No. 315 Polish Fighter Squadron

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Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, commanding officer of No. 315 Squadron from February 1944, standing next to his P-51 Mustang. He achieved 16.5 victories before he was shot down and killed on 18 August 1944.

No. 315 (City of Deblin) Polish Fighter Squadron was a Polish-manned fighter squadron of the British Royal Air Force during World War II. It was named after the city of Dęblin, where the main Polish Air Force Academy has been located since 1927.

[edit] History

The squadron was formed at Acklington, England on 21 January 1941. The squadron, equipped with Hurricanes, was moved in March to RAF Speke, Liverpool, where it made frequent patrols over naval convoys as part of No. 9 Group RAF. Before July, when it came under Polish command, No. 315 was commanded by Squadron Leader H.D. Cooke.

In July it was moved to RAF Northolt, West London, re-equipped with Spitfires, and began to conduct offensive fighter sweeps over occupied Europe. During two operations over France, on 9 August, the squadron achieved its first aircraft claims — two destroyed BF 109s, three probable, and three damaged. The squadron returned to Lancashire in April 1942, based at RAF Woodvale, Sefton. The squadron returned to Northolt in September and resumed operations over France. In June 1943, the squadron was withdrawn to Yorkshire, then to County Down, Northern Ireland in July.

Having returned to England in November, the squadron moved to the south west in April 1944, where they joined No. 133 Polish Wing of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. The squadron was re-equipped with the P-51 Mustang Mk III, which they used for the duration of the war. The squadron formed part of southern England's defence against the V-1 flying bombs and served in the Battle of Normandy.

During a sweep over France on 18 August, 12 Mustangs of No 315 engaged 60 German fighters of JG2 & JG26, who were in the process of taking off and landing near Beauvais, France. In the ensuing battle, the Poles were officially credited with 16 victories, one probable, and three damaged for the loss of one pilot, Squadron Leader Eugeniusz Horbaczewski. Conversely, German claims were that 12 aircraft had been lost and that they had themselves shot down six aircraft (one of which was claimed to be a P-38 Lightning).

The squadron later carried out operations over Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands, where they carried out sorties until the end of the war. The squadron's claims during the war amounted to 86.33 confirmed victories, 18 probable, and 26 damaged.

After the war ended, No. 315 Squadron remained part of the RAF's Fighter Command until disbanded on 14 January 1947.