Polish 9th Fighter Regiment
Encyclopedia
The Polish 9th Fighter Regiment (Polish
: 9 Pułk Lotnictwa Myśliwskiego) was a fighter regiment established in 1944 in Malbork
that was a part of the Air Force of the Polish Army
. The regiment was stationed in Debrzno
until it was disbanded on December 31, 2000 in Zegrze Pomorskie
.
issued an executive order for the formation of the 1st Mixed Air Corps (Polish: 1 Meszany Korpus Lotniczy) in the regions of Kazan
and Kharkiv
. The Corps was created from September 1944 to January 1945.
The Corps included the 3rd Fighter Division, which was formed on January 20, 1944 from the 10th Training Brigade of the 2nd Air Army
. This division consisted of the 11th and 10th Fighter Regiments, which had been previously been stationed in Karłowo, as well as the newly created 9th Fighter Regiment. The division was equipped with fighter aircraft
, and placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
Wasyl Dobraszow in Krasnogród.
On May 11, 1959, the Defense Minister
, General
Marian Spychalski
, made an official state inspection of the regiment. He was accompanied by the Head of General Staff General Jerzy Bordziłowski and Jan Frey-Bielecki, the Commander of the Air Force.
From September 28 to October 8, 1959, the regiment participated in the Air Force's championship air games in Wroclaw
.
On July 22, 1987, Defense Minister General
Florian Siwicki
made a surprise inspection of the regiment. After conducting combat preparedness drills and reserve mobilization exercises, he concluded that the regiment showed high efficiency, willingness, and enthusiasm in carrying out their duties
On June 2, 1991, the regiment welcomed Pope John Paul II
on behalf of President Lech Wałęsa
. During the subsequent Mass, which took place on an air field in Zegrze Pomorskie
, the Pope addressed the soldiers, saying, "Ci wszyscy, którzy sprawie Ojczyzny oddani, służą w wojsku, niech uważają siebie za sługi bezpieczeństwa i wolności narodów. Po raz pierwszy dane mi jest - podczas odwiedzin w Ojczyźnie - przemówić do żołnierzy na specjalnym spotkaniu."
On June 14, 1996, President
Aleksander Kwaśniewski
visited the regiment while he was visiting Koszalin Voivodeship
.
The technical squadron had a variety of duties, including servicing airports, storing missiles, and maintaining and refurbishing aircraft, engines, radio and electrical equipment, and weapons. The supply battalion's duties include shuttle service, the upkeep and operation of company cars, and protection.
The Regiment operated the Lim-1, Lim-2, and SB Lim-2 versions of the MiG-15, as well as the Lim-5 version of the MiG-17. All Lim-designated MiG aircraft were manufactured in Poland. In addition to the listed aircraft, the regiment also operated the 57 mm AZP S-60
anti-aircraft gun.
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
: 9 Pułk Lotnictwa Myśliwskiego) was a fighter regiment established in 1944 in Malbork
Malbork
Malbork is a town in northern Poland in the Żuławy region , with 38,478 inhabitants . Situated in the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, it was previously assigned to Elbląg Voivodeship...
that was a part of the Air Force of the Polish Army
Air Force of the Polish Army
The Air Force of the Polish Army , unofficially known as the People's Polish Air Force was the name of the Soviet-controlled Polish Air Force in the USSR between 1943 and 1947 created alongside the Polish People's Army , a subordinate to the Red Army...
. The regiment was stationed in Debrzno
Debrzno
Debrzno is a town in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland.The town was first mentioned as Fredeland in a document of 1346, when the manager of the Teutonic Order in Schlochau assigned four Hufen territory to Tylo. 1354 the Grandmaster Winrich von Kniprode granted the Culmer Law to the town....
until it was disbanded on December 31, 2000 in Zegrze Pomorskie
Zegrze Pomorskie
Zegrze Pomorskie is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Świeszyno, within Koszalin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Świeszyno, south of Koszalin, and north-east of the regional capital Szczecin.Before 1945 the area...
.
History
On August 7, 1944, the Soviet Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
issued an executive order for the formation of the 1st Mixed Air Corps (Polish: 1 Meszany Korpus Lotniczy) in the regions of Kazan
Kazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
and Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
. The Corps was created from September 1944 to January 1945.
The Corps included the 3rd Fighter Division, which was formed on January 20, 1944 from the 10th Training Brigade of the 2nd Air Army
2nd Air Army
The 2nd Air Army was a formation of the Aviation of the Red Army as part of the Soviet Armed Forces during the Second World War...
. This division consisted of the 11th and 10th Fighter Regiments, which had been previously been stationed in Karłowo, as well as the newly created 9th Fighter Regiment. The division was equipped with fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
, and placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
Wasyl Dobraszow in Krasnogród.
On May 11, 1959, the Defense Minister
Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Poland
Ministry of National Defence is the office of government in Poland under the Minister of Defence. During the Second Polish Republic and World War II it was called the Ministry of Military Affairs...
, General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Marian Spychalski
Marian Spychalski
Marian "Marek" Spychalski was a Polish architect, military commander, and communist politician.Born to a working-class family in Łódź, he graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology in 1931...
, made an official state inspection of the regiment. He was accompanied by the Head of General Staff General Jerzy Bordziłowski and Jan Frey-Bielecki, the Commander of the Air Force.
From September 28 to October 8, 1959, the regiment participated in the Air Force's championship air games in Wroclaw
Wroclaw
Wrocław , situated on the River Oder , is the main city of southwestern Poland.Wrocław was the historical capital of Silesia and is today the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Over the centuries, the city has been part of either Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Prussia, or Germany, but since 1945...
.
On July 22, 1987, Defense Minister General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Florian Siwicki
Florian Siwicki
Florian Siwicki is a Polish military officer, diplomat and a communist politician, as well as a General of the Polish Army . Throughout his career he held a number of posts, including military attaché in China, commanding officer of the 2nd Polish Army during the invasion of Czechoslovakia in...
made a surprise inspection of the regiment. After conducting combat preparedness drills and reserve mobilization exercises, he concluded that the regiment showed high efficiency, willingness, and enthusiasm in carrying out their duties
On June 2, 1991, the regiment welcomed Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
on behalf of President Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
. During the subsequent Mass, which took place on an air field in Zegrze Pomorskie
Zegrze Pomorskie
Zegrze Pomorskie is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Świeszyno, within Koszalin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Świeszyno, south of Koszalin, and north-east of the regional capital Szczecin.Before 1945 the area...
, the Pope addressed the soldiers, saying, "Ci wszyscy, którzy sprawie Ojczyzny oddani, służą w wojsku, niech uważają siebie za sługi bezpieczeństwa i wolności narodów. Po raz pierwszy dane mi jest - podczas odwiedzin w Ojczyźnie - przemówić do żołnierzy na specjalnym spotkaniu."
On June 14, 1996, President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Aleksander Kwasniewski
Aleksander Kwaśniewski is a Polish politician who served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule he was active in the Socialist Union of Polish Students and was the Minister for Sport in the communist government in the 1980s...
visited the regiment while he was visiting Koszalin Voivodeship
Koszalin Voivodeship
Koszalin Voivodeship – a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–98, superseded by West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Capital city: Koszalin Area: 8.500 km² Statistics :...
.
Structure
The regiment consisted of the regimental command and staff, two fighter squadrons, a technical squadron, a supply battalion, and a support and communications battalion. Their proper names, in Polish, were as follows:- Stanowisko Dowodzenia (Regimental Command)
- Sztab (Staff)
- 1 eskadra lotnictwa myśliwskiego (1st fighter squadron)
- 2 eskadra lotnictwa myśliwskiego (2nd fighter squadron)
- eskadra techniczna (technical squadron)
- Służba Inżynieryjno-Lotniskowa (SIL)
- Sekcja Przechowywania i Elaboracji Rakiet (SPiER)
- klucz remontu płatowca i silnika
- klucz remontu osprzętu
- klucz remontu Urządzeń Radioelektronicznych
- klucz remontu uzbrojenia
- batalion zaopatrzenia (supply battalion)
- kompania obsługi lotniska
- kompania samochodowa
- kompania ochrony
- batalion łączności i ubezpieczenia lotów (support and communications battalion)
- kompania łączności
- kompania ubezpieczenia lotów
- Węzeł Łączności
The technical squadron had a variety of duties, including servicing airports, storing missiles, and maintaining and refurbishing aircraft, engines, radio and electrical equipment, and weapons. The supply battalion's duties include shuttle service, the upkeep and operation of company cars, and protection.
Equipment
During the sixty year operating history of the regiment, it operated a number of different Soviet- and Polish-built aircraft. These aircraft were mostly jet fighters and various forms of training aircraft, but also included a single transport helicopter.- Fighter aircraft:
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 was a jet fighter developed for the USSR by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful swept-wing jet fighters, and it achieved fame in the skies over Korea, where early in the war, it outclassed all straight-winged enemy fighters in...
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the USSR from 1952 and operated by numerous air forces in many variants. Most MiG-17 variants cannot carry air-to-air missiles, but shot down many aircraft with its cannons...
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed "balalaika", from the aircraft's planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or ołówek by Polish pilots due to...
- Yakovlev Yak-1Yakovlev Yak-1The Yakovlev Yak-1 was a World War II Soviet fighter aircraft. Produced from early 1940, it was a single-seat monoplane with a composite structure and wooden wings....
- Yakovlev Yak-7Yakovlev Yak-7The Soviet Yakovlev Yak-7 was developed from the earlier Yak-1 fighter, initially as a trainer but converted into a "heavy" fighter. As both a fighter and later reverting to its original training role, the Yak-7 proved to be a capable aircraft and was well liked by air crews. The Yak-7 was simpler,...
- Yakovlev Yak-9Yakovlev Yak-9The Yakovlev Yak-9 was a single-engine fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union in World War II and after. Fundamentally a lighter development of the Yak-7 with the same armament, it arrived at the front at the end of 1942. The Yak-9 had a lowered rear fuselage decking and all-around vision canopy...
- Yakovlev Yak-23Yakovlev Yak-23|-See also:-Bibliography:* Gordon, Yefim. "Early Soviet Jet Fighters". Hinkley: Midland. 2002. ISBN 1-85780-139-3* Green, William & Swanborough, Gordon. "The Complete Book of Fighters". London: Salamander Books. 1994. ISBN 1-85833-777-1...
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
- Trainer aircraft:
- Polikarpov Po-2Polikarpov Po-2The Polikarpov Po-2 served as a general-purpose Soviet biplane, nicknamed Kukuruznik for maize; thus, 'maize duster' or 'crop duster'), NATO reporting name "Mule"...
- PZL TS-8 BiesPZL TS-8 BiesThe PZL TS-8 Bies is a Polish trainer aircraft, used from 1957 to 1970s by the Polish Air Force and civilian aviation.-Development:The aircraft was designed in response to a Polish Air Force requirement for a modern piston-engined trainer with a retractable tricycle landing gear to replace Junak 3...
- PZL TS-11 IskraPZL TS-11 Iskra|-See also:-References:*"Poland's Veteran Spark". Air International, March 1979, Vol 16 No. 3. Bromley, UK:Fine Scroll Publishing. pp. 126–131....
- PZL-104 WilgaPZL-104 WilgaPZL-104 Wilga is a Polish designed and built short-takeoff-and-landing Civil Aviation utility aircraft manufactured by PZL "Warszawa-Okęcie";...
- Yakovlev Yak-7Yakovlev Yak-7The Soviet Yakovlev Yak-7 was developed from the earlier Yak-1 fighter, initially as a trainer but converted into a "heavy" fighter. As both a fighter and later reverting to its original training role, the Yak-7 proved to be a capable aircraft and was well liked by air crews. The Yak-7 was simpler,...
- Yakovlev Yak-11Yakovlev Yak-11|-See also:-References:* Gordon, Yefim, Dmitry Komissarov and Sergey Komissarov. OKB Yakovlev: A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft. Hinkley, UK: Midland Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1 85780 203 9....
- Polikarpov Po-2
- Transport helicopter:
- Antonov An-2Antonov An-2The Antonov An-2 is a single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft designed in the USSR in 1946...
- Antonov An-2
The Regiment operated the Lim-1, Lim-2, and SB Lim-2 versions of the MiG-15, as well as the Lim-5 version of the MiG-17. All Lim-designated MiG aircraft were manufactured in Poland. In addition to the listed aircraft, the regiment also operated the 57 mm AZP S-60
57 mm AZP S-60
57 mm AZP S-60 ; literally: Automatic anti-aircraft gun S-60) is a Soviet towed, road-transportable, short- to medium-range, single-barrel anti-aircraft gun from the 1950s. The gun was extensively used in Warsaw Pact, Middle Eastern and South-East Asian countries.-History:In the late 1940s, the...
anti-aircraft gun.
Commanders
- April 11, 1952 - July 2, 1954 - Major Jan Gołubickij
- July 2, 1954 - November 9, 1954 - Capt. Marian Chrzan
- September 9, 1954 - November 18, 1957 - Major Marian Bondzior
- November 18, 1957 - February 24, 1962 - Major Janusz Żywno
- February 24, 1962 - March 13, 1964 - Major Zdzisław Strelau
- March 14, 1964 - December 14, 1966 - Major Stanisław Stalicki
- December 14, 1966 - September 14, 1971 - Lt. Col. Czesław Bil
- September 14, 1971 - February 20, 1974 - Lt. Col. Władysław Pasiewicz
- February 20, 1974 - October 12, 1976 - Lt. Col. Henryk Sygnowski
- October 12, 1976 - June 4, 1983 - Lt. Col. Bogusław Wasilewski
- June 4, 1983 - October 22, 1986 - Lt. Col. Kazimierz Małecki
- October 22, 1986 - February 18, 1989 - Lt. Col. Wojciech Górski
- February 18, 1989 - February 14, 1991 - Lt. Col. Zbigniew Bielewicz
- October 14, 1991 - January 19, 1997 - Lt. Col. Piotr Luśnia
- January 19, 1997 - December 31, 2000 - Lt. Col. Sławomir Kałuziński