No. 308 "City of Kraków" Polish Fighter Squadron
Active5 September 1940 – 18 December 1946
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
AllegiancePoland Polish Government in exile
Branch Royal Air Force
RoleFighter and fighter bomber
Part ofRAF Fighter Command
Nickname(s)Krakow
Dywizjon Myśliwski "Krakowski"
AircraftHawker Hurricane
Supermarine Spitfire
Insignia
Squadron CodesZF (Sep 1940 - Dec 1946)

No. 308 "City of Kraków" Polish Fighter Squadron RAF (Polish: 308 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Krakowski") was one of several Polish squadrons during the Second World War. It was formed as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom in 1940.

Pilots of 308 squadron (from left): Marian Wesołowski, Bolesław Palej, Forest Yeo-Thomas, Stefan Krzyżagórski, Stanisław Piątkowski, Stefan Janus, Tadeusz Rolski, Jerzy Popławski, Franciszek Skiba, Marian Pisarek, Jan Jakubowski, Tadeusz Schiele. Jerzy Zbierzchowski is kneeling, accompanied by the mascot of the 308 Squadron - female Jumbie
308 Squadron ground personnel at the Spitfire

History

The squadron was formed on 5 September 1940 at the RAF Polish Depot in Squires Gate, Blackpool, from pilots of the Fighter Squadron of the 2nd Aviation Regiment in Krakow (in September 1939 the regiment was part of the Krakow Army). The personnel list was approved on 9 September 1940, and on 12 September the squadron of 170 personnel were transferred to Speke Airport near Liverpool for initial training. It was supplied with Miles Master (trainers) and Hawker Hurricane fighters. The first CO, Squadron Leader John Davies, was killed after striking a balloon cable just a few weeks after taking command.

On 24 November 1940, the first air victory was recorded on the Squadron's account when Pilot Mieczysław Parafiński downed a twin-engine Ju-88 bomber during a training flight.

The squadron began combat service on 1 December 1940, also preparing for night flights in order to repel Luftwaffe night raids.

By October 1941 the squadron was based at Baginton Aerodrome where "Tommy" Yeo-Thomas was intelligence officer.[1] It then converted to Spitfires and operated from RAF Northolt. The new equipment was quickly mastered by the pilots, as evidenced by the success of 2nd Lt. pil. Wandzilak, who was the first of the PSP pilots to shoot down an Fw-190 on 21 September 1941.

The squadron was then operated over France before its transfer to the 2nd Tactical Air Force in 1943 as a fighter-bomber squadron. Its main task became the destruction of ground targets. Squadron pilots destroyed a total of 536 land vehicles, 17 locomotives, 109 wagons, 45 ships and 28 buildings. The squadron then followed the allied advance across Europe after the Normandy Landings in 1944. It disbanded at RAF Ahlhorn, Germany on 18 December 1946 after hostilities had ceased.

308 Squadron was one of the most effective PSP fighter units (69 certain kills, 13 probable, 21 damage).

Aircraft operated

Aircraft operated by No. 308 Squadron RAF[2]
Oct 1940Apr 1941Hawker HurricaneI
Mar 1941May 1941Supermarine SpitfireI
May 1941Aug 1941Supermarine SpitfireIIA
Aug 1941Nov 1943Supermarine SpitfireVB
Jan 1942Feb 1942Supermarine SpitfireIIA
Nov 1943Mar 1945Supermarine SpitfireIX
Mar 1945Dec 1946Supermarine SpitfireXVI

See also

References

  1. ↑ James Hutchison, ‘Thomas, Forest Frederic Edward Yeo-(1902–1964)’, rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2010
  2. ↑ C.G.Jefford (1988). RAF Squadrons. UK Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
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