AAR - BrisWingsofGlory WGS Campaign 1, Mission 5 - Polish Air Force 1939-45
France 1940 Mission 5 Defensive Patrol Mulhouse 02/05/1940
After their perilous flight from Poland to France and many weeks of training the Polish airmen qualified as pilots of the Armee del'Air. While some of their number were sent to form an all Polish squadron and others to prepare for an expedition to Finland the surviving members of the 121 Eskadra Mysliwska were posted to Grouppe de Chasse II/7 based at Luxeuil-les-Bains in Burgundy to form one of many 'Patrouille Polonaise' assigned to French squadrons all across the country.
Podporucznik Władysław Gnyś, now commissioned a Sous-Lieutenant in the French Air Force was appointed flight commander, with podporucznik/Sous Lieutenants Tadeusz Nowak and Tadeusz Kowalewski as his element leaders. Three more pilots originally from the old days in Krakow starszy sierżant/Sergent-Chef Tadeusz Arabski, chorazy/Adjudant Władysław Chciuk and sierżant/Sergent Leopold Flanek were also assigned as wingmen. GCII/7 was equipped the Morane-Saulnier MS.406C-1 fighter, of which three had been assigned to the Polish Flight. Compared with the PZL P.11c they had flown in Poland the Morane was much faster and better armed, with two machine guns and a single 20mm cannon. At the beginning of May 1940 S-Lt. Gnyś and his men were cleared to fly operations. On 2 May 1940 three Moranes took off from Luxeuil flown by S/Lt.'s Gnyś (White 15), Nowak (White 7) and Kowalewski (White 6).
The lads gathered at Emperor's Legions to play a couple more Polish missions. From left to right Dan (forum member Slexlaw who volunteered to fly OPFOR with me) and Polish campaigners Wayne (forum member whiskysierra) flying his first campaign sortie, a very excited Rod and a very relaxed Paul.
Coming in low from the east at 4000 metres, a Heinkel He-111P-4 (A1+DA) (flown by Dan) conducts an armed reconnaissance towards the French border town of Mulhouse. The Heinkel was only carrying a half load of bombs so as not to reduce its speed.
From the south west the Polish patrol enters the battle area at 5000 metres with Sous Lieutenant Gnyś leading his flight, Nowak on his left and Kowalewski on his right.
Spotting the Luftwaffe bomber the Poles bank left to intercept - except Nowak who appears not have noticed the bomber yet! The German has seen the Moranes alright and turns into the likely attack.
The Poles close on their quarry, excited to be back in combat for the first time in almost eight months.
Wayne, Rod and Paul consider their next moves.....
..... as the Moranes and the Heinkel close to firing range. S-Lt. Władysław Gnyś curses as he overshoots the bomber and gets a burst from the dorsal gunner. S-Lt. Kowalewski has better luck timing his attack perfectly. He opens fire with an altitude advantage and is pleased to see the his cannon shells explode over the wing and across the port engine. Despite the damage the Luftwaffe machine does not seem to suffer any loss of power (Dan drew 1 point of engine damage).
As Gnyś and Kowalewski come around Nowak turns in but also mistimes his approach and overshoots his target.
The Heinkel dives to 3000 metres to begin his bombing run.
As three Poles narrowly avert a disastrous collision the Heinkel opens his bomb-bay doors.....
....and drops his 'eggs'.
The bombardier's aim is off however as 1000kg of bombs land in fields beyond the town, damaging a farm house.
Very pleased with themselves for spoiling the German bomber's run, the Poles set out to pursue the Heinkel with S-Lt. Kowalewski's 'White 6' in the vanguard.
Kowalewski makes up for missing out on any combats over Poland by blasting the Heinkel with cannon and machine gun fire in a beam attack.
Timing his turn just right Kowalewski banks with the German and fires another burst which peppers the fuselage.
The wily Pole then passes over the bomber too close for the gunner to take a shot.
Getting desperate to shake the persistent Morane the German pilot Leutnant Johann Dreher side slips the bomber to starboard to give his gunners Unteroffizier Heinrich Klinke and Obergrefreiter Josef Bier clear lines of fire. Streams of tracer arc towards the Morane from the dorsal and the port waist guns, some striking the French fighter while Tadeusz Kowalewski replies with another burst of cannon fire.
Pressing his attack despite the defensive fire from the Heinkel, Kowalewski's next burst again strikes the bomber's fuselage...
....before another shreds the Heinkel's rudder.
His controls unresponsive Ltn. Dreher's Heinkel is a sitting duck as S-Lt. Kowalewski delivers the coupe-de-grace with a hail of cannon and machine gun fire. Flying too low for all the crew to safely bail out Dreher calls to his men to brace for impact as the Heinkel crashes in a Burgundian field. Pilot Ltn. Johann Dreher and dorsal gunner Unteroffizier Heinrich Klinke are wounded in the crash, but the other three crewmen escape injury. All five Germans are immediately made prisoners of war by local troops.
The Polish flight reforms to return to Luxeuil. Back at base Kowalewski's ground crew point out a number of bullet holes in 'White 6'. The damage takes four days to repair.
Władysław Gnyś' 'White 15' had sustained minor damage and was ready for operations within 48 hours. Sous Lieutenant Nowak was the darling of the squadron's mechanics bringing 'White 7' back without a scratch - and without even dirtying his guns!
As repairs were made to their Moranes the pilots took a car to Mulhouse to inspect the downed bomber. The hundreds of holes in the enemy machine were certainly a testimony to the punishment Kowalewski had delivered, and as a souvenir he took part of the perforated rudder. That night the Polish pilots celebrated their first victory over the Luftwaffe, the first of many more they would need to claim if they were ever to liberate their homeland.
Wayne flew a great mission this morning and broke the Polish drought of victories. We had time to run another mission - but the AAR for that one will have to wait for another day.
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Originally Posted by gully_raker
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