR-92

The other seven bombers continued northwards, and being almost as fast as the Fokker D.XXI they escaped among the clouds and haze. The enemy must have had intelligence information about the Utti base, the “home” of the Finnish fighter aviation, yet these bombers flew almost over it.

The enemy bombing target was Kuopio, population 22000, situated 400 km from the Southern coast at the railway line, which made the navigation easier.

Air raid alert was sounded in Kuopio at 10.52 hours. The town, totally lacking AA defence, was shrouded in frosty mist. The population hurried to take cover in hastily dug splinter shelters, cellars, holes in the ground or in the surrounding forest. Nine two-enigined Soviet bombers flew over the town, failing to spot it. The enemy flew to the North, then turned and dropped 7 high explosive (HE) bombs and fired with machine guns. No actual damage was caused.

Immediately another enemy escadrille was spotted. It was recorded to comprise 6 twin-engined bombers. (This was the 6. DBAP intercepted by Sovelius.) They also at first flew over the town and turned back at Siilinjärvi about 15 km to N. Now unfortunately wind had rosen and scattered the mist. The enemy approached at an altitude of 1000 m, dropped 54 HE bombs and fired with machine guns. 35 houses were damaged, but only one person was killed – by heart attack. ( Three ore lethal air raids followed later in January and February: 42 people were killed, hundreds wounded, 200 houses damaged or destroyed.) It was a terror raid, pure and simple.

The Fokker pilots at Utti kept their flying gear on and waited for the returning bombers. Lt. Sarvanto ordered his ground crew to keep his "FR-97", "white 2" warm (see profile in page bottom).

Message was received at 11:50 - '7 bombers flying south following the northern railway!'. The pilots of 4./LLv 24 climbed in their fighters, warmed up the engines and turned their radios on. Lieutenant Jorma Sarvanto listened to the radio traffic, soon he and his wingman (constituting one patrol) were ordered to take off. After take-off the wingman found that he had an engine problem (snow had clogged the engine air intake during take off) and he had to return. Lt. Sarvanto continued alone at the optimum rate of climb, direction N to meet the enemy.

The second pair (Lt. Sovelius and Sgt. Ikonen) took off after noticing that Lieutenant Sarvanto had to go alone, but Sarvanto had a good head start. Now the clouds had disappeared from the sky at Utti, and Sarvanto discovered the handsome formation of DB bomber bellies lit by dim sun shining through the haze. He counted seven silver coloured DB-3 bombers. To the left - a wedge of three, to the right - four abreast, all no farther than one plane length from each other. There was no fighter escort.

Sarvanto continued climbing, turning south by a right curve. For a moment he was within the range and sector of the bomber nose gunners, but remained unnoticed due to sun glare. When he was at the same altitude of 3000 m with the bombers, he was about 500m behind them. Sarvanto pursued the enemy at full power. He decided to attack the leftmost wing bomber, although the third from left was closest to him, to avoid getting into cross-fire from the rear gunners. At a distance of 300 m his plane vibrated unpleasantly - he had flown in a bomber gunner MG salvo.

The fighter pilot kept on approaching the bombers. At a distance of 20 (twenty) meters he aimed at the fuselage of his victim, the left wing bomber, and pressed the trigger briefly. The tracers hit the target. Next, he shifted his aim at the rear gunner of the tail bomber, and killed him. Lt. Sarvanto then carefully aimed at the right engine of the first bomber and fired a brief burst. The bomber's engine caught fire. He repeated the same maneuvre at the tail bomber with similar result. Two burning DB-3 bombers were leaving the formation.

Jorma Sarvanto cheered aloud and attacked the right wing of the formation while the bomber rear gunners blazed at his Fokker. He fired at each engine of the nearest bomber, making them smoke and forcing the bomber to leave the formation. Then he engaged the other bombers at a very close range. Each victim caught fire after two to three brief bursts of MG fire. Sarvanto glanced back - the latest smoking bomber was now in flames and diving to the ground.

Now Sarvanto decided to destroy every one of the DB-3 formation. Some burning bombers made a slow half-roll before diving down, another pulled up before diving down. All the time they were flying south, the sun shone red through the haze low in southern horizon unless dimmed by smoke from a burning enemy plane.

Bomber no.6 was much more resistant to his bullets. The Fokker wing guns were out of ammo by now, but finally the DB-3 caught fire, and Finnish pilot could engage the last bomber. He already had eliminated the rear gunner, so he could fly close to the target. He aimed at one engine and pressed the trigger. Not a single shot. Sarvanto pulled the loading lever and retried shooting, but again in vain. He had spent his ammunition. There was nothing to do but leave the bomber alone and return to the base.

Columns of black smoke hung in the air and burning bomber wrecks could be seen on the ground. Sarvanto checked his instruments, there was no damage to vital parts, but his radio was dead and the Fokker's wings resembled Swiss cheese When preparing for landing he found that the hydraulic pump for the landing flaps did not work, but he landed successfully despite that...

Luutnantti Sarvanto felt very satisified as he parked his Fokker, but he did not quite get out of the cockpit before his cheering ground crew grabbed him and threw him in the air. The flight lasted 25 minutes and the actual battle 5 minutes, during which he shot down 6 DB-3 bombers belonging to the 6th DBAP of the Soviet Air Force. Two Soviet airmen bailed out and were taken prisoners, but the sources do not mention their names. The mechanics counted 23 hits from the bomber rear gunners in FR-97, some of them near the cockpit, necessitating several weeks' repairs at the State Aircraft Factory.

The patrol that took off afterwards pursued the surviving bomber.

The second battle report by Lt. Sovelius:

Date and time: 6.1. 1940 12.30 hrs

Place of the aerial battle: “Gulf of Finland South of Kotka between Suursaari and Lavansaari”

Enemy a/c: “DB”

Fate of the enemy a/c: “Left engine burning, dived in the sea. Air surveillance center reported 12.25 hrs at map square 32C6.”

Course of the aerial battle: “This a/c belonged to the formation of seven of which Sarvanto shot down 6. This a/c continued flying. I pursued her with Sgt. Ikonen. Sgt. Ikonen ran out of ammo South of Haapasaari (rem: he kept firing at a long range) and he turned back. I continued still for a while and finally reached the range of 200 m. I fired a long burst whereby the enemy left engine caught fire and the a/c began to descend toward the sea. Dense fog made pursuit difficult.”

Ammunition consumption: “1000 pcs”

Evidence : “Air surveillance center report.”

Other obervations: -

Signed by : Lt. P.-E. Sovelius Aircraft: FR-92

Next night Sarvanto visited the local Air Defence Center in Kouvola. He was presented to an enemy Sr. Lieutenant who had parachuted out of one of the bombers, and he also was shown war booty found in the wrecks: Field manuals, training manuals, pistols. Another POW, a Captain, was in hospital with a broken leg.

The Finnish radio surveillance found that the enemy stations kept calling the destroyed escadrille far beyond the theoretical maximum flying time, late in the night.

This feat by Sarvanto received tremendous publicity in the word press, who considered it a world record at the time. Many major Western newspapers published a photo of Lt. Sarvanto holding a large creased sheet of aluminium with a big "5" on it, a trophy from one of the victims. The hero himself was rather embarrassed by his unexpected fame, he said that any of his fellow pilots could have shot down those six bombers if they had had equal opportunity.

The town council of Kuopio donated silver candlesticks for Sarvanto, Sovelius and Ikonen as a token of gratitude.

The reasons for this unusual success were the following:

Approaching at a close range and shooting accurately
The bombers flew passively and lacked fighter escort.
The half-empty bomber fuel tanks were vulnerable due to accumulated fumes.
It is no wonder that the enemy flew “passively”. Finnish pilots flying captured DB-3s found that she simply could not be coaxed by her pilot to do any reasonable evasive action, such as sideslipping. The DB-3 was very stable, a virtue during a bomb run but vice when under attack by fighters. But directing the bombers to fly next to a known fighter base is more difficult to understand.

It is also rumoured that the armourers had disregarded the regulations and had loaded the Fokker's MG belts with a larger proportion of scarce and expensive incendiary and armour piercing ammunition. Some Soviet sources imply that the bombers were lacking defensive armament but this is not true, both FR-92 and FR-97 were damaged by enemy machine gunners during the action .

This day also proved the VVS that bombers penetrating deep in the enemy airspace without fighter escort are bound to take heavy losses.

Finally, the actual battle report by Lt. Jorma Sarvanto:

Report of Air Battle

(about enemy a/c that have been damaged or shot down)

Date and time: “6.1. 1940 12.03 – 12.07 hrs”

Place of the aerial battle: “Utti-Tavastila (altitude omitted)”

Enemy a/c: “DB a/c (radial engines)”

Fate of the enemy a/c: “6 a/c caught fire in the air, one continued her course but the gunner was silent. A/c found.”

Course of the aerial battle: “I approached alone from ahead and below. I changed my course to parallel so that they flew over me and I got behind and below them. I shot the a/c in flames from right behind about in the numbered sequence (sketch below). In the beginning the gunners flank-fired but I suppressed their fire with brief bursts. My range varied from 20 to 150m.

I fired minimal bursts at the engines and each a/c caught fire at the 2nd or 3rd burst. Ammunition consumption about 2000 pcs.”

[bobbysocks]

Urho Lehtovaara in Two Exciting Combats. (Finland)
Written by Ossi Juntunen .

Battle of Moranes

It was the 9th of August 1941 in Eastern Carelia, Olonez. Early in the morning 8 about 06.00) four MS-406 fighters of FAF HLeLv 28 were covering the advancing Finnish troops. The division was led by Sr.Sgt. Urho Lehtovaara flying the MS-304.

The Finnish pilots saw an approaching formation of 18 I-16 fighters: Lehtovaara gave order to attack the enemy. A "furball" ensued. The Soviet pilots were disturbed by their own numeric superiority, they were constantly in danger of colliding with each other, thus they had to watch each other as much as the Moranes. Also they were tempted to open fire at a long range in competition for targets.

The Finnish pilots knew what to do: they kept curving in one direction only and fired upon opportunity at a close range. Lehtovaara scored the first victory, but immediately a section of three I-16 managed to get behind his tail. But the stiff three-plane formation prevented the enemy wingmen making use of their superiority, the wing planes fired in the thin air as the leader fired at the Morane. After a while Lehtovaara managed to out-turn the three I-16 and he fired in the engine of the leader. The I-16 engine began to smoke, the fighter stalled and dived, the pilot bailed out.

Lehtovaara disengaged from the leaderless wingmen and checked the general situation. The other three Moranes were each fighting three to four enemies, without apparent problem.

Then Lehtovaara saw one I-16 that tried to disengage and dived after him. Lehtovaara fired, but the salvo hit the enemy armour, just alerting the pilot. The two fighters entered into dogfight, trying to out-curve each other. The I-16 pilot was very skillful, Lehtovaara begin to consider disengaging. None of his hits had had any effect on the rear armour of the enemy. Then the I-16 pilot for some reason pulled a slow vertical roll, exposing the vulnerable belly of his fighter. Lehtovaara was prepared and his salvo hit the enemy's engine. The enemy fighter caught an explosive fire and nosedived to the ground with its pilot.

Now Lehtovaara called his scattered pilots and ordered an assembly. All three responded. Their total score was seven I-16, three of which claimed by Lehtovaara. This battle was exceptionally successful for Moranes, planes often considered inferior due to its weak armament.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Memorable battle

In 1946 Jorma Karhunen, a fellow pilot and Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, met Urho Lehtovaara and asked him what had been the most memorable of his air battles. Lehtovaara declined to answer at first, but as Karhunen told that he was collecting history, not personal glorification of anyone, "Jatti" told about the 6th of March 1943 at Kotka.

The Kymi air base had been made inoperational by a snowstorm on the 4th March and it took two days to clear the snow completely from the runway. The 3rd flight of the Squadron 34 had nine Bf 109 of which five were airworthy.

On the 5th March a ship convoy had arrived through the ice in Kotka harbour and it was spotted there early next day by a reconnoitring Soviet Pe-2 before two Me's chased her away. Next day, in the afternoon of the 6th the enemy sent 27 Pe-2 escorted by 12 La-5 fighters to destroy the ships in the harbour.

The available Messerschmitts were scrambled at 14:00 hrs. Major Luukkanen took off first, after him Sgt.Maj. Tani, then Flight Mstr. Lehtonen. Sgt.Maj. Lehtovaara (he flew the MT-235) and Sgt. Lyly could start only a couple of minutes later since their fighters were not prepared for immediate take off.

Luukkanen and Lehtonen intercepted the first wave of nine Pe-2 and shot down two before the escorting La-5's intervened. The defensive AA guns fired indiscriminately at the aircraft, and the Soviet bombers released hastily their loads and turned away. Tani received one wave of the returning bombers heads-on and fired at each one he passed. He once was so close that saw how exploding 20mm shells ripped holes in the fuselage of a Pe-2. Tani damaged five and shot down one. Lehtovaara chased the bombers that had been scattered by the defence, and shot down two stragglers at Someri Island before retuning back to base to avoid contact with La-5's. The total score for the five pilots was five Pe-2 and three La-5. Major Luukkanen's MT-201 had been badly damaged in the fuselage by a La-5. There were no other losses. No ships were hit.

The enemy made a new surprise attack three hours later with 12 Pe-2 escorted by 17 La-5. The base was alerted by Sr. Sgt. Lansivaara who was on an ice reconnaisance mission. Again four Me's took off to intercept. This time the escort fighters were doing their duty better and prevented the Messerschmitt pilots from getting more than one of the bombers. The Finnish fighters were soon dispersed and each pilot had to fight for himself without help from the others.

Lehtovaara was engaged by a good La-5 pilot, who kept his altitude and speed advantage by doing "pendulum" attacks at the low-flying MT-235. Only the enemy's shooting skill was not equal to his flying skill. The Soviet pilot did not spare ammunition - the La-5 had 200 rounds for each of her 20mm guns against 135 rounds of the single Me cannon. The Soviet pilot fired at a too long range, and Lehtovaara kept evading quite easily. Staying calm and ready for counterstrike the Finnish pilot noticed that the enemy pilot was losing his temper after ten minutes. Finally the enemy failed to pull up with full speed after a firing pass, allowing Lehtovaara to get behind the La-5 in good range. One salvo from the cannon of the Me, and the La-5 dived in flames toward the Baltic ice.

Immediately four more La-5 attacked, and the pilots were equal to the first opponent. Lehtovaara was in great trouble now, because whenever he had dodged one attack, another enemy was already aiming at him. The Finnish pilot could not fly straight long enough to aim and shoot. Slowly the dogfighting fighters took altitude in the course of the battle. Finally three of the enemies retreated, probably due to fuel shortage, but the fourth was hanging behind the tail of Lehtovaara's Me. The altitude was now about 3000 m.

Lehtovaara was getting exhausted and he felt he could not shake the enemy off without doing something unusual. So he half-rolled and nosedived - the La-5 followed. Lehtovaara turned the Me with ailerons so that the setting sun shone him in the face and its glare combined with reflection from the ice impaired his vision. He dived as low as he dared at a final speed of nearly 900 kmh, then pulled out of the dive with two hands on the stick, blacking out.

As the Finnish pilot regained his vision, he was flying a few meters over the rough Baltic ice. He curved and looked back to see the enemy - but all he could see was a column of smoke over the ice. Lehtovaara flew closer to inspect. His adversary had not pulled out of the dive in time, the La-5 had touched the ice three times before the final impact.

Lehtovaara tested his guns - they were jammed. His radio was dead, and he felt great weariness when taking direction to the base. After landing he felt as if he were on a foreign planet, where he had no right to be. But for the mercy of God he and the MT-235 would have been a heap of rubble on the Baltic ice. However, this victory was not credited to him because later the wreck of the La-5 could not be found on the ice - it had been snowed over.

That day the 3rd Flight had scored thirteen proven victories at the cost of two damaged, repairable Me's. Three dead and two living Soviet airmen were found on the ice. The men taken prisoners were Lt. Seraphin Pimenow, 20 years in age and Sgt.Maj. Vladimir Varschidskiy, 23 years, both of the 12. Guards' Dive-bombing Regiment (12.Gv.PBAP). A dozen bombs had hit the town, destroying several houses and killing 6 civilians and five soldiers. The ships in the harbour had not been damaged in either attack.

The same action has been described in the official history of the Aviatsiya VMF (Moskva, 1983). We are told that on 6 March 1944 Kotka harbour was attacked once by 20 Pe-2 escorted by 18 Yak-9. The defence sent six Bf 109 and four FW 190 to intercept. In the ensuing battle the Soviets shot down five Bf 109 and one FW 190. One Pe-2 and three Yak-9 were damaged by defenders. (That is, no actual losses.) Several ships were sunk ...

You may notice some differences between the Soviet and Finnish stories. The Soviet story version of the day might not have been properly researched, and facts from an attack on an harbour defended by Luftwaffe on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland may have been introduced in the story.

[bobbysocks]

Lauri Pekuri - The Ace in Soviet POW. Finland
Written by Ossi Juntunen .

Lauri Pekuri was born on 6 Nov 1916 in Helsinki. (His original surname was Ohukainen which he abandoned as he got married. Connotations of his original name include "crépe" and "Stan Laurel".) As a young boy he decided to become a pilot and spent his time and energy consequently, in Civil Guard activities and constructing and flying model aircraft. He dropped out of school at the age of 17. In his obituary he is described as "purposeful person", a trait shown early.

In 1937 he applied for FAF training but was rejected, and he did his military duty in the Army. He was demobilised as Field Artillery Res. Ensign. He reapplied for pilot training and was accepted in 1939 for a Reserve Officer Pilot course. During training he completed his formal education and continued in the Cadet School in spring 1940.

Lt. Pekuri, with 160 hours of flying experience, was posted in Fighter Squadron 24 in August 1941 together with his friend Hans Wind. Both men were thrilled for getting a chance to serve in the best squadron of the FAF. Type training for the Brewster comprised four takeoffs and landings, then the newcomers were considered prepared for real missions.

During the first mission Lt. Pekuri loaded his guns and turned the safety off immediately after takeoff. When he responed to a radio message he by accident pushed the trigger instead of the transmitter tangent, nearly hitting his leader! The greenhorn pilot was much ashamed, but the older pilots were forgiving.

Pekuri fought his first successful battle on the 4th October 1941. Lt. Pekuri and Flt.Mstr. Turkka were escorting a Blenheim that had dropped leaflets to Medvedyegorsk. As they were returning, a lone I-153 tried to intercept the bomber and was engaged by Pekuri, flying BW-354. He ordered Turkka to stay by the bomber while he took on the enemy.

Two inexperienced fighter pilots were having a "turning contest" at 1500 m, just at the cloudbase. Turkka advised Pekuri to pull up and make use of his superior speed, but due to the cloud he could not do that. The Soviet pilot, however, was not able to turn his very manouverable plane tighter than the BW. The pilots circled "back to back" until both found themselves in the cloud and had to resort to instrument flying. Pekuri emerged cautiously from the bottom of the cloud and immediately saw the I-153 come tumbling out of the cloud, totally disoriented. The Finnish pilot fired a salvo in the Tchaika which continued its dive in the forest below. The wreck was later found and Pekuri's first victory confirmed.

Pekuri continued flying in Eastern Carelia and gained some victories and experience. On 10 Jan 1942 the 2nd Flight of LeLv24 was providing air cover for a field artillery battery placed in the middle of a frozen lake. Soviet fighters tried to strafe the guns, but BWs intercepted them. Pekuri shot down one MiG-3 and began to chanse another, but found that only his fuselage 7.7 mm gun was working. The panicked enemy pilot flew in a straight course to East without any evasive action. Seeing that the back armour of the MiG held, the Finnish pilot tried to damage the tail of the enemy, forgetting to look around. Another MiG surprised him, BW-351 was hit in one wing and another projectile smashed the fuel tank selector before holing the main fuel tank. Pekuri pulled a turn, the enemy pilot was not willing to continue the fight and disappeared to the East. The BW was leaking fuel and the pilot could not switch to another tank. He turned back and flew with full power until the holed fuel tank was empty. At the moment he was near Medvedyegorsk. Fortunately his fighter had been experimentally fitted with a ski undercarriage, so forced landing on a lake near the artillery battery he had been protecting was successful. Luckily, the suspicious artillerymen did not shoot Pekuri, who in gratitude treated them with brandy found in the rescue kit of the fighter. BW-351 was easily repaired and returned to service. Her pilot decided to be more careful in future.

The BW pilots based at Tiiksjarvi met Hurricane Mk.II fighters in spring 1942. On 30 March Pekuri led the flight to the enemy a/b Segezha to challenge the adversary. In response 12 Hurricanes took off. In the ensuing battle 8 enemies were shot down, Pekuri claimed one of them.

Some days later, on the 6th April 13.45 hrs Pekuri again led the flight on a recce mission to the Murmansk Railway. The mission was carried out and the BWs were just preparing to land as there was an alert of several dozens of enemy a/c approaching the base. Despite low fuel - the mission had lasted nearly 2 hours - the BWs turned to meet the enemy. 10 km from the base the Finnish pilots saw ten DB-3 bombers escorted by 20 Hurricanes. The defender was in an unfavourable position below the enemy, with 15 minutes worth of fuel. Pekuri ordered the six foremost Brewster pairs to engage the fighters, leaving one pair to attack the bombers. The result of the battle was 12 enemy fighters and two bombers shot down, the base AAA got three more fighters, without any losses to the BWs. Pekuri had shot down three Hurricanes as he landed at 15.50 hrs.

Then the spring thaw, "rasputisa", made the runways soggy and useless for weeks starting mid April 1942. The enemy had suffered heavy losses in aircraft and pilots which further dampened the air activities in the Maaselka front, until they got replacements in June 1942.

Lt. Pekuri was leading a Division (four a/c) on an interception mission on 25th June 1942 near Segezha. They failed to find the enemy but a radio message from Flt.Mstr. Juutilainen was received, requesting assistance in battle against superior enemy near Segezha. Pekuri's Division arrived at the scene at 5000m, the leader ordered the second pair to engage while Pekuri and his wingman, a newcomer Sgt. Anttila, provided top cover.

As more Hurricanes were seen to arrive to join the uneven fight, Juutilainen gave a general order to disengage. To enable this, Pekuri and Anttila tied the new enemies in a dogfight. But Anttila, in his first real dogfight, was not able to shake the enemy off and disengage. Pekuri saw how an enemy got behind his wingman, but he was too far away to be able to help in time. The Hurricane had fired fatal hits in Anttila's fighter before Pekuri got her in his gunsight and shot her down. (Sgt. Anttila made a successful forced landing and saved himself after two days' march in the wilderness.) Pekuri dived steeply to shake the enemies off and headed for the home base at a low altitude.

He had flown some 40 km and began to calm down from the exitement of the battle. He was thinking about the fate of his wingman as he suddenly heard cracking noises in the fuselage of his BW-372 and flames burst out of the engine, which stopped immediately. The damaged fighter decelerated rapidly, and the attacking Hurricane overshot her, filling the windscreen of the BW. Instinctively Pekuri pushed the trigger and the enemy fighter burst in flames and exploded.

Pekuri was far too low to use his parachute. He opened the cockpit canopy, and seeing a small lake ahead, decided to belly land there. Flames reached the cockpit and the pilot had to touch down at a too great speed. As the BW hit the water she nosed over and began to sink. The pilot got out of the plane and surfaced in burning fuel. Flames signed his cheeks and brows before he could dive again. Submerged, he saw how the burning slick extended. Pekuri resurfaced and saw he had 200 m to swim. He got rid of his parachute, then he kicked off his boots. Nearly exhausted he swam slowly on his back until his head touched the stones of the beach.

Pekuri had breathed some water, but he recovered quite soon. He was in enemy territory, but there was no trench line in the wilderness. He also had lost his map but he knew the lie of the land quite well, having flown dozens of missions there. He headed to the West, taking direction from the sun for the nearest Finnish stronghold. He also was virtually barefoot and expected to meet an enemy patrol any moment. After a few hours jogging he was tripped over by a steel wire that had been left in a disassembled minefield. The pilot was now sure he was heading for the right direction, and soon he found a live minefield which he slowly crossed, examining each spot with his hand before putting his foot down. Then he heard somebody sing a ditty in Finnish, and having got closer to the stronghold managed to persuade the infantrymen that he was a Finnish pilot, shot down 6 hours ago.

Maj. Magnusson offered Lt. Pekuri a recovery furlough but he declined. He was to get married on the 12th July and he did not want to change his plans. Instead he wanted to regain his self-confidence, which he did by flying six more missions before his wedding furlough.

Air activity at Maaselkä slackened as the German army found it impossible to make a breakthrough to the Murmansk Railway at Kiestinki. Mannerheim refused to co-operate, and without Finnish troops Germans could not operate in the unfamiliar subarctic terrain. Pekuri and his fellow pilots had shot down 50 enemy planes and lost four of their own, and one pilot while based at Tiiksjärvi. Splendid fishing waters and hunting grounds had to be abandoned as the BWs were transferred to the Carelian Isthmus in November 1942.

In early 1943 Lt. Pekuri was one of the pilots selected for the new Fighter Squadron 34 (LeLv 34) to be equipped with Messerschmitt 109 fighters. The personnell was summarily trained in Germany and the new equipment received. Pekuri served in capt. Ervi's flight that was assigned to defend Helsinki, and it was mostly boring on duty readiness.

In June 1943 Pekuri was promoted to Captain and he took over the 1st Flight from Capt. Ervi. The flight was moved to Suulajarvi to support LeLv24. Pekuri scrored only two victories in 1943.

In March 1944 Capt. Pekuri received orders to destroy a troublesome artillery observation balloon, and he selected "Illu" Juutilainen as his wingman for the task. The two pilots approached the target at very low altitude, "hopping" over the front line barbed wire entanglements, hoping to surprise the balloon crew. But the balloon was not there, only the defensive AA guns were, and a lucky Soviet gunner hit Pekuri's Me by chance. A single 40mm shell hit the fuselage just through the national insignia and exploded inside, destroying the radio and some of the tailplane controls. Juutilainen saw how pieces of metal sheet hung below the fuselage, as if the Me had had an open bomb door. Pekuri managed to control his fighter and even land without major problems. As he taxied to the dispersal the damaged fuselage was bent by its own weight...

Then Capt. Pekuri was assigned to fly new Messerschmitts from Germany to Finland, he made four trips, but he preferred fighting duties.

During the first days of the enemy offensive in June 1944 Pekuri shot down on 14 June one P-39 and one La-5 while escorting bombers.

On 16 June 1944 Immola air base was cleared to make room for the Luftwaffe Kampfgruppe Kuhlmey. The new base was Lappeenranta, and for the transfer flight Pekuri put on his best uniform and boots to spare them from the rigors of truck transport. As the fighters were grouping after takeoff, they received orders by radio to intercept ground attack planes harassing Finnish troops at Kivennapa. 16 Me's headed for the target and found about a dozen unescorted Il-2s. The enemy jettisoned their bombs, turned South and tightened their formation at a very low altitude for mutual protection.

Capt. Puhakka and his 3rd Flight attacked first, and Pekuri saw how Puhakka shot one enemy in flames at his second firing pass. Then the 2nd Flight attacked, and during his second pass Pekuri hit the pilot of one Stormovik. The enemy plane tilted slowly to the left, then dived and exploded upon impact with the ground. The Finnish pilot managed to avoid the debris flying in the air, then he pulled up for another attack.

During his fourth firing pass Pekuri heard a loud bang in the front of his fighter. Immediately the engine stopped and began to develop thick smoke. He had been hit by the Stormovik gunners or AA guns. A second later flames emerged from the seams of the engine covers.

Pekuri had "next to none" altitude and the stopped, unfeathered propeller decreased his airspeed. Instinctively he converted his remaining speed into altitude as smoke filled the cockpit. He had to bail out, but he did not have enough altitude for a regular parachute jump. He ejected the cockpit canopy, opened his harness and squatted on the seat. Quickly he glanced at the instrument panel through the smoke: altimeter reading was 100m, airspeed below 200 kmh.

Pekuri kicked the stick and the resulting centrifugal force popped the pilot out. A buckle of his harness hit him in the face, breaking a tooth, and a fraction of a second later the horizontal stabilizer grazed the back of his head. Fortunately the pilot did not pass out, he pulled the release of his chute. He was spinning in the air, then the chute harness jerked him just as his feet hit the ground!

The wreck of his MT-420 was burning fiercely about 100m away. Pekuri knew the place, it was the small auxiliary airstrip Jäppilä, near Ino. A Me passed overhead, so his pilots had seen him bail out. Pekuri heard a Soviet AA MG firing as he ran for the cover of the forest.

When safe, Pekuri thought of his chances. He was deep behind enemy lines, he had forgotten his compass in the pocket of his regular uniform, and he did not have any food. Also his map had been torn into shreds during the jump. But it was not the first time he was in such a situation. He had a rough map of the Isthmus in his mind. The enemy was advancing along the main roads, he would stay out of them and find Finnish troops.

The enemy was at that time advancing very fast; Capt. Pekuri managed to hide and run for five days and advance 60 km before he was caught sleeping in a barn. His days in the enemy rear were full of action but being unrelated to aviation not described here.

Capt. Pekuri was handed over to the GRU (Red Army Counterintelligence Service) by his captors. As interrogations started, Pekuri stuck to the Geneva Convention of treatment and rights of POWz, just telling his name and rank. His first interrogation streak took three days and nights. He was deprived of sleep, food and drink, threatened but not beaten. Then Pekuri feigned submission and described accurately a/b Suulajarvi - which was now in the hands of enemy. He was transferred one location after another, subjected to ever new interrogations, his wedding ring, watch, boots, even underwear were gradually robbed from him.

Once he was beaten: a Finnish speaking GRU Major told him that "it is your duty to help to crush the criminal activities of Hitler's gang by honestly answering all questions" (1993, p.7. Pekuri did not respond. The Major pulled his pistol and said: "I am going to count to three, if you by that time do not promise to answer my questions, I shall shoot you!" Looking at the pistol muzzle 2m away, the Finnish Captain decided that if that was not another empty threat, it would be better to die with clean conscience. He remained silent. The Major counted to three, then fired. The bullet hit the wall behind Pekuri, who said in a calm voice: " Your shot poorly, try again." The Major hit him in the face and Pekuri feigned K.O.

Interrogations continued day after another. One day Pekuri saw in the next cell a captured Finnish pilot, Lt. T. of his squadron. GRU had managed to break his will, and T. had told all he knew about Pekuri. Now the Soviets had some "real evidence". Pekuri was told his crimes: "You have destroyed some 20 Soviet aircraft and killed several Soviet airmen defending this country and the freedom of other nations, and other Soviet soldiers. You have lied in interrogations and refused to co-operate to crush the enemies of Soviet Nations. All these factors shall affect your fate." (1993, p.90)

Next day Pekuri was allowed to wash and shave himself for the first time in several weeks, and the day after that he was ordered to sign his interrogation protocols. They were in Russian, and Pekuri refused to take a pen in his hand. A GRU captain told him in Finnish: "You are more stupid than old women in Leningrad. You have sealed your fate. You shall never get back to Finland!" (1993, p. 9

Pekuri was transported by train with about 100 Finnish POWs to Leningrad, where he was separated and sent to Fort Petropavlovsk, in the center of the city. There he spent about 8 weeks in a cell with half a dozen Soviet soldiers beingh tried for collaborating with Germans. It was the advice of his cellmates that saved Pekuri's life as he got dysentry and was told to wait 3 weeks for medical assistance. By this time the Armistice between Finland and Soviet Union had been concluded, but Pekuri had not received any news during his inprisonment.

From Ft. Petropavlovsk Pekuri was transferred to Shpalernaya Prison, where his father had been imprisoned 1918 and had escaped having bribed a guard. Now Capt. Pekuri was put in one 2x3m cell with five other captured Finnish Army officers without knowing why he was there and how long they would be held there.

Then one day a "tour" of POW camps started. In Camp Tcherepovetch he saw in the sick bay malnourished and sick men. "Skeletons like this were stumbling about in every POW camp, both in defeated and victorious countries' camps. The defeated ones were the only ones publicly condemned", Pekuri wrote in 1993.

Capt. Pekuri was returned to Finland weighing 48kg in the first lot of repatriation comprising 1241 men. After 3 weeks of quarantaine camp he could proceed to a/b Utti to report to Col. Magnusson who immediately granted him recovery furlough.

Capt Pekuri continued his service in the FAF. His career advanced, he became a part time one man evaluation team as FAF acquired new equipment in the 50's and 60's. He flew the MiG-15, Hawker Hunter, Folland Gnat, Mystere IV, Saab Lansen and also MiG-17, Mirage III, Saab Draken. He became the first Finnish citizen to break the sound barrier, in a RAF Hunter. In the Soviet Union he experienced matter-of-factly treatment, his time as POW was not referred to by anybody, including himself.

Pekuri retired as Colonel having finally commanded the Carelian Fighter Wing in 1968. He continued working in civilian aviation, as the manager of aviation maintenance training for Wihuri Oy.

He moved to Spain in the 80's but then the memories of 1944 came back and haunted him in his sleep. Many a time he woke up, not knowing whether he was in Shpalernaya or at home, until he wrote a book about his experiences (see list of sources). Then the ghosts of past left him alone for good.

One more time he was drawn into publicity as his old fighter BW-372 was retrieved from the unnamed Carelian lake in 1998. (check the link for more details: http://www.danford.et/buff.htm )

Col. Pekuri died on the 3rd Aug 1999, survived by his widow and five children.

(Sources: Pekuri, Lauri, Spalernajan sotavanki, Juva 1993 Hurtti Ukko, no. 2, 1942)

PS. Lt. T. 23 yrs in age, was on a bomber escort mission on 26 June 1944 as his fighter was shot down at 11.00 hrs. T. bailed out wounded and was captured. During interrogations a Soviet Major suggested to him that if he agreed to "supply military data for considerable financial remuneration" he could be sent home. T. agreed, to get home, without any real intent to become an enemy agent. Some time later he was sent across a waterway in the night and was met on the opposite side by a man in Finnish Army Sergeant uniform. On 10th July 1944 T. reported to his commander. He was transferred to rear echelon duties in another branch of the military for the rest of the war. T. had flown some 150 missions and scored 7 confirmed victories. T. died in Helsinki in the 1970's.
(Source: Hyvönen, Jaakko, Kohtalokkaat lennot 1939-1944, Vaasa 1982)

[bobbysocks]

Jan Dzwonek - Within an Ace of Death

The 161st Fighter Escadrille (consisting of III/6 Squadron), commanded by Cpt. Wladyslaw Szczesniewski, was assigned after the mobilization order to the "Lodz" Army. On 1 September 1939, despite being vectored many times against enemy planes, the pilots of the unit were unable to contact or engage the Luftwaffe. The next day, Squadron leader Mjr. Stanislaw Morawski assigned four pilots (Sec.Lt. Szubert, Sec.Lt. Dzwonek, cadet Kremarski, Sgt. Pretkiewicz) to fly a sunrise mission to ambush the enemy. During darkness, the four-plane formation was moved to a secondary airfield in Wola Wezykowa near Zdunska Wola. Dzwonek, together with Kremarski, downed a Henschel 126 on a reconnaissance mission. About 16:00 hours the same pair took off again to intercept Heinkel 111's. But the Polish pilots were surprised by Bf 109's - - Cadet Kremarski, was hit in the head and killed, his plane crashing in the forest near Sedziejowice, and Sec.Lt. Dzwonek was wounded in his left arm and leg. Dzwonek describes what happened next:

In a bleak mood I returned to the field airfield of our squadron. The plane had a lot of bullet holes. The cockpit instrument panel was almost all destroyed by Bf 109 shells. The only instrument untouched was the compass, and it showed me right way. Over Lask, our AA, defending a rail station, 'welcomed' me with gunfire. Luckily, they missed.

Suddenly, I noticed an unusual show. A few Bf 110's battled with our aircraft. The Germans had a great advantage. I had to decide whether to help my colleagues or safely land on the airfield. Without hesitating, I pulled full throttle. I moved my injured leg to avoid disturbing my steering. My left hand, sticky with blood, I laid on my thigh. I wedged my healthy leg into the rudder pedals for sure steering. Then, I flew away from the dogfighting planes to climb. Under me was Lodz city. Soon I reached a 500 meter altitude advantage over the swarm of clashing aircraft; I then trimmed the aircraft to a "nose-heavy" position to keep the P.11 better stabilized when diving.

I chose as a target the nearest Bf 110 and dropped my machine towards him. From the nearest distance I opened fire, the stream of bullets hitting the fuselage. High speed didn't permit me to open fire again. Black crosses passed nearby as I pulled up to avoid crashing with the Bf 110. I was again higher and turned to a second attack. After the second pass, the German slipped from my gunsight in a sharp turn. I wasn't able to follow him, because in diving the speed could reach 700 km/h. I flew down near the German and to drop him from my backside, I pulled the stick sharply. The inertial energy squeezed me into the seat. At the same time I blacked- out. Completing the pull-out, I was flying directly into the center of the dogfight. In my gunsight I caught one Bf 110, but the pass was too short. He banked right and escaped. I tired to follow him by banking inside his turn, but then I discovered another German sliding onto my tail. In some kind of unusual half turn I slipped under his gunfire, yet still received a few hits in my left wingtip. Again I encountered another Bf 110, and after a short pass, had to dodge again...

All the time I tried to join to my battling colleagues, without success. I attacked the next fighter. After a good targeting pass, the Bf 110 disengaged. He was damaged. Following the attack I noticed other Bf 11O's. One of them escorted the damaged plane and they left combat. I turned back to main arena and noticed a Bf 110 under fire by two P.11's. I shot a short burst at him. After our pair of 'Pezetel' fighters followed another Bf 110, I caught him in my crosshairs. German pilot discovered me and left our pair, who just burned first one Bf 110.

With the engine of my plane still at full throttle, I climbed up over the battling machines to begin my next attack. A German in a left turn tried to dip under my stream of bullets. Then we flew head to head, the Bf 110 growing to fill my gunsight. I pressed the trigger, sending a long burst into the Bf 110 and immediately pulled the stick back to avoid a crash. My fire was well targeted and effective, but my P.11 was being attacked from behind by another Bf 110 and in seconds my machine was on fire. Flames reached the cockpit and burned my face. I had to bail out.

I began to fry in the cockpit. My struggle with the seat belt and shoulder harness was so long, that I was almost resigned to my fate. Covering my face and eyes against the fire with my left hand, I opened the belts and with a great heave, bailed out the port side. We had had instructions to only open our parachute near the ground (after incidents of airmen being strafed in their chutes on 1st September, Polish HQ ordered pilots to open their parachute as low as possible). I looked at my hands - - they were white, simply fried, and I thought that 2000 meters lower they might be totally useless. I pulled the handle, and the pain was like holding molten metal. A moment later I felt the jerk - - the parachute was open.

I was hanging in the chute at about 2000 meters altitude when I noticed tracers passing near to me. They missed, but this pirate of the Third Reich not give up and attacked me again. This second time the wave of bullets also spared me. Shells passed to the left and right of my body. The German didn't get a third chance to kill me because my friend Jan Malinowski from 162nd Escadrille (flew on P.7a !) successfully attacked the German. On the first attack he set the right engine of the Bf 110 on fire, and on the second pass killed the pilot. The aircraft fell, crashing in pieces.

During my landing I damaged my backbone. I was transported to the hospital in Pabianice, where I heard someone say I had no chance to see next sunrise. I did go into a coma for 20 hours. When I awakened, the doctor told me, that in the same hospital was a Bf 110 pilot - - the one I downed."

The adversaries of eight PZL fighters of Polish Squadron III/6 were a formation of 23 Messerschmitt Bf 110's of I./ZG76. German pilots that day reported 2 victories (Leutnant Helmuth Lent and Oberleutnant Nagel), at the loss of three aircraft. Polish pilots claimed 2 kills: one shared by Sec.Lt. Koc and Sec.Lt. Glowczynski (the Bf 110 fell on a field in the village of Sladkowice, near Pabianice). The second victory was by Corp. Jan Malinowski of 162. Eskadrille. The third victory should probably be added to score of brave Sec.Lt. Dzwonek. Because he wasn't able to report his Bf 110 kill, his official victory score was only 1/2 of a Hs 126.

Besides the death of Sec.Lt. Edward Kremarski in further combat and the shooting down of Dzwonek, Squadron losses included one P.11c, piloted by Wieslaw Choms. He crashed while landing after combat. With Polish victories matching the number of Polish aircraft lost in this battle, you can appreciate the great effort of the Polish pilots, outnumbered 3-1 by enemy aircraft of far more modern design as was the Bf 110 C-1.

As he recovered form his burns, Jan Dzwonek changed hospitals several times to avoid German arrest. In December of 1939 he changed his name to Jan Jasinski (he used this name also in post-war period). After the war he flew as a glider pilot in the Polish Aeroclub. Jan Dzwonek-Jasinski died in Warsaw on 13 May 1982.

Eugeniusz "Dziubek" Horbaczewski and his Last Battle.

Eugeniusz Horbaczewski was born in 1917 in Kiev, but spent his childhood in Poland. His family moved to Brzesc over the Bug river. Since his early years Horbaczewski was fascinated by aviation. First, he built flying models, but as he matured, he started glider courses, quickly earning his class A and B ratings. On 14 August, 1935 he received his Bezmiechowa glider C rating. Next, he went to Officer Flying School in Deblin, where under the instructor Witold Urbanowicz he was awarded the rank of Pilot, Second Leutnant.

In September of 1939 Horbaczewski did not take part in any aerial battles against the Luftwaffe. On September 17th, with a large group of Polish aviators, he crossed the Romanian border and via Yugoslavia, Greece and France, arrived in Britain. After completing fighter training in British aircraft he was assigned to fly "Spitfires" with the Polish 303rd Squadron. To his squadron mates, Horbaczewski was also known as "Dziubek".

Horbaczewski first met with enemy planes on 6 October 1941, when the 303 Squadron escorted bombers over France. He came up empty on his first attack on three Bf 109s. Noticing a formation of eight Bf 109s, "Dziubek" decided not to attack, but soon saw a lone Messerschmitt which he jumped and put several bursts into. The German began burning, but the victim's wingmen forced Horbaczewski to disengage into the clouds. He landed on fuel fumes at West Malling, the first British airfield he spotted. The German aircraft was claimed as a probable.

During a ground strike on 13 December 1941 "Dziubek's" "Spitfire" was lightly damaged by flak. On 13 March 1942 the tail of his plane was riddled by much more threatening bullet holes. This day, during "Operation Circus" 303 Squadron's "Spitfires" covered "Bostons" attacking targets near Hazebrouck. From the sun suddenly appeared a gaggle of Bf 109s. In the ensuing combat, 303th Squadrons pilots claimed 2 enemy fighters destroyed by Cpt. Kolaczkowski, Cpt. Drobinski, and 1 probable by Lt. Lipinski. But the victories came at the loss of "Dziubek's" Flight "A" leader - the veteran pilot Lokuciewski parachuted down but broke his leg and was captured.

Horbaczewski's first confirmed victory was 4 April 1942, over France in the area of St. Omer. Squadron 303 was escorting a formation of twelve British "Boston's", when "Dziubek" noticed a Focke Wulf 190 opening fire at another "Spitfire", probably piloted by Lt. Daszewski. He attacked at full speed, and from 25 meters distance opened fire. The Fw 190 followed the smoke column of its victim "Spitfire", but too late to prevent the death of Lt. Daszewski, a veteran of "Battle of Britan".

On 16 April 1942, 303 Squadron again covered "Bostons" as they attacked Le Havre in "Operation Ramrod No. 20". Horbaczewski spotted a lone German fighter preparing to jump Polish Wing Commander Mjr. Tadeusz Rolski. From 100 meters Horbaczewski fired a burst, unfortunately missing. His second burst was devastating - the Bf 109 was nearly cut in two by the shells - and the German pilot bailed out.

On 19 August 1942 saw the invasion of Dieppe. When the Polish Squadron encountered a group of fifteen Fw-190s loaded with bombs, Horbaczewski and his wingman Sgt. Stasik attacked the last pair of Germans. Dziubek's first burst started one Focke Wulf smoking, the second burst totally destroyed the fighter. It was a good day for pilots of Squadron 303 - - they downed eight German planes and claimed another five as probables. That brought Horbaczewski victories to 3-1-0.

At the end of 1942 Horbaczewski joined a group of selected Polish pilots in North Africa under the command Stanislaw Skalski . After spectacular successes, they received the nickname of "Skalski's Circus". On 28 March 1943 Horbaczewski downed a Ju 88 near Sfax 1. On April 2nd his victim was a Bf 109.

6 April 1943 proved to be a very dramatic day. Spotting a formation of five Bf 109s, Dziubek left his flight and attacked alone. In first run he scored one "Messer" when its pilot bailed out. But 'Kameraden' soon hit the lone "Spitfire" ("ZX-1" EN 459). Horbaczewski dived with his flaming plane but as he was getting ready to jump, the fire suddenly stopped. He was able to coax the damaged plane to glider land at the nearest Allied airfield - Gabes. The next day he got a Jeep ride back to his home base, but his aircraft was written off. On 22 April 1943, in a major air battle over the Bay of Tunis, Horbaczewski shot down two Bf 109s. He had become the most successful pilot in the Polish Fighting Team, with five confirmed kills.

After the North African campaign, Horbaczewski took command of the RAF 43rd Squadron, 324th Fighter Wing. They flew the "Spitfire" Mk Vc, with squadron codes of "FT". In combat over Sicily and southern Italy, Horbaczewski added three victories to his scoreboard, two of which were Bf 109s he downed within 40 seconds!

On 16 February 1944 Horbaczewski took command of Polish 315 Fighter Squadron "City of Deblin," with squadron codes "PK". In March of1944, the Squadron was re-equipped, from "Spitfire" Mk Vs to "Mustang" Mk IIIs. On June 22, 1944 "Dziubek" had a performance of remarkable courage. During a ground attack on German units near Cherbourg, the aircraft piloted by Lt. Tadeusz Tamowicz was damaged and forced to land. Horbaczewski skillfully landed nearby on an airstrip just built by Americans. He found Tamowicz, who had injuries to both legs, and brought him back to "Dziubek's" P-51. Horbaczewski flew the two of them across the Channel to the home base of Coolham.

In the summer of 1944 the 315 Fighter Squadron took part in special missions to hunt V-1 flying bombs, Horbaczewski knocking down four of the squadron's total of 53 V-1s. On 30 June 1944 the 315th squadron escorted "Beaufighters" on a long mission to Norway. In combat, about 50 km off Norway's coast, "Dziubek" scored a single Bf 109 kill. He shared another one when his guns jammed. Squadron victories for that battle were: six Bf 109s, one Fw 190, and one Bf 110, without any losses

On 18 August 1944, at 7:20 a.m., a dozen "Mustangs" under Horbaczewski's lead took off from Branzett airbase, on fighter sweep "Rodeo 385". The mission target was in the area of Cormeilles-Romilly. When the Squadron was 13 km on north-east of Beauvais, Polish pilots noticed a group of sixty Fw 190 fighters of II./JG 26 taking off and landing.

The Polish pilots had the advantage of altitude and surprise. In 10 minutes of heated battle, the 315th claimed 16 kills, 1 probable, and 3 damaged, while the II./JG 26 pilots claimed 6 (of which 3 were officially confirmed). Amazingly, none of the Polish "Mustangs" were hit by a single German bullet, except for the P-51 flown by the Squadron Leader.

"Dziubek" destroyed three German fighters, but in the process, was shot down himself. His wingman, Lt. Bozydar Nowosielski, witnessed "Dziubek's" victories, but none of 315's pilots saw the moment "Dziubek" was shot down. When Lt. Eugeniusz Horbaczewski's "Mustang" crashed near the village of Vellennes, the pilot's final kill board read: 16 1/2 - 1 - 1.

Below are tables data about claimed victories and real losses by pilots for both sides in the battle over Beauvais on 18 August 1944. Note: it's higly possible that in that area flew and got losses also few FW 190's of JG 2, and becouse the log book of JG 2 is missed till present day, we cannot be certain of real number Luftwaffe's destroyed fighters. Interestingly, a P-38 "Lightning" appears as a confirmed kill for a Luftwaffe pilot.