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[5] Although No. 316 Sqn left the
Northolt Wing in September 1943,
W/Cdr Gabszewicz retained the codes
SZ-G (and No. 316 Sqn badge) on his
personal aircraft until 1945. Spitfire
LF.IX NH342 was one of these, delivered about D-Day to the Polish Wing at
Chailey and used by G/Cpt Gabszewicz
until mid-October 1944.
NH342 initially wore full D-Day
stripes, so the No. 316 Sqn badge could
not be applied in the traditional location aft of the cockpit and was applied
under the windscreen. Gabszewicz’s
boxing dog was also painted on this
aeroplane. The note in Polish inside the
„S” read “WIPE YOUR SHOES”, and
was also seen on other Spitfires of the
wing (compare p. 15). The crowbar in
the door is unpainted, and the warning
note (presumably red) is in typical Castle Bromwich Aeroplane Factory style,
vertically in the middle of the door. The
pilot’s seat is in the foreground. Note
the extremely worn appearance of the
invasion stripes in late summer 1944.
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[4] Spitfire LF.IX NH342 SZ-G of the OC No. 131 Wing, G/Cpt
A. K. Gabszewicz, summer-autumn 1944
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[12] Spitfire F.IX MH869 WX-R, No. 302 Squadron, Northolt, January 1944.
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[11] Another photo of Spitfire F.IX MH869 WX-R believd taken by a crew member from Boeing B-17G-1-BO no. 42-31034 SC-G ‘Bonnie Donnie’ of the 613rd BS 401st BG
8th AF during the raid on Tours airfield on 5 January 1944 when the fighter was flown by Sgt Sergiusz Maciejewski (compare p. 6). The photo shows to advantage the standard layout of markings on No.
131 Wing Spitfires throughout 1944-1946, with the squadron code under the cockpit, the aircraft letter aft of the roundel, and the Polish national marking (red-and-white square plus ‘POLAND’ stencilled
below) underneath the exhaust stubs. Note the absence of squadron badge under the windscreen.
Polish Wings
Polish Wings
[52-53] A party at Chailey to
celebrate No. 308 Squadron Day
on 24 June 1944. Spitfire LF.IXs
ZF-T (believed ML316) and
ZF-P (NH186) featured the regulation set of D-Day markings.
Although in photo [53] it seems
that on ZF-P the white bands are
wider than the black ones, this
is only due to the out-of-focus
blur. On this aircraft the 18 inch
Sky band is visible aft of the
D-Day markings, and the codes
have been overpainted with the
invasion stripes which obscured
the rear half of the ‘Z’. The
aircraft letter ‘P’ was re-applied
on the black band. On ZF-T the
invasion bands were applied 18
inches further back, obliterating
the Sky band, and a ‘window’
was left for the aircraft letter.
Beer casks had more to do with
Spitfires than featuring in the
foreground of photo [53]…
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[54-55] To ensure essential
supplies for the field bar, ‘beer
bombs’ were invented: typical
casks were fitted with streamlined tips to give them a more
aerodynamically refined form
and such assemblies were transported on bomb carrier attachments.
[56] According to some accounts,
standard external fuel tanks
(such as these ‘torpedo’ tanks
stored at an airfield awaiting
use) were also sometimes used to
ferry drinkable liquids to forward
airfields on the continent.
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[60] Spitfire LF.IX MJ467 ZF-K, No. 308 Squadron, Ford/Plumetot, July-August 1944
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[59] Another scene featuring Spitfire LF.IX MJ467 ZF-K and numerous ground crew members during summer 1944, in this case testing guns.
This view reveals the complex curvature of the bottom surface in the wing-fuselage joint area.
Polish Wings
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Polish Wings
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[76-78] Three photos of Spitfire LF.IX MK984
ZF-R taken at the very end of 1944 by Jerzy
Główczewski (or with his camera). Note that
the bomb symbols were retained, but the name
‘Lala’ was obliterated. Also the invasion bands
on the fuselage under side were overpainted.
[76] Left to right: F/Sgt Józef Stanowski, F/Sgt
Zygmunt Soszyński and Sgt Stanisław Breyner.
[77] Sgt Jerzy Główczewski. He became a well
known architect after the war. His memories
were published in 2007 in the book ‘The Accidental Immigrant’.
[78] F/Sgt Józef Stanowski in the cockpit, preparing for a sortie in MK984.
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[143] Spitfire F.IX MH674 RF-A, No. 303 Squadron, Coltishall, winter 1944/1945.
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Polish Wings
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Polish Wings
Polish Spitfire IX losses 1944-1945
14.01.44
14.02.44
18.05.44
21.05.44
No. 308 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 308 Sqn
Spitfire F.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
MH927
MH870
ML275
ML215
ZF-C(?)
(?)
JH-B
ZF-R
† (c)
PoW (c-a)
† (c)
† (c)
F/Lt Józef Jeka
F/Lt Jan Pentz
F/Lt Bolesław Palej
F/Sgt Edwin Malinowski
W/O Eustachy Łucyszyn
F/Sgt Longin Wiński
F/Sgt Jerzy Szadkowski
F/Sgt Edwin Malinowski
F/Sgt Władysław Pawłowski
W/O Józef Ziendalski
F/O Henryk Borkowski
F/Lt Stanisław Wandzilak
S/Ldr Władysław Gnyś*
F/Lt Józef Stasik
W/O Kazimierz Mitura
F/O Jerzy Mazurkiewicz
W/O Ryszard Lewczyński
F/Sgt Edward Łakomy
F/Sgt Stanisław Dworski
Sgt Kazimierz Stankiewicz*
F/Lt Eugeniusz Ebenrytter*
F/O Włodzimierz Link
F/Lt Edmund Krzemiński
F/Lt Kazimierz Budzik
Sgt Jan Wierchowicz
F/O Wacław Chojnacki
F/Lt Kazimierz Budzik
F/Lt Czesław Mroczyk
Sgt Aleksander Wierzejski
F/O Daniel Napiórkowski
P/O Leon Jan Wątorowski
F/O Franciszek Kuroczycki
F/O Wacław Chojnacki
F/Lt Tadeusz Powierza
Sgt Józef Hajduk
F/Sgt Stanisław Breyner
F/Lt Sergiusz Szpakowicz
Sgt Klemens Prusak
W/Cdr Jan Falkowski*
P/O Andrzej Dromlewicz
F/Sgt Zdzisław Sławski
Sgt Józef Prętkowski
F/O Mieczysław Sawicki
F/Lt Lesław Szczerbiński
F/O Zdzisław Kędzior
21.05.44
28.05.44
7.06.44
12.06.44
19.06.44
20.06.44
31.07.44
8.08.44
11.08.44
14.08.44
18.08.44
26.08.44
27.08.44
31.08.44
31.08.44
11.09.44
16.09.44
16.09.44
18.09.44
13.10.44
14.10.44
18.10.44
29.10.44
29.10.44
1.11.44
5.11.44
6.11.44
8.11.44
6.12.44
7.12.44
8.12.44
16.12.44
1.01.45
1.01.45
20.01.45
11.02.45
25.02.45
27.02.45
9.03.45
15.03.45
10.04.45
12.04.45
23.04.45
4.05.45
8.09.45
No. 308 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 302 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 302 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 302 Sqn
No. 303 Sqn
No. 308 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 303 Sqn
No. 308 Sqn
No. 308 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 303 Sqn
No. 303 Sqn
No. 302 Sqn
No. 308 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 308 Sqn
No. 303 Sqn
No. 308 Sqn
No. 308 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 308 Sqn
No. 302 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 5 Refresher Flying Unit
No. 308 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 302 Sqn
No. 308 Sqn
No. 303 Sqn
No. 303 Sqn
3rd Wing
No. 308 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 318 Sqn
No. 317 Sqn
No. 318 Sqn
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire F.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire F.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire F.IX
Spitfire F.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire F.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire F.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire F.IX
Spitfire F.IX
Spitfire F.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire F.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
Spitfire LF.IX
ML254
MJ934
ML310
ML130
ML257
ML198
MJ945
NH191
ML192
NH608
EN527
PL279
NH365
MH822
ML410
NH186
ML128(?)
MK943(?)
MH320
BS534
ML358
MJ399
MJ551
NH211
MH910
MJ947
NH339
MK963
ML170
MK370
NH492
EN352
MJ281
MK190
MK177
MH451
EN367
MA814
BS281
MJ787
ML314
ML421
MH702
MJ138
TA864
ZF-V(?)
JH-N
JH-J
JH-C
WX-N
JH-T
WX-B
JH-M
JH-P
WX-Z(?)
RF-X
ZF-Z
JH-A
RF-R
ZF-E
ZF-P
JH-W
JH-M
RF-N
RF-Y
WX-H
ZF-D
JH-A
ZF-A
RF-G
ZF-S
ZF-A
JH-S
ZF-V(?)
WX-H
(?)
(?)
ZF-P
JH-P
(?)
ZF-B
RF-R
RF-Q
RF-C
ZF-K
JH-S
JH-V
LW-B
JH-U
LW-L
ev. (c)
PoW (c)
PoW (c)
ev. (a)
ev. (c)
f.l.a.(a)
PoW (c)
ev. (c)
† (c)
f.l.a. (c)
† (c-a)
ev. (c)
PoW (c)
† (c)
f.l.a. (c)
ev. (c)
† (c)
ev. (c)
† (c)
PoW (a)
PoW (c)
f.l.a. (c)
† (c)
f.l.a. (c)
† (c)
f.l.a. (c)
f.l.a. (c)
f.l.a. (c)
† (c-a)
† (c)
† (a)
† (a)
† (c)
† (c)
† (c)
† (c-a)
† (c)
† (a)
PoW (c)
PoW (c)
f.l.a. (c)
† (c)
ev. (c)
† (c)
† (a)
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F/Lt Józef Piotrowski
F/Sgt Bolesław Wejman
F/O Mieczysław Adamek
F/Lt Jan Kazimierz Kurowski
Dates are those of failure to return or of the accident.
† - killed
ev. - evaded capture in enemy-held territory
f.l.a. - downed in front-line area and contacted Allied forces
PoW - prisoner of war (* - successful escaper)
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(a) - accident during non-combat flight
(c-a) - accident during combat mission
(c) - shot down in combat
(?) serial or code unknown or uncertain
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[184-185] Hanna Szymankiewicz on the wing of Spitfire MBD. To the right of her note the circular cover of the intercooler
filler, located in typical Mk IX position.
[186] A happy couple, Hanna and Jerzy Szymankiewicz, by
the aeroplane of Marian Duryasz. The photo was taken with
a filter that enhanced warm hues which affected the appearance of colours, especially the yellow roundel outline looks
very dark.
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