stiknruda
5th Apr 2004, 18:30
A lovely lady, who keeps a horse at mine mentioned several months ago over the stable door, that she was related to a Sqn Ldr Pietrzak.
This evening she dropped off a 3 page document written by him that tells the story of the 500th and 501st German aircraft to be shot down during WWII.
Pietrzak shot down the 500th and his 306 Squadron mate, Langhamer, took care of the 501st. Both were later decorated by the Polish President, Raczkiewicz.
It does make fascinating reading and he is very humble about the ensuing accolades that it brought from the Polish and the morale that it evidently gave Polish fliers. Unless it is freely available, I shall seek permission to reproduce it here.
The bravery and courage of others always amazes me.
Stik
New F/O
6th Apr 2004, 14:10
That is very valuable stuff !
If you want to see the faces go to : http://www.geocities.com/Mohikanie/306/306_faces.html
Here is the link to the index page for the web site.
http://www.geocities.com/skrzydla/
What do you intend to do with the documents ?
All the best,
New F/O
stiknruda
7th Feb 2005, 19:14
So it has taken me 10 months!
Appended is his account as I received it, I understand that it was written just after the event in Polish and sometime later translated by a Pole into English.
Stik
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The 500th
From early morning that day I have noticed that “Herring” (Kazio Rutkowski, OC 306 Sqn) felt somewhat uneasy. The atmosphere was rather tense. I could feel it particularly in those moments when, in the cramped dispersal hut, we occasionally got closer to each other.
Eventually, Kazio beckoned at me and we went outside.
“I don’t know how to tell you” Kazio started, “but you have been in the squadron from its formation, you have an impressive number of combat sorties, and you have not been rested yet.”
“Don’t bother with further explanations,” I interrupted him, “let me guess what’s the matter - you are probably sending me as an Air Attaché to the Vatican City, right?” I asked aggressively.
“Oh no, not to Vatican. To Boscombe Down, where you’ll help in test flying of the new Spitfire XII.” The answer was so unexpected, I had difficulty putting my thoughts together for a while.
But before I managed to explode in a speech full of bitterness and complaints about the injustice, Kazio continued to describe this posting in the most favourable light.
“Listen,” he went on, “they need a pilot with a lot of experience, so there is no better choice; besides, you will avoid being posted to an O.T.U. (Operational Training Unit), and according to what I have heard today, you’re the first in line.”
“As you can see,” Kazio went on, “we are having a period of much reduced activity, the Germans take it easy, and I doubt seriously if the situation is going to improve before a few months will pass.”
“And then, this is a posting where in a month or two you can be replaced by someone if you don’t like the job”.
There was such a sincerity and decency in Kazio’s face, he showed so much care and understanding, that any objections on my part would be mean.
But I did extort a promise that I could really count on being replaced. Then I thanked Kazio for his tact and fellowship.
In mid-November 1942 I reported to the commander of my new unit, known as the I.F.D.F (Intensive Flying Development Flight) R.A.F. Boscombe Down, near Salisbury.
The unit was commanded by Sqn/Ldr Bradley DSO from the Bomber Command.
He was a curious and very interesting character. He had recently flown Whitleys on operations. He has particularly distinguished himself by returning from a mission with his crew partly dead and partly wounded when, firing back at German night fighters from the gunner posts, managed to land safely in U.K.
The Flight had two Spitfire XIIs, and two Fleet Air Arm Barracudas (torpedo aircraft), the latter test flown by Fleet Air Arm pilots, including Mike Lithgow, who would later become a famous test pilot.
A young, inexperienced F/O from Fighter Command, and myself, were entrusted the Spitfire XIIs. Our job was to try the engine, Packard “Merlin” later used in our Mustangs. [In fact Rolls-Royce Grffon engine.] We flew intensive, long flights under special non-standard conditions, carefully noting down instrument readings (temperatures, pressures, consumption of fuel, oil, etc.). We required the engine to develop more in a shorter time and under more difficult conditions. By the non-standard engine use we tried to find out its weak points.
Our work was supposed to produce complete data on the engine performance in any conceivable situation.
Bad weather seldom resulted in no-flying days in our trials. I owe a lot to the Salisbury Cathedral, when only its tall steeple rising above the clouds allowed me to find my aerodrome.
A test pilot never asks how to get back home. Needless to say, I was a frequent visitor to Northolt. The Spitfire XII raised much curiosity among our pilots, and I was generous in my praise of the aeroplane.
Days flashed rapidly. The work ceased to be a novelty. There was little left to prove completely that the Packard Merlin engine was excellent. At least I had no doubt about that.
During the time off test flying I instructed Mike Lithgow in aerobatics.
One of the privileges of a test pilot at Boscombe Down was the freedom to fly, even at a very low level.
I have always had a weakness for showing off in aerobatic displays, and flying an aeroplane like the Spitfire XII, with no height limit over the airfield, I often let off steam in demonstrations of our Polish flying school aerobatic displays.
When visiting Northolt I gradually prepared my successor for the test pilot posting. He was a flyer of exceptional abilities, very interested in the theory of flight, outstanding mathematician, painter, musician, and orator: the popular youngster, Wladek Potocki. It is certainly rare to find a man of so many talents that complement each other in such a subtle way. Already at that time Wladek Potocki was an outstanding pilot of no. 306 Sqn.
In the second week of December 1942, with Kazio Rutkowski’s approval, Wladek Potocki went to Boscombe Down, and I returned to no. 306 at Northolt.
After the war Wladek Potocki graduated from the Empire Test Pilots School, and during his work at Farnborough he was responsible for trials of the famous Hunter and Vulcan aircraft. He replaced the other famous Polish test pilot, Janusz Zurakowski, who was employed by Avro Canada. [Potocki subsequently joined Zurakowski in Canada.]
It was nice to be back in the family. Indeed, under our conditions of that time it is hard not to call the squadron our family. Some of us have maintained friendly relations with English families, but these bonds were not as strong as those among us.
Our bonds were made over time and grew continuously tighter by things that only happen if you live through difficulties and dangers of war together.
Such friendship will stand all tests.
If someone should watch the life of a fighter squadron from aside, they would certainly notice the light-hearted atmosphere that was almost always among us. It was not specially nursed or artificial. It was there because we felt our conscience was clean: we were fighting for our homeland’s freedom, we were self-confident and sure that we could count on our entire team.
In the second half of December 1942 bad weather has limited the combat activity to only a few missions.
The Germans would not show up, so we started to wonder about the reasons for this lack of enthusiasm on their part.
The last day of December 1942 did not differ from previous ones, other than the year was ending. New Year’s Eve! A celebration was being prepared at the “Orchard” (our popular restaurant in Ruislip, Middx).
That morning Kazio said we might have a fly to get some fresh air, provided the weather improv~. We took this without enthusiasm, it was hard to expect anything extraordinary.
During morning hours huge masses of lead-like clouds started to huddle together, rise, forming an irregular base. Here and there great dirty rags hung above the ground, while a mile apart, lifted by an invisible force, they formed fantastic shapes, making gaps, ravines and labyrinths.
The decision was taken. Early lunch for no. 306. Take-off at 13.00. Mission known as the “Rodeo” (high altitude fighter sweep over a relatively small area at Abbeville).
Abbeville was a major base of German fighters and our mission was to cause a reaction similar to stirring a wasp nest.
If one should expect an encounter, this was the right area to look for it.
The squadron, led with skill by Kazio Rutkowski, climbed up cutting through smaller cloud groups, avoiding the huge piled up cumuluses. Every now and then the ground would blink far below.
As we approached the Channel, gaps were becoming denser. Eventually, down below and to the east, we saw Selsey Bill, our departure point. Excellent navigation, especially under these conditions.
Kazio decided to stay at the altitude (some 24,000 feet). The clouds were much scarcer over the Channel, but one could see that over France they constituted a greater mass, their tops reaching 30,000 feet. We approached these tops quickly, and in a few minutes we entered a wide ravine with steep curling walls.
The eastern side, lit by the midday sun that tried to break through the uniform grey layer of cirrostratus, contrasted dramatically with the opposite side, hidden in a deep shadow, almost dark blue.
How immaterial we seemed, compared to these giant creations of nature. The game of hunter-or-hunted commenced. The ravine was getting narrower, then suddenly the left wall broke, as if opening huge doors to a wide mountain clearing scattered with silver rocks of cumuluses.
A few seconds have passed from the port turn by which the squadron entered this clearing, when a group of FockeWulfs emerged from a cumulus below, heading in the opposite direction, some 2,000 feet lower, no more than half a mile to our starboard.
I was on the starboard side of the squadron, thus closest — what an opportunity. I announced “Focke-Wulfs 3 o’clock” on the radio, and dived in a slight starboard turn on the nearest German.
Having the squadron behind me, I did not hurry so as not to commit an error.
I came in very close. One burst was enough. The Focke-Wulf entered a port spiral, bursting in flames, and trailing a streak of black smoke. I followed it for a few seconds. Before it disappeared, lower it was nothing but a mass of flames.
I looked around. I was alone. Trying to find the squadron, or just a part of it, was unthinkable in these conditions.
I reported to Kazio the course of my combat, and that I was going home.
I landed at Northolt a few minutes before the rest of the squadron.
Soon the dispersal was filled with pilots, and with exchanged remarks, impressions, congratulations.
Zdzich Langhamer has also downed a Focke-Wulf, later in the attack.
Our Intelligence Officer, Zdzislaw Pirszel, came to the dispersal extremely excited.
“Do you know you’ve downed the 500th?” he cried, embracing me. The victory of our squadron was known here from listening to our Operations Room at no. 11 Group Fighter Command.
Thus, fate had it that no. 306 squadron downed the 500th and 50 1st German aircraft that afternoon.
This was very important for the Polish cause.
500 aircraft destroyed: a serious loss for the Germans. What was more, we have proved to the world the lie of German propaganda, who maintained that the Polish Air Force had been destroyed in 1939.
The Polish Air Force enjoyed common appreciation in Britain. Nevertheless, publicising the enormous input of our air force has stressed the importance of the Polish forces among the allies.
My personal impressions have only started to take shape after this storm of congratulations and hugs was over, after I have spent the evening with my friends. In fact, because I had been absent from the squadron for several weeks, I did not realise that downing the 500th German was imminent.
Each case of an enemy shot down was a personal success, a prize for our efforts, glory for us and the squadron. But shooting down such an important, jubilee, enemy aeroplane has put me in a most unusual situation. By a twist of fate I have become the centre of interest.
Together with Zdzich Langhamer, we were decorated by President Raczkiewicz. I also received a beautiful cigarette case from Gen. Sikorski, the C-in-C, and a gorget of Our Lady of Czqstochowa from the readers of”Skrzydla” Polish Air Force weekly.
H. Pietrzak