Mission 4 Defensive Patrol Lvov 17-09-1939
The morning of 17 September 1939 brought the final nail in Poland's coffin as troops of the Red Army poured across the country's eastern frontier. Despite brave opposition by the few border guard units left facing the might of the Soviet Union, the Russian advance could not be checked. Within hours orders were received at the 121 Eskadra to evacuate all remaining aircraft to Romania to save them from capture by the Germans or the Russians. The man responsible for planning the move was podporucznik Władysław Gnyś, appointed as commanding officer of the squadron after kapitan Tadeusz Sedzielowski died of wounds on 9 September when his PZL P.11c was shot down by Polish anti-aircraft fire over Warzawa the previous day. Gnyś ordered selected pilots to fly their last four aircraft, with the rest of the aircrew joining the mechanics and other ground staff on an overland trek through Galicia.
Władysław Gnyś flying White 3 selected ppor. Tadeusz Nowak to fly White 2 on his wing. Shortly after take off the Polish flight levelled off at about 4000 metres before heading south towards Romania. No sooner than they had set their bearings Gnyś and Nowak encountered pair of Red Air Force Polikarpov I-16 fighters.
The Poles approached from behind the Russians hoping to bounce their enemy. But the I-16 pilots mladshiy leytenant Fedor Shinkarenko and serzhant Petr Semenenko had also spotted the Polish fighters. They reversed course to make a head on attack.
The two pairs of aircraft approached at a combined speed of more than 600 kilometres per hour with Gnyś and Nowak opening fire at the same time as the Soviet pilots. It was now that luck ran out for Władysław Gnyś. While the Polish fire had no visible effect on the stubby little Red Air Force fighters his PZL was riddled with bullets and sustained critical damage. For the third time in the short campaign Gnyś was forced to bail out, his parachute again saving his skin.
ppor. Tadeusz Nowak looked aghast as his squadron commander's aircraft fell away, but was relieved to see the parachute deploy. Outnumbered two to one and with the Soviet fighters out of position to intercept, Nowak opened the throttle on his tired PZL intent on escaping destruction.
Shinkarenko and Semenenko again executed Immelmanns to reverse course and set off after the fleeing Polish fighter.
Despite their best efforts Nowak succeeded in evading his Soviet opponents, his aircraft having sustained only minor damage. On the ground ppor. Władysław Gnyś released himself from his 'chute and made his way back to the airfield, where later that day he was trucked out with the rest of 121 Eskadra.
The escape of the remnants of the Polish Air Force to Romania was described in one pilots diary:
“It was dusk when we took off. We soon saw marching columns of Soviet troops heading west. The entire region of Lvov was full of fire. The same is true in the area of Buczacz-Zaleszczyki. As darkness fell, and with gasoline running out, the rain began to drizzle. As I flew on I found the damned Germans. We could not land at Sknilow airport so there remained just one way – to the south. The sun went down. What to do? I started to pray! I suddenly remembered that mention of transport aircraft purchased in England, which came to Poland via Romania. If I tried to land in the dark here in the rugged terrain of Malopolska, I would surely crash my machine, so off to Romania! I had almost forgot that I might not have enough gasoline. I knew Chernivtsi from before the war. I jumped over the Dniester, then Prut the next valley. There is the river – turned left and then I was flying over the Prut. After some time on the right I saw lights, there should be Chernivtsi. I was relieved to recognise the illuminated airport. I could not waste time on the approach. I landed heavily without brakes, stick right back. Then the propeller stopped in the middle of the airport - there was not enough gasoline to reach the hangar! I took a deep breath ...".
This campaign mission was the last to be fought in Poland. Paul and Rod were disappointed not to have scored even one kill in the first four missions, and I can't print what Paul said when he drew an explosion chit on the first pass against the I-16s!! For their pilots and other 121 Eskadra comrades arrival in Romania brought a brief period of internment, their PZL fighters soon repainted in Romanian colours. The Mission 4 Log is below:
EPILOGUE
In October 1939 the Poles were released by Romanian authorities and travelled through Yugoslavia to Greece. In Athens the Polish airmen set about arranging their travel to France, spending time in the company of pilots from 216 Squadron of the Hellenic Air Forces. They sailed from the port of Piraeus arriving in Marseilles on 23 October. The pilots were sent to a camp for Polish officers rallying in Salon-de-Provence. Later they were transferred to the Armee del'Air base near Lyon Bron. In Bron the Poles were trained to fly the Morane MS.406 fighter. Training was completed by the end of March 1940, after which the Poles divided up into flights and posted to French Air Force units. By the start of May 1940 ppor. Władysław Gnyś, ppor. Tadeusz Nowak and four other pilots were assigned to Groupe de Chasse II / 7 at Luxeuil-les-Bains. They were soon back in the fight.....
Bookmarks