The Montpellier Group,
Under French Skies

An MS.406 belonging to the "Montpellier Group" in June 1940, when the aircraft was captured and inspected by German troops.

   There were enough pilots to form Polish fighter squadrons but the French authorities would not wait for their formation. When pilots were finished with their training they were posted to different French units, like the Groupe de Chasses, Groupe de Chasse de Defense, and Les Patrouilles de Protection.
   The reason that the pilots of the Montpellier Group did not return to Lyon-Bron was because there were no Polish squadrons to return to. Eventually, there was over 170 Polish fighter pilots who took place in French Campaign. The Montpellier Group was broken up and moved to six different Groupes de Chasses, with three pilots assigned to each. The nineteenth odd pilot, one Cpt. Mieczyslaw Wiorkiewicz, came to Lyon-Bron and started a new assignment as a pilot-instructor.
   The Polish pilots went to French units on 27 March 1940. The pilots were assigned to the GC I/2 (Xaffeviliers), GC II/6 (Anglure), GC II/7 (Luxeuil), GC III/1 (Toul Croix de Metz), GC III/2 (Cambrai), and GC III/6 (Wez Thuisy).
   As a matter of fact, and because of the exegencies of the build up of the so-called "Phoney War," nobody from the "Montpellier Group" would ever return to Lyon-Bron. Before 10 May there was no Polish pilots who claimed any German aircraft destroyed.
   After 10 May, the day of the German attack, there were not enough remaining pilots to form a single Polish squadron. The few remaining Polish pilots, after their respective training, went to different French escadrilles or to Groupes de Chasse de Defense (G.C.D,, Groups of Fighters for point Defense) units that protected French factories and cities.

Listed below is an accounting of where the particular Polish pilots were assigned.

GC I/2   To this unit came: Lt. Jozef Brzezinski, Sec. Lt. Stanislaw Chalupa and Plutonowy (Plut., Technical Sergeant) Antoni Beda. Polish pilots from this unit met German aircraft a few times. The best of these pilots was Sec. Lt. Chalupa who claimed individual Bf-109 and Ju-87 aircraft destroyed, and a He-111 and a Ju-87 shared with another pilots. This pilot claimed a Ju-88 damaged with another pilot. Chalupa's final score for the battle of france stood at two destroyed, two shared, and a single aircraft shared damaged. Plutonowy Antoni Beda claimed a single aircraft destroyed and two shared damaged. Lieutenant Brzezinski on May 1940 went to the hospital because of stomach problems.

GC II/6   To this unit came Cpt. Jan Pentz, Sec. Lt. Bohdan Anders and Sec. Lt. Wlodzimierz Karwowski. Before 10 May 1940 Poles met the Luftwaffe only once. During this engagement, Cpt. Pentz closed to a very close distance before opening fire. This potential kill for Pentz proved impossible because his guns would not work. the problem with his weapons proved to be caused by no test firing since the begining of the war.
   After 10 May, only Sec. Lt. Karwowski succesfully opened fired at any German aircraft. Karwowski claimed two bombers destroyed. These kills were shared together with another pilots.

GC II/7   To this unit came Lt. Wladyslaw Goettel, Sec. Lt. Waclaw Krol and Caproral (Capr.) Eugeniusz Nowakiewicz. As a matter of fact this unit was the most successful part of the "Montpellier Group." However, Lt. Goettel went to the hospital at the end of May 1940 and did not destroy a single aircraft.
   Caproral Nowakiewicz claimed four aircraft destroyed, one shared destroyed, and one aircraft damaged. Nowakiewicz was to become the most succesful Polish pilot in the French Campaign. Second Lieutenant Krol claimed two aircraft destroyed, two shared destroyed, one damaged, and one shared damaged.

GC III/1   To this unit came Lt. Kazimierz Bursztyn, Sec. Lt. Wladyslaw Chciuk and Sec. Lt. Wladyslaw Gnys. There was one pilot who was killed in action on 25 May 1940, Lt. Bursztyn. Before his death, Lt. Bursztyn claimed a single aircraft destroyed, and one shared destroyed. Second Lieutant Chciuk and Sec. Lt. Gnys each claimed three aircraft destroyed each.

GC III/2   To this unit came Cpt. Stefan Laszkiewicz, Lt. Stefan Zantara and Sgt. Leopold Flanek. In this unit there was only one pilot listed as being killed in action, one Sgt. Flanek, on 16 May 1940. Before this fact, he claimed two German aircraft destroyed. Lieutenant Zantara claimed a single aircraft destroyed with another listed as being a shared destroyed aircraft. Captain Laszkiewicz claimed a single aircraft destroyed.

GC III/6   To this unit came Cpt. Mieczyslaw Sulerzycki, Sec. Lt. Erwin Kawnik and Sec. Lt. Boleslaw Rychlicki. There were no pilots who were killed in action. Captain Sulerzycki claimed one aircraft destroyed and another aircraft as being a shared destroyed. Second Lieutenant Kawnik claimed three aircraft destroyed, and Sec. Lt. Rychlicki claimed a single Bf-110 destroyed.