Tuesday, 4 February 2025

Supermarine Spitfire. European Users, part fourteen. Polish Spitfire users, part two.

 
Some more Polish squadrons equipped with the Supermarine Spitfire were:
  • No. 306 'City of Torun' Polish Fighter Squadron: This squadron transitioned from the Hawker Hurricane to the Spitfire Mk. II in July 1941, while present at Northolt, where they were conducting offensive sweeps over France. In October 1941 they were moved to Merseyside, to stay on the defensive and, in December they were moved again to south west England, this time equipped with the Mk. V. Based at south-west England, they kept on sweeps over France until March 1943, with a small rest in May-June 1942. As written, in March 1943 they were moved north to Yorkshire. This squadron was equipped with both the Mk. V and the Mk. IX until they were all replaced by the North American Mustang III (P-51 B/C) in March 1944. 
  • No. 316 'City of Warsaw' Polish Fighter Squadron: This unit transitioned from the Hurricane to the Spitfire during a period that lasted from October 1941 until July 1942 when they were fully equipped with the Mk. V. That same month, they were moved to Yorkshire, where it remained until March 1943 when the unit returned to southern England to resume the fighter patrols over France. This period lasted until September, when the squadron was pulled back to defensive duties and then, in April 1944 the Spitfires were replaced with the Mustang Mk. III. 
  • No. 317 'City of Wilno' Polish Fighter Squadron: This squadron, formed in late February 1941 and initially equipped with the Hawker Hurricane, was re-equipped with the Spitfire Mk. V in October 1941. Operating from the south-west of England, they conducted many offensive sweeps over France and, in April 1942 they joined other Polish squadrons at Northolt, where it remained until September when they were re-based to North Yorkshire to stand there during the winter of 1942-1943. In April 1943 the squadron was moved to Suffolk to resume the offensive sweeps over France. It was there where the unit became part of the 2nd TAF and operated over Normandy in June 1944. In August 1944 the squadron was re-based to Normandy, following the Allies' advance east. In October they were moved to Belgium, where they kept conducting offensive sweeps over Germany and, on 1st January 1945 its base was attacked in Operation Bodenplatte (the last great offensive of the Luftwaffe).
    In April 1945 they were operating from bases in Germany, where they stayed until the end of the war. They were part of the occupation forces in Germany until disbanded on 18th December 1946.
It is also interesting to point out that  the first test pilots of the Spitfire F.XII (the first of the Griffon-powered variant) were Henryk Pietrzak and Wladislaw Potocki, both Polish aces. They were assigned to test the very much improved version of the Spitfire from November 1942 to February 1943. 



















Sources:
1st http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/306_wwII.html
2nd http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/316_wwII.html
3rd http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/317_wwII.html

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