AVIONS 141
WW2 POLISH ACE STANISLAW SKALSKI_Bv222_CZECH SM.73_WW1 THEO OSTERKAMP_ITALIAN
ACE LUCIO BIAGINI_PZL P.11c_SPITFIRE No.316 SQN_POLISH FIGHTING TEAM No.145
SQN_NORTH AMERICAN P-51 MUSTANG No.601 SQN_133 WING_NAKAJMA A6M2-N RUFE ZERO
FLOATPLANE FIGHTER_MIRAGE IV FRENCH ARMEE de lAIR NUCLEAR BOMBER
FRENCH AERONAUTICAL HISTORY
MAGAZINE
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Additional Information from
Internet Encyclopedia
Stanisław Skalski, DSO, DFC
& Two Bars (27 November 1915 12 November 2004) was a Polish aviator and
fighter ace who served with the Polish Air Force and British Royal Air Force
during the Second World War. Skalski was the top Polish fighter ace of the war
and the first Allied fighter ace of the war, credited, according to the Bajan's
list, with 18 11/12 victories and two probable. Some sources, including Skalski
himself, give a number of 22 11/12 victories. He returned to the Polish Air
Force after the Second World War and rose to the rank of brigadier general.
In August 1940, Pilot Officer
Skalski joined No. 501 Squadron RAF. From 30 August to 2 September 1940 he shot
down a He 111 bomber and three Messerschmitt Bf 109s. On 5 September Skalski himself
was shot down.[5] Skalski bailed out with severe burns, and was hospitalized
for six weeks. He returned to his unit in late October 1940. During the Battle
of Britain, he was credited with four planes shot down and one shared.
In March 1941 Skalski was
assigned to No. 306 (Polish) Squadron RAF,[6] flying in Circus sorties over
France. On 15 August 1941 he crashed while landing Spitfire W3170 after
returning from a mission. On 1 March 1942, he became a flight commander in No.
316 (Polish) Squadron RAF. On 29 April 1942 Flight Lieutenant Skalski was made
Commanding Officer of the No. 317 (Polish) Squadron RAF for five months. From
November 1942 he was an instructor with No. 58 Operation Training Unit.
In October 1942 Skalski was
given command of the Polish Fighting Team (PFT), or so called "Cyrk
Skalskiego" (Skalski's Circus) a special flight consisting of fifteen
experienced Polish fighter pilot volunteers. The Poles arrived at Bu Grara
airfield, west of Tripoli in March 1943 and attached to No. 145 Squadron RAF.
The PFT took part in actions in Tripolitania and in Sicily. On 6 May 1943 the
"Skalski Circus" fought its last battle. The unit was disbanded after
the conclusion of the North African campaign. During its two months on
operations, the Polish pilots had claimed a total of 26 German and Italian
aircraft shot down. Skalski scored four aircraft, and Pilot Officer Eugeniusz
Horbaczewski claimed five confirmed victories.
Skalski then became commander of
No. 601 (County of London) Squadron, the first Pole to command an RAF squadron.
He then took part in the invasion of Sicily and invasion of Italy. From
December 1943 to April 1944 Wing Commander Skalski commanded No. 131 Polish
Fighter Wing. On 4 April 1944 he was appointed commander of No. 133 Polish
Fighter Wing, flying the Mustang Mk III. On 24 June 1944 Skalski scored two air
victories over Rouen.
After the war Skalski returned
to Poland in 1947 and joined the Air Force of the Polish Army. In 1948 however
he was arrested under the false charge of espionage. Sentenced to death, he
spent three years awaiting the execution, after which his sentence was changed
to life imprisonment in Wronki Prison.
After the end of Stalinism in
Poland, in 1956 he was released, rehabilitated, and allowed to join the
military. He served at various posts in the Headquarters of the Polish Air
Force. He wrote memoires of the 1939 campaign Czarne krzyże nad Polską
("Black crosses over Poland", 1957). On 20 May 1968 he was nominated
the secretary general of the Aeroklub Polski and on 10 April 1972 he retired.
On 15 September 1988 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In 1990
he met with the German pilot he had rescued on the first day of the war.
Stanisław
Skalski died in Warsaw on 12 November 2004.