The First Aerial Battle of WW2,
1 September 1939 over Warsaw.

Damaged P.11c No.'3', 62-W of 1. Pulk Lotniczy (Fighter Regiment), in an unusual khaki/dark green camouflage, captured by Germans on Okecie airfield. The strange shape of the tailplane suggests that German censors heavily retouched this aircraft after the photograph was taken.

   Because these morning missions were so successful, the pilots of the 123rd Escarlille, flying P.7 fighters, decided that the next time they started on aerial combat missions, they would not fly with just sections, but all their planes. On this unit's next combat mission they were bounced by Bf-110s. During the initial attack, Cpt. Mieczyslaw Olszewski, the Escadrille commander was killed. Olszewski's P.7 crashed near Legionow. Other pilots that survived this combat by parachute were: Sec.Lt. Stanislaw Czternastek, Sec.Lt. Feliks Szyszka and Cadet Antoni Danek. Stanislaw Czternastek, the first pilot just mentioned above landed safely in the Nowy Dwor Mazowiecki area. The other two pilots were attacked by the Luftwaffe pilots. Szyszka, while hanging in his parachute, was hit sixteen times and landed on the bank of the Wisla river. After receiving help from civilians Szyszka was transported to the hospital. Another two P.7 pilots, Sec.Lt. Erwin Kawnik and Corp. Henryk Flamme were forced to emergency land near Zakroczyn in heavily damaged planes.
   In another aerial combat Lt.Col. Leopold Pamula, second commander of the Pursuit Brigade, also took part. Pamula arrived directly from HQ and immediately ordered one of pilots to leave the cockpit of his fighter. Lieutenant Colonel Leopold Pamula directly entered the battle. In a duel with two Bf-109s he was shot down and bailed out. Also wounded during this aerial combat was also pilot Zdzislaw Horn, who entered into a comma just after returning, upon landing Horn could not exit his cockpit. Over Praga Cpt. Gustaw Sidorowicz, commander of the 111 F.Esc., clashed with pair of Bf-109 fighters. The result of this combat was 1:1 -- one of the Germans was probably shot down, but the injured Sidorowicz was forced to make an emergency landing.
   During most of the day of 1 September 1939, most of the German bombers were not able to reach their targets of the Polish capital city. The German bombers were forced to drop their bombs on fields near Warsaw and then made their return to East Prussia. In Warsaw itself, very few bombs fell on the city. During the entire day's combats, the Pursuit Brigade lost one pilot killed, and another eight were hospitalized. Ten aircraft were lost, while another 24 were heavy damaged. At 20:00, the Brigade had only 20 fighters ready for take off. Aviators of the Brigade downed twelve Luftwaffe planes and four were shared with the 152nd Escadrille pilots, which took part in the afternoon battle. Another five kills were claimed as probable and ten enemy planes were damaged.
   The pilots of the 152nd Fighter Eskadrille awaited for their take off signals since the early morning. The first message about enemy aerial activity arrived at about 16:00, with a large formation of Luftwaffe aircraft coming toward the direction of the Modlin area. To defend the city immediately, nine P.11 fighters took off. When the Polish pilots spotted the enemy group they forgot about their main task, the defense of the city.
   Sections led by Lt. Marian Imiela and Sec.Lt. Anatol Piotrowski entered in pursuit. The Polish fighters caught the German planes over Warsaw and in the Jablonna and Legionow area. First to attack was Sec.Lt. Piotrowski who bounced a He-111 with a good targeted series of shots. The German plane went down, however the defencive gunner's fire hit the Polish fighter. The P.11 came down in an attempted forced landing. Unfortunately for Piotrowski, Bf-109s then come out from clouds, and at a very low altitude, they flammed the defenceless P.11. The Polish pilot had no chance so survive. Another aviator of the 152nd Eskadrille was Sec.Lt. Jan Bury-Burzymski. In a vertical atack in the Buchnika area, Bury-Burzymski was able to down a He-111. This Eskadrille, together with the Pursuit Brigade, scored four additional kills. After this battle, which lasted over one hour, the Polish pilots returned to their airfield.

P.11c No. '10', 8.70, 170-N, of 113 Eskadra flown by Hieronim Dudwal.

   The authors of this article can be reached directly at their respective e-mail addresses. Grzegorz Slizewski can be reached at his e-mail. Dariusz Tyminski can be reached at either his E-mail or his e-mail. This author also has two stunning websites that have similar material as this page. These sites are: WW2 Ace Stories and his Model Home Page.

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