During the war a total of nine Polish squadrons were equipped with the Spitfire. Of those, seven squadrons fought in Western Europe and two in both North Africa and Italy. Of these two ones one of them was a recon-fighter squadron.
There were of course Polish pilots, outside official Polish squadrons, who served with other Royal Air Force's (RAF) squadrons, like Flg. Off. Tadeusz Nowierski, or Boleslaw Dobrínski, among many others.
Anyway, some of those Polish squadrons were:
- No. 303 'Kosciuszko' Polish Fighter Squadron: Probably the most famous Polish Fighter Squadron. It was officially created on 22nd July 1940 with Polish airmen who escaped from France and had high experience in aviation matters. Thanks to that high experience level, the squadron became operational in early August 1940 and, during the most intense parts of the Battle of Britain, the squadron remained at RAF Northolt, only rebasing north in October, during the last stages of the Battle of Britain. During this period the squadron flew the Hawker Hurricane.
This unit returned to Northolt in January 1941, where it was re-equipped with the Supermarine Spitfire and conducted offensive fighter sweeps over occupied France, sweeps that were kept for the following years, operating from various bases like Merseyside, Lincolnshire or Northern Ireland.
In April 1944 the squadron was assigned to 2nd Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF) to take part in Operation Overlord (the Allied invasion of mainland Europe - Normandy Landings) and, after that date and unlike most of the units belonging to 2nd TAF, it remained in England, operating from East Anglia and flying bomber escort missions and armed reconnaissance sweeps over the Netherlands.
In April 1945 the squadron was re-equipped with the Mustang Mk. IV (North American P-51D).
From January 1941 until April 1945 this squadron flew many variants of the Spitfire such as the Mk. I, Mk. IIa and b, Mk. V and Mk. IX. - No. 308 'City of Kraków' Polish Fighter Squadron: This squadron, formed on 9th September 1940, received the Spitfire in April 1941. In June it was assigned to bomber escort and fighter sweeps over France. This lasted until December when the squadron was rebased to Lancashire to rest. In April 1942 the squadron resumed offensive operations until April 1943 when the squadron was rebased to Yorkshire until September when it joined the 2nd TAF and converted to the fighter-bomber role, flying offensive missions over France. The squadron was rebased to Normandy in August 1944 and followed Allied advances east, being rebased to Belgium in October.
On 1st January 1945 the squadron's base was attacked by the Luftwaffe as part of Operation Bodenplatte, but the Poles lost only 2 aircraft on the air and 18 on the ground which were easily replaced.
This unit served with the occupation forces in Germany after the end of the war in Europe and flew many marks of the Spitfire, such as the Mk. I, Mk. IIa and b, Mk. V, Mk. IX and Mk. XVI. - No. 315 'City of Deblin' Polish Fighter Squadron: This unit was formed at Acklington on 21st January 1941 and was equipped with the Hawker Hurricane. In July it was rebased to Northolt where it transitioned to the Spitfire and was employed to perform fighter sweeps over occupied France. This role was kept until early 1942 when the squadron was moved to Lancashire and was given a five month break.
In September 1942 the squadron returned to Northolt to retake the offensive sweeps again. This second stage lasted until June 1943 when it was rebased to the north and in November 1943 it was assigned to 2nd TAF.
Once with the 2nd TAF, the squadron began to convert to the Mustang Mk. III (North American P-51B/C).
They employed various marks of the Spitfires such as the Mk. IIa, Mk. Vb and c and the Mk. IX.
Sources:
1st AJ Press- Monografie Lotnicze 40 - Supermarine Spitfire 3 (translated)
2nd http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/303_wwII.html
3rd http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/315_wwII.html
4th http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/308_wwII.html
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