menu

 

"DEAD CALM"

by Piotr Górka

Mosquito Mk.VIs of Flight B, 307 Squadron Polish Air Force flying low over Cornwalle

  L/E 550 Limited Edition signed & numbered prints    185 € plus postage
  Each of these editions are individuall numbered
  Overall print size: 25 1/4" wide  17 3/4" high  65 x 44.5 cm
  Image size: 20 3/4" wide  13 1/3" high  53 x 34 cm

  signed by the artist and
  Wing Commander ANDRZEJEWSKI STANISLAW, DFM , V.M. K.W.**
  Warrant Officer STEINKE LUDWIK V.M.. K.W.*
  Flight Lieutenant MALINSKI JAN , K.W.**
  BUCHOWIECKI ZDZISLAW

 "Lwow Eagle Owls"

 

               The first  Polish night fighter squadron was formed in August 1940, equipped with  Defiant two-seaters, The years of glory of the  "Lwow Eagle Owls", as No. 307 Squadron became known, were connected with the city of Exeter, where the unit was based for a major part of its existence, and which had the same motto as the city of Lwow: "Semper Fidelis" - "Ever faithful". First success against Luftwaffe night bombers did not come until March 1941. Conversion to twin-engined Beaufighters in the second half of 1941 resulted in a series of crasheds and accidents, but also in significant successes. Outstanding crews included Sgt Michal Turzanski - Sgt Henryk Ostrowski and Sgt Wladyslaw Illaszewicz - P/O Zbyszko Lissowski. Night flying required special skills from the pilots, but the night fighter¹s crew of two relied heavily on the radio-navigator (the operator of the on-board radar apparatus). As the engineering capability evolved, more and more effective devices with greater range of operation were introduced in newer types of aircraft. The radio-navigator¹s comfort improved. In early 1943 he has moved from the compartment in the rear of Beufighter to the wide cocpit of the fast Mosquito. Seated side-by-side with the pilot he had an excellent view of the situation not just during combat, but throughout the ever longer missions. Absence of the enemy over Britain forced them to look for targets by day, far out over the North Sea or the Bay of Biscay. At the end of 1943 the "Owls" returned to night fighter duties, flying patrols over Britain and offensive missions over occupied Europe. Such sorties were flown until the end of the war, and 1944 saw a new objective - the V1.

 

Biscay

             The Bay of Biscay was the arena of the fiercest aerial battles related to anti-U-boat operations. German warships, and above all their submarines, used ports in Western France, and it was via the Bay of Biscay that they sailed to the Atlantic. That was why large numbers of Royal Navy ships and Coastal Command aircraft were despatched to the area to hunt the U-boats as they left their harbours and as they returned. Proximity of the French coast meant that patrol aircraft were under threat from German long range fighters, so the RAF undertook patrols by own long range fighters: Bristol Beaufighters and Havilland Mosquitoes. Reconnaissance pilots were the first Polish airmen engaged in this campaign, as they flew to photograph ports in this part of France from 1940 on. Soon afterwards bomber squadrons were directed to attack these ports and to lay mines on their approaches. In the summer 1942 No. 304 Squadron commenced patrols over the Bay of Biscay in search of U-boats. From the moment it converted to specjalised anti-submarine Wellington variants in the summer 1943, No. 304 Sqn was based mainly at airfields in Cornwall (Davidsow Moor, Predannack, St Eval), conveniently located as starting points for operations over the Biscay. In the spring of 1943 a detachment of No. 307 Sqn was employed in these operations, and in the summer the entire squadron moved to Predannack in Cornwall. From there Polish Mosquitoes patrolled the Bay of Biscay. Durin the period they had some enconters with German Junkers 88s, and also with German patrol aircraft.