Polish 7th Air Escadrille - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Polish 7th Air Escadrille , better known as the Kościuszko Squadron, was one of the units of the Polish Air Force

Polish Air Force

The Polish Air Force is the military Air Force wing of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej...

during the Polish-Soviet War

Polish-Soviet War

The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...

of 1919-1921. Formed in late 1918, it was re-formed in late 1919 from US volunteers. It was one of most active Polish squadrons in the war.

Operational history

The unit was formed when Poland regained independence, on 7 November 1918 in Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

, as the 3rd Air Escadrille, utilizing mostly bomber

Bomber

A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...

and reconnaissance aircraft

Reconnaissance aircraft

A reconnaissance aircraft is a manned military aircraft designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance.-History:The majority of World War I aircraft were reconnaissance designs...

left by Austro-Hungarian forces. On 25 November 1918 it was moved to Lwów (current Lviv), where it took active part in fighting of the Polish-Ukrainian War

Polish-Ukrainian War

The Polish–Ukrainian War of 1918 and 1919 was a conflict between the forces of the Second Polish Republic and West Ukrainian People's Republic for the control over Eastern Galicia after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.-Background:...

until June 1919. On 21 December 1918, after unification of Polish air units' names, its name was changed to the 7th Air Escadrille. It was commanded by Jerzy Boreysza, from April 1919 by Stefan Stec

Stefan Stec

Stefan Stanisław Stec was a Polish aviator and military pilot, one of the pioneers of the Polish aviation. He is also credited as the designer of the Polish Air Force's insignia, the checkerboard....

. Among pilots was World War I Ace

Flying ace

A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

Mieczysław Garsztka. Number of aircraft was variable, in May 1919 it possessed 3 fighters Fokker D.VIII

Fokker D.VIII

-See also:-References:* Weyl, A.R. Fokker: The Creative Years. 1988. ISBN 0-851778-17-8....

(E.V), 3 reconnaissance Hansa-Brandenburg C.I and 1 LVG C.V. In June 1919 the escadrille was converted into fighter unit, then in September it was withdrawn into reserve. In October 1919 the commander became Ludomił Rayski.

In late 1919 eight American volunteers, including Major Cedric Fauntleroy

Cedric Fauntleroy

Cedric Fauntleroy was an American pilot who in 1919 volunteered to serve in the Polish Air Force during the Polish-Bolshevik War. Fauntleroy was an air combat veteran of the Western Front in World War I...

and Captain Merian C. Cooper

Merian C. Cooper

Merian Caldwell Cooper was an American aviator, United States Air Force and Polish Air Force officer, adventurer, screenwriter, and film director and producer. His most famous film was the 1933 movie King Kong.-Early life:...

, arrived in Poland from France where in September 1919 they had been officially named the Kościuszko Squadron (after the Polish American hero Tadeusz Kościuszko

Tadeusz Kosciuszko

Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko was a Polish–Lithuanian and American general and military leader during the Kościuszko Uprising. He is a national hero of Poland, Lithuania, the United States and Belarus...

) with Major Fauntleroy as its commander. After reaching Poland the men from Kościuszko Squadron joined the 7th Squadron. More pilots arrived during the following weeks - in all, there served 21 American pilots, along with several Polish pilots, including Ludwik Idzikowski

Ludwik Idzikowski

Ludwik Idzikowski was a Polish military aviator. He died during a transatlantic flight trial.-Early life and service:Ludwik Idzikowski was born in Warsaw. He started mining studies in Liege, Belgium....

, the ground crew was all Polish. In November 1919 Major Fauntleroy took the command and on 31 December 1919 the escadrille took the name Kościuszko Squadron. Meanwhile the Polish Air Force underwent reorganization. Even though most volunteers asked to be sent to the frontlines as soon as possible, the Polish high command delayed their deployment in view of the coming Polish offensive.

The Kościuszko Squadron was the first air squadron to use a railway train as a mobile flying base with specially designed railroad cars that could transport their aircraft as the front moved and developed. The train also included the squadron's operational headquarters, aircraft spares and repair workshops and living quarters.

The Kościuszko Squadron was first used in the Kiev Offensive in April 1920, rebasing from Lwów to Połonne

Polonne

Polonne is a city on the Khomora River in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Polonskyi Raion , and is located at around .The current estimated population is around 23,211 ....

. Its aircraft were Albatros D.III

Albatros D.III

The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service and the Austro-Hungarian Air Service during World War I. The D.III was flown by many top German aces, including Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, Erich Löwenhardt, Kurt Wolff, and Karl Emil Schäfer...

(Oef) fighters, supplemented by Ansaldo A.1 Balilla

Ansaldo A.1 Balilla

-See also:...

. Since there were no air encounters, primary missions became reconnaissance and ground attack. Most of the Squadron's flights were directed against Semyon Budionny's First Cavalry Army. The Squadron developed a tactic of low-altitude machine-gun strafing runs. Polish land commanders highly valued the contribution of the Kościuszko Squadron. General Puchucki of the 13th Infantry Division wrote in a report: "The American pilots, though exhausted, fight tenaciously. During the last offensive, their commander attacked enemy formations from the rear, raining machine-gun bullets down on their heads. Without the American pilots' help, we would long ago have been done for."

Merian Cooper was shot down but survived. Budionny had put half a million rubles on Captain Cooper's head, but when he was caught by the Cossack

Cossack

Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...

s he managed to convince them that he was a corporal. A few months later he escaped from a POW camp near Moscow to Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

.

In August 1920 the Kościuszko Squadron took part in the defense of Lwów, and after the Battle of Warsaw

Battle of Warsaw (1920)

The Battle of Warsaw sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula, was the decisive battle of the Polish–Soviet War. That war began soon after the end of World War I in 1918 and lasted until the Treaty of Riga resulted in the end of the hostilities between Poland and Russia in 1921.The...

it participated in the Battle of Komarów

Battle of Komarów

The Battle of Komarów was one of the most important battles of the Polish-Bolshevik War. It took place on August 31, 1920, near the village of Komarowo near Zamość...

which crippled Budionny's cavalry. Most active days were August 16 and 17, when Escadrille, reduced to 5 uninjured pilots, fulfilled 18 ground attack missions each day.

After the Polish-Soviet War, in 1925 the 7th Kościuszko Squadron was reorganized as the 121st Fighter Squadron, eventually renamed as the Polish 111th Fighter Escadrille

Polish 111th Fighter Escadrille

The 111th Fighter Escadrille of the Polish Air Force was one of the fighter units of the Polish Army. Created in 1921, immediately after the end of the Polish-Soviet War, the unit inherited the traditions of the famous war-time Polish 7th Air Escadrille , in which both Polish and American...

, each bearing the "Kościuszko" eponym. The 111th Squadron fought in the Invasion of Poland

Invasion of Poland (1939)

The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...

. Perhaps the most famous successor to the original Kościuszko Squadron would be the World War II No. 303 "Kościuszko" Polish Fighter Squadron (Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki), the most successful fighter squadron in the Battle of Britain

Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...

Squadron statistics

In 1920 the Kościuszko Squadron made over 400 combat flights.

Colonel Cedric E. Fauntleroy and Lt.- Col. Merian C. Cooper received Poland's highest military decoration: the Virtuti Militari

Virtuti Militari

The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...

. Other Kociuszko Squadron recipients of the Virtuti Militari included Major George M. Crawford, Captain Edward C. Corsi, Captain Władysław Konopka, 1st Lieut. Elliot W. Chess, 1st Lieut. Carl H. Clark, 1st Lieut. E. H. Noble, 1st Lieut. H. C. Rorison, 1st Lieut. K. O. Shrewsbury, 1st Lieut. Jerzy A. Weber and 2nd Lieut. A. Senkowski. Mieczyslaw Garsztka

Mieczyslaw Garsztka

Mieczysław Sylwester Garsztka was a Polish pilot, a flying ace of the German air force during World War I.-World War I German service:...

was to be awarded the Virtuti Militari posthumously.

Operational history

Squadron statistics

See also

Further reading