Witold's career

His career started at:

Glider School 20 May 1934-1 July 1934
Cadet Pilot school 1 May 1935-1 July 1935
Déblin officer school 1 September 1935-1 September 1938
121 Fighter squadron 1 September 1938-1 July 1939
Déblin flying instructor 1 July 1939-15 September 1939
PAF France 28 October 1939-1 March 1940
1/145 fighter squadron 1 March 1940-28 June 1940
PAF Blackpool 1 September 1940-10 April 1941
No.1 SAC 14 April 1941-29 April 1941
No.9 OS 30 April 1941-6 September 1941
9 April 1941 - Dec 9 1941 55 OTU

15 Dec 1941 - 1 Jan 1942 308 squadron
1 Jan 1942 - May 17 1943 317 squadron
May 43 - Feb 26 1944 302 squadron
Mar 1944 - April 1944 354th FG
May 1944 - Aug 1945 56th FG

Totalling up Lanny’s 'Operational record' starting from December 1941 through to August 1945 it reads:
Flight records PAF 308, 317, 302 squadrons
FLIGHTS: 456
COMBAT: 135
Total hours: 488hrs 30mins
Combat hours: 199hrs 20 mins
Total period 29 months

 Flight records USAAF 355th FS, 354th FG & 61st FS, 56th FG
FLIGHTS: 162
COMBAT: 81
Total hours: 435hrs 30mins
Combat hours: 325hrs 35mins
Total period 15 months

 Total operational flights 618
Total combat flights 216
Total operational hours 1192hrs 10mins
Total combat hours 524hrs 55mins
Total operational period 44 months
Amazingly it shows for a shorter period of time with the USAAF he flew approx. 62% more combat hours as the flights over Germany were a lot longer than the range of the Spitfire with the Polish squadrons which could only operate over France

French Air Force:

Lanny’s unit in France: GC1/145 escadrille 1 section 5, Caudron no. 14
His time with the FAF was marred by his arrest by the Polish high command following his involvement in the rebellion at Déblin. Replaced by Kpr Joda following arrest 29th May 1940
Receives French wings 1 May 40
Arrested 26 May 40.
Released 27 May 40
Re-arrested 27 May by commander Lusinski
15 June 40 gen Sikorski orders release. Not released by the high command

7/18 June. Escapes from regimental camp at Aix En Provence

Polish Air Force under British command:

Following a period of time as an instructor with 55 Operational Training Unit (OUT) he was posted to 308 fighter squadron for a period of less than 3 weeks before transferring to 317 squadron on the 1st May 1942 until 1stApril 1943. 'B' flight, transferred to 'A' flight March 1943 as section leader.
His Commanding officers being:
Bzezinski, Ozyra, Skalski, Czaykowski, Kornicki

317 were based at the following stations during his time with them:

1 May 1942 Northolt ► 1 Sep 1942 Woodvale ► 3 Jan 1943 Northolt ► 1 Feb 1943 Kirton in Lindsey ► 5 Apr 1943 Martlesham on Heath (Suffolk) ► 2 May 1943 Heston ►

 Combat missions flown with 317 squadron:
Jan 42. 1
Feb 42. 2
Mar 42. 0
April 42. 13
May 42. 9
June 42. 7
July 42. 3
Aug 42. 4
Sep 42. 1
Oct 42. 1
Nov 42. 0
Dec 42. 0
Jan 43. 1
Feb 43. 1
Mar 43. 0
April 43. 0
May 43. 18
Total 61 combat missions for a total of 68 hrs 40 mins (total hours including all flights 293 hrs 50 mins) 

The notable spitfires that he flew whilst with 317 squadron were:

JH-Y (W3970) spit Vb flights 1942 & 1943

1942:
Jan 7, 24
Feb 24
Apr 12,15,24,25,26,27
May 6,8,9,25,26,27,29
June 2,3,5
July 26,29,30
Aug 3,12,13
Nov 18

1943:
Jan 3,21,23,27
Feb 19
total 31 flights

 JH-V (AA758) Spit Vb flights 1942 & 1943

1942:
Jan 5
Feb 1,13
Mar 20
June 1,7,11,13,16,17
July 8
Aug 1,3,12
Sept 5
Sep 16,17,18,19,20,21
Oct 7,8,16,18,20,26,29
Nov 1,6,15,16,20,21,22,28,29
Dec 1,6,20,
Dec 22,28,29,30

1943:
Feb 3,4,7,14,16,18,19,28
total 52 flights

On the 24th July 1942 according to the 317 Sq. official diaries, he was credited with damaging an unknown number of Me 109's during a rhubarb mission to Le Touquet flying Spitfire AA758 JH-V, but Witold did not claim ground kills (see below in 56th FG section for further official ground kills).

He was also asked by S/Ldr Baranski to evaluate a Mk IX spitfire before they were issued to the Polish squadrons:

Aug 18 1942. High climbing 40,000 ft. for 1hr 05 mins
Aug 26 1942. Cross country testing to Hutton Cranswick for 50mins

On the 17 May 1943 he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and transferred to 302 squadron as ‘A’ flight commander when there was a change of flight commanders:
A flight - Zulikowski to Łanowski
B flight - Chelmeki to Gładych

Commanding officers:
Lapka, Baranski, Krol
302 were based at the following stations during his time with them:
15 Feb 1943 Hutton Cranswick ►15 June 1943 Perranporth ►19 Sep 1943 Northolt ►1 Apr 1944 Deanland 

 Combat missions flown with 302 squadron:
May 43. 2
June 43. 4
July 43. 6
Aug 43. 6
Sep 43. 15
Oct 43. 9
Nov 43. 9
Dec 43. 4
Jan 44. 9
Feb 44. 10
Total 74 combat missions for a total of 131 hrs 45 mins (total hours including all flights 208 hrs 40mins)

The notable Spitfires he flew whilst with 302 squadron were:

WX-F (AA730) Mk. Vb

1943:
July 22,24,27,28,29
August 3,4,8,12,13,14,16,17,21,22
September 2,3,4,6,7,8,9,13,14,16,18
27 combat flights for a total of 47hrs 35mins (total of 34 flights for 65hrs 45mins)

 WX-F (MA843) Mk. IX (personal flight commander's aircraft)

1943:
October 3,4,7,9,17,18,20,22
Nov 3,4,5,6,7,9,10,11,15,17,19,24,25,26,28
Dec 7,13,14,15,19,30,31
1944:
Jan 3,4,5,7,23,26,29
Feb 8,9,10,11,12,14,15,22,23
38 combat flights for a total of 69hrs 50mins (total of 65 flights for 91hrs 20mins)

Total combat missions with polish squadrons = 135 for a total of 199hrs 20mins (total hours including all flights 498hrs 30mins)

United States Army Air Force:

Lanny transferred to the USAAF on 1st March 1944 when his tour of duty with the PAF expired. He was initially given the position of Intelligence officer with the 355th fighter squadron of the 354th fighter group, 9th Air Force (who were then first USAAF group to operate the P51 mustang in the ETO) 1st March 1944 until 1st May 1944 at Boxted. But, due to the fact this was not a combat posting he secured a posting with the famous 56th fighter group (61st fighter squadron commanded by Francis ‘Gabby’ Gabreski) who flew the P47 Thunderbolt in the ETO.

His total ‘familiarisation’ flights with the 354th were a total of 5 flights for 6hrs 20 mins

Lanny joined the 61st fighter squadron on 10th May 1944

His Commanding officers being:
Gabreski, Carter, Baker, Zemke (group commander), Schilling (group commander)

The 56th were based at the following stations during his time with them:

10th May 1942 Boxted

 Combat missions flown with 61st fighter squadron, 56th fighter group:
May 1944. Total 8. (1 x Fw 190, 1 train)
June 1944. Total 22. (1 x Me 109, Lorries, bridges, aerodromes, barges)
July 1944. Total 13. (1 x Me 109, 4 trains)
Aug 1944. Total 11. (5/8/1944 4 x Me110 [gnd unclaimed], 16/8/1944 0.6 Ju88 [gnd unclaimed], 28/8/1944 0.66 He111 [unclaimed], 5 trains, 4 cars, train station)
Oct 1944. Total 8. 2 trains
Nov 1944. Total 7. (1 x Fw 190, 2 lorries, 3 damaged, 1 train, 1 barge)
Dec 1944. Total 3
Jan 1945. Total 4
Feb 1945. Total 1
Mar 1945. Total 2
April 1945. 2
May 1945. 0
June 1945. 0
July 1945. 0
Aug 1945. 0
Total 81 combat missions for a total of 325 hrs 35 mins (total hours including all flights 435 hrs 30 mins)
 

Lanny’s kills with the 56th
22 May 44, Fw190. Sweep Osnabruck
27 June 44, Me109, Me109 (unclaimed, given to Patterson). Dive bomb Reims /Amiens
5 July 44, Me109. Ramrod Chartreux

5 Aug 44, 4 x Me110 (in combat reports gnd unclaimed) Ramrod mission to Bremen / Osnabruck (source USAF records via Peter Randall)

16 Aug 44, 0.6 Ju88 (in combat reports gnd unclaimed) Ramrod mission to Hannover (source USAF records via Peter Randall)
28 Aug. He111 (in combat reports unclaimed). Ramrod Brussels/Kaiserslautern
18 Nov. Fw190. rodeo Frankfurt / Hanau

* note * Lanny did not claim ground kills

 The combat missions flown on and around D-Day included:
3rd June 1944
P47D HV-L(bar) ramrod
Abbeville, Montdidier, Paris 3hrs 40mins
4th June 1944.
P47D HV-N. Ramrod Cambrai, Lille, Orleans 2hrs 40mins
P47D HV-G Ramrod Paris Cambrai 3hrs 40mins
5th June 1944
P47D HV-G Ramrod Dieppe, Amiens 2hrs 35mins
6th June 1944
P47D HV-G. Patrol channel 4hrs 35mins
P47D HV-O(bar) (Pengie II) Ramrod Dreux, Chatres. 3hrs 20mins
8th June 1944
P47D HV-L(bar) Ramrod & Dive bomb Orleans, Paris. 3hrs 55mins
P47D HV-Q. Dive bomb nr Paris 3hrs 30mins
10th June 1944
P47D HV-L(bar) ramrod 2hrs 50mins
 

Total combat missions 317, 302, 56th. 216 for a total of 524 hrs 55 mins(total hours including all flights 1192 hrs 10 mins)
 

Lanny’s WW2 DECORATIONS include:

Krzyz Walecznych + BAR [Cross of Valour] (Poland)

1939 - 45 War Commemorative medal (France)

Distinguished Flying Cross (USA)

Air Medal + 2 Silver Oak Leaf Clusters [received 11 times in total] (USA)

General service medal (British)
War medal 1939 – 45 (British)
Air crew Europe star (British)
1939 – 45 star (British)

The Total number of flying hours spanning from 1934 until he stopped flying in 1963, including Poland pre-war, France, PAF, USAAF, post -war RAF transport command and Katanga are an impressive 2590 hours 40 minutes of which 637 hours 5 minutes are combat flown hours.

PZL P11

The PZL always gave Witold an immense sense of freedom when flying this particular plane. With its open, if not very draughty cockpit, it gave excellent all round visibility especially during takeoff and landing. It wasn't particularly fast but the gull wing design made it extremely maneuverable and combined with the wide undercarriage, a very easy plane to land safely.

Hawker Hurricane

Witold was impressed with this fighter as it was a ruggedly constructed plane with thick wings and very stable. The 8 x .303 `pop guns' (as Witold liked to call them) were placed close together in the wings which gave good concentrated firepower from the inadequately powered `rifle' caliber machine guns. The thick wing was undoubtedly a contributing factor to the Hurricane not being as fast and nimble as its compatriot the Spitfire, although it could out turn both the Spitfire and Messerschmidt 109 during the Battle of Britain.

The rugged wing and fuselage structure made the Hurricane a great stable firing platform and also with the wide undercarriage, very easy to land especially in areas that the Spitfire would have found difficult to operate out of. with the additional fact that the Hurricane was made from a wood frame with the canvas skin stretched over the top, it was, in a some cases, able to be more readily field fixed after combat damage.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk's I, II, IVb & IXc

Witold was always outspoken about the `Spit'. He viewed this fighter as a beautiful plane to look at but all round not a practical fighter aircraft.

He was always unhappy with the cramped cockpit conditions, including the fact that it was unheated. This meant that on return from some missions his ground crew had to spray the pilots hands with oxygen so they could at least open their fingers!

The compass was very badly positioned at low level beneath the main panel and between the pilots feet which caused no end of problems especially during times of bad visibility or instrument flying when he had to constantly look down to ensure he was on course `taking your eyes off the sky'.

With the rigors that the Polish pilots put their Spitfire's through, there were incidents of the fuselage twisting during high speed / `G' manoeuvres. there were also records of fatal incidences of the wings `marching off' (using Witold's wording!) and Witold lost several friends during combat when this happened whilst the Polish pilots chased the Germans for the kill!

Witold was highly critical in the lack of fire power of the Spitfire. Combined with the wide spacing of the `pop guns' it meant that the convergence needed to be accurately set to ensure all the bullets landed on the target at the same time in the same place. Although, the Polish pilots, Witold included, set the convergence at between 75 - 100 yds to ensure maximum damage and the Poles often flew `up the arse' of the German to ensure they killed him not just downed the plane! This is where the Poles got their reputation as `ferocious' pilots with the aggressive tactics to kill the German pilot not just destroy the enemy plane. There are documented cases of Spitfire pilots hitting German aircraft with the .303 guns, inflicting damage but due to the lack of `punch' of .303's, the enemy pilot was able to return to base and be repaired for battle another day! notably stated in the book 'JG26' by Donald Caldwell.

An interesting fact was that the Hurricanes and pre mk V Spitfires only had approx. 15 seconds of ammunition. The Messerschmitt had 55 seconds of available Mg and 20mm cannon ammunition! A substantial advantage over the RAF fighters. During the battle of Britain and the early 1941 operations their restriction was the fact that due to fuel limitations they only had 10 minutes over England before having to run for home, otherwise they swam back...!

The film `The Battle of Britain' was one of Witold's `comedy' films, it used to greatly amuse him to watch the pilots shaking in their cockpits when they fired the 303's in the Spits, he would say that not only could you not hear them firing but you certainly couldn’t feel them firing, you often had to look way out on the wings to ensure your guns were going off! The only time you could feel your guns was when the cannons fired admittedly for only a short time due to the lack of ammo and because the back up 303's were so far out on the wings you didn’t know if you had totally run out of ammo without looking...! There were a lot of other elements of the film that mounted up to give Witold his `comedy' film.

It wasn't until the later marks that had the 20mm cannon fitted that the Spitfire was able to give out some acceptable firepower but due to the thin design of the wings it lacked the capacity to carry sufficient ammunition for the cannons to make it worthwhile. Witold said that when he flew the Mk IX in 302 squadron at least they had a few extra rounds available with the more rugged design of the wings.

Witold was never impressed with the narrow configuration of the undercarriage which helped to damage a lot of Spitfires as it wasn’t easy to land, especially on softer ground when taking off from grass etc.

So, to summarize, Witold was not overly impressed with the Spitfire, which was often outmaneuvered and outgunned by the German fighters and he always said that the Spit was `Ok for the Battle of Britain, but that was it! until the Mk IX came on the scene.

This opinion upset a lot of history buffs and various people over the years and caused many a heated argument, but as a trained veteran combat pilot he knew what he was talking about when he described what he expected from a combat fighter aircraft.

North American P-51 Mustang

In his capacity as `Intelligence officer' with the 355th Lanny was unable to fly combat missions in the Mustang. The cross-country and conversion flights he was able to do convinced him that the Mustang was a very good fighter plane. He was impressed with its agility in the air and its speed. The 6 x .50 caliber machine guns impressed him as did its sturdy air frame, armor and wide undercarriage making it easy to fly and land.

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

Undoubtedly this was Witold's favorite fighter aircraft of the war. When the Poles first encountered the Thunderbolt in mock combat fights with the yanks Witold was of the similar opinion of the other Polish pilots that the Thunderbolt was a `Flying Pig'! The Polish pilots flew rings around this huge monstrosity of a fighter plane but he was later to admit that it wasn't just the fact that the Thunderbolt was heavy and slow to manoeuvre below 15,000 feet but it was also the lack of good training and combat experience of the American pilots that let them down. This was one crucial thing that Zemke asked Witold to help rectify when he joined the 56th FG in 1944.

His first impression on flying the Thunderbolt was how roomy, warm & well laid out the cockpit was with good visibility. when the Mk `D' bubbletop came into use this gave the pilot excellent all round visibility only matched by fighters like the P-51 `D' Mustangs.

Witold was impressed with the fact that conversion only took about half an hour as it was easy to fly, stable and solid especially when taking off and landing. Its engine was superb and reliable, being air-cooled it didn’t suffer from the vulnerability that water cooled engines like the Merlin which equipped its counterpart the Mustang and RAF Hurricanes and Spitfires. It was well known and documented of single rounds disabling a Merlin engine with a hit in the coolant system which ultimately led to a seizure! Witold's opinion was that if your Merlin engine was misfiring or running ruff, due to its vulnerability to seizure, the safest thing to do was return to base. The downside of this of course was that it meant dependent on how far into your mission you were, it may mean one or two other fighters having to escort you home, greatly weakening the remaining squadron.

But, the main thing that greatly impressed Witold was the incredible firepower and ordnance capacity of the `Jug'. With 8 x.50 calibre guns in the wings, closely grouped this gave the `Jug' incredible devastating destructive power over any enemy unlucky enough to get into a Thunderbolt drivers sites! Lanny was to experience just this fact with his first kill with the 56th when he chased a German, opened fire and the plane in front of him disintegrated before his eyes.

With the capability of carrying 250 or 500lb bombs as well as rocket tubes this gave the Thunderbolt fantastic all round fighter and ground attack capabilities unmatched by any other US fighter in theater at the time.

Zemke asked Lanny and Gladych to fully assess the Thunderbolt when they joined the 56th which they did, finding that it was outmaneuvered by the German fighters below 15,000 ft but totally unmatched in climb and dive rate. The FW was a deadly adversary to any allied pilot and the `Jug' could only turn with them for about 2/3 - 3/4 of the circle with water injection on for a few seconds before having to break away as the FW could out-turn them.

As previously stated above, the Germans used the `Split S' manoeuvre to escape from combat, namely flipping onto their back and diving hard away towards the ground. God help any German pilot who tried that when a `Jug' was on his tail. The dive rate was such that the Thunderbolt would often overtake the fleeing German during the dive. When the D-30 and Mk `M' appeared, the pilots were able to utilize the dive breaks to slow their dive rate.

Focke-wulf FW 190 (The enemy!)

Witold's opinion of the FW 190 was that as a fighter it was beautifully designed, extremely well-armed and lighter than its adversaries and believed it was undoubtedly one of the best fighters of the war. It could turn very tightly and Witold advised many pilots ‘do not get into a turning fight with a 190, he WILL get you’. He advised to only complete ¾ of a circle before breaking off and either diving or climbing away to break contact. in the hands of a competent pilot he had the greatest respect for the Fw190

As previously mentioned in the 'Pilot opinion' section, Witold was not impressed with the armament of the RAF fighters until they were fitted with 20mm cannon but still suffered from a major lack of rounds to use...! he was greatly impressed with the firepower of the Mustang and Thunderbolts 0.5" calibre machine guns fitted as standard to these fighters, their sheer `punch' and devastation power was just incredible to him after the Spitfire and Hurricane he had been previously flying. Witold was also impressed with the fire power of the Messerschmitt and Focke Wulf fighters with their mixed machine gun and cannon armament, firing through the spinner and also synchronized through the propeller blades which the Polish pilots were used to with the PZL P11c having the machine guns fuselage mounted firing synchronized through the propeller. Most non-German aircraft engineers had always maintained that firing through the propeller was impossible to synchronize accurately enough. Well, the Poles and Germans certainly disproved that theory...!!

Formations used:

One of his other `gripes' was the formations used by the RAF which was not only his personal opinion but also an opinion shared with the other Polish fighter pilots. The RAF used outdated formations at the start of WW2 including the classic `VIC' formation of three fighters in close proximity to each other flying in a `^' formation. This was the standard formation taught to all fighter pilots but required the pilots to spend more time watching each other’s aircraft to avoid collisions than actually watching the skies for enemy fighters. The RAF also used line astern and line abreast formations and tended to fly in quite close proximity to the adjacent aircraft. This was similar to the `VIC' formation in terms of time and concentration required to maintain a coherent formation which the Poles regarded as dangerous in a combat environment. the biggest disadvantage with these formations used by the RAF was a lack of maneuverability whilst trying to maintain formations, especially in larger turns.

The Poles were similar to the Germans in the use of the `finger four' formation which had been original semi created in the first world war and then further developed by the Luftwaffe `Condor' legion in Spain during the civil war pre-world war 2. The finger four formation consisted of a flight of four mutually supporting aircraft formed from two elements of two aircraft, a leader and a wingman. The German standard formation through all their Jagdgeshwader was the `Schwarm' (flight) and `Rotte' (element) of four and two aircraft in `finger four' formation. This formation allowed all parts of the sky to be within easy view with the added ability of the fighters within the formation to fly at slightly differing heights to alleviate any blind spots caused by adjacent aircraft. It was also an easier formation to use to change direction whilst maintaining a good formation.

The poles refused to use the dated RAF formations which they deemed dangerous and when they became operational other RAF squadron commanders soon saw the advantage of this formation and gradually adopted it, but it took a few years to implement fully.

Training:

Witold felt that training was probably the most important part of being a fighter pilot. He knew that the Polish pilots were already highly trained and ensured that they kept up their in-flight training to hone their already `sharp' skills. But he observed that the RAF pilots were drastically under trained when joining front line combat squadrons, lacking both flying, formation and gunnery skills. This became more prevalent when air to air gunnery competitions were held by the RAF and the top 3 places were always held by Polish squadrons (refer to the publication `Destiny can wait'). So, when he was assigned to be a flight instructor with 55 OTU he was able to instill his vast flying knowledge to British and commonwealth Pilot’s training to join front line squadrons.

Other Interesting facts about Witold Lanowski

Witold was unlike a lot of other world war two pilots being non superstitious. Even his greatest flying friend Boleslaw `Mike' Gladych was superstitious, having a ceramic penguin `Pengie' as a mascot. Note, his 56th FG Thunderbolts displayed his personal emblem of `Pengie' 1,2,3 etc.

Witold's personal Emblem displayed on his flying jacket and later his personal mark `M' Thunderbolt was a Polish red and white checkerboard with a Polish medieval knights gauntlet holding and crushing a German Messerschmitt ME 109. This emblem originated in 1941 but due to the fact that Polish pilots were under the command of the RAF were unable to display personal emblems on their aircraft although some individuals got away with it, namely Jan Zumbach of 303 (Polish) squadron.

The Emblem represented the defeat of the German Teutonic order in 1410 by the combined Polish and Lithuanian forces at the battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg to the Germans) which spelt the end of the Teutonic order's reign in Prussia which was northern Poland. Witold's personal opinion was that the Germans need not have invaded Poland to get to Russia or defend their eastern borders, they could have formulated a pact with Poland as the Polish forces were quite large and well trained, especially the air force (which gave the Luftwaffe quite a mauling in the September campaign). His opinion is that they invaded Poland as revenge for Grunwald (Tannenberg) as there are photographs of Hitler specifically visiting the memorial after the invasion. He was warned by both Zemke and Gabreski of the 56th FG that `if the Germans see that emblem Lanny, they will shoot you, no question'. Witold being the rebel he was not put off by this obvious fact!

Myths and legends of the Polish fighter pilots

The Polish fighter pilots were branded as `ferocious' trigger men (misunderstood by those that judged them). The RAF high command specifically requested that the Poles be asked to not `ram the enemy when they run out of ammunition’...! What historians fail to realize is that the Poles had good reason to have the attitude towards the German enemy that they had. It was an ancient hatred of the Germans following their occupation and persecution by the Teutonic order combined with the atrocities that they had seen in their homeland one of the most prevalent being the shooting of downed pilots whilst on their parachutes by the German fighter pilots. This proved to be the German's undoing from a `chivalrous' war point of view to the hatred that every Polish fighter pilot now felt towards them. It was indeed true that the Polish fighter pilot had the opposite view of their RAF counterparts, namely that they viewed the death of the enemy pilot and crew to be paramount, not just shooting down the enemy plane. The RAF pilots were often recorded saying that their view was they never really thought of it as a human being in the plane, but the Poles definitely did! as previously stated above, the Poles would rather ram the enemy fighter than let him get away. Witold and the other Polish pilots altered the convergence range of their `pop' guns down to 75 - 100 yds which was against RAF doctrine of the time to ensure the kill, especially with the weak firepower of the Hurricane and Spitfire so they closed the range to maximize the impact of the .303's. Many Polish pilots, Witold and Gladych included did not count the kill unless the pilot was dead...!!

This may seem harsh to many who read this or have heard of this in the past but you need to put yourself in their shoes, they were fighting for their freedom, the destruction of the occupier of their homeland and also they were fighting for the freedom of the country that had taken them in, namely England. No Polish serviceman would have tolerated for one second, any German landing on English soil.

The USAAF pilots of the 56th FG that flew alongside Witold and Gladych had never experienced the ferociousness of attitude towards the German foe they were fighting against, but soon came to accept and realize why these two combat veterans flew with the determination they did. The only pilot of the 56th FG who experienced anything like this was Francis `Gabby' Gabreski when he flew with 315 (Polish) squadron for a short period prior to the USAAF coming to England en-mass with their bomber and fighter squadrons and his return to the U.S to take command of the 61st fighter squadron of the 56th fighter group. He experienced first hand flying with the Poles and how they felt about the `Niemcy' they flew against.