Władysław Gnyś was a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 pilot 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...

 and probably the first Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 victor in aerial combat in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

In 1931, Wladyslaw Gnys entered military service with the Polish Air Force. In 1933 he began air training in Grudziadz

Grudziadz

Grudziądz is a city in northern Poland on the Vistula River, with 96 042 inhabitants . Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship , the city was previously in the Toruń Voivodeship .- History :-Early history:...

 and by 1935 was a flying instructor at the Polish Air Force Academy

Polish Air Force Academy

The Polish Air Force Academy is located in Deblin, eastern Poland. The Air Force Academy is an accredited university for the undergraduate education of officers for the Polish Air Force...

 at Deblin

Deblin

Dęblin is a town, population 19,500 , at the confluence of Vistula and Wieprz rivers, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Dęblin is the part of the agglomeration with adjacent towns of Ryki and Puławy, which altogether has over 100 000 inhabitants....

.

The defense of Poland, September 1939

By May 1939 Gnyś had been posted to the 121st Eskadra Mysliwska

Polish 121st Fighter Escadrille

The 121st Fighter Escadrille of the Polish Air Force was one of the fighter units of the Polish Army in 1939.-Crew and equipment:On 1 September 1939 the escadrille had 10 PZL P.11c airplanes.The air crew consisted of:...

 (121st Fighter Escadrille) in the city of 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...

, equipped with obsolete PZL P.11

PZL P.11

The PZL P.11 was a Polish fighter aircraft, designed in the early 1930s by PZL in Warsaw. It was briefly considered to be the most advanced fighter aircraft design in the world...

c fighters. On 31 August the Squadron was assigned to operate with the III/2 Dywizjon (Group) and it relocated to a reserve airfield in Balice.

In the early morning of 1 September 1939, Gnyś was woken by a German bombing raid on Kraków. At about 7am (according to other sources, 5:30am) Gnyś flew a sortie with Cptn. Mieczyslaw Medwecki, the Group Commander. Just after take off and at about 300 meters altitude the Polish fighters were suddenly attacked by a pair of German Ju 87B

Junkers Ju 87

The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was a two-man German ground-attack aircraft...

 dive-bombers from I/StG 2 "Immelmann". Unteroffizier Frank Neubert successfully fired at Medwecki and scored probably the first aerial victory of the war. The P-11 fell away having suffered serious damage, and Medwecki was killed. Gnyś was now also under attack, and he shot at a "Stuka" piloted by Lt. Brandenburg. The German aircraft started to smoke, but the aircraft managed to return to base at Nieder-Ellguth

Ligota Dolna, Strzelce County

Ligota Dolna , German Nieder Ellguth is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Strzelce Opolskie, within Strzelce County, Opole Voivodeship, in south-western Poland...

. A few minutes later Gnyś attacked two Do-17E

Dornier Do 17

The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift , was a World War II German light bomber produced by Claudius Dornier's company, Dornier Flugzeugwerke...

 bombers from KG 77. After a few passes both Do-17 bombers crashed in the country village of Zurada, near Olkusz

Olkusz

Olkusz is a town in south Poland with 37,696 inhabitants . Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship , previously in Katowice Voivodeship , it is the capital of Olkusz County...

. One of the German bombers was coded "3Z+FR" on its fuselage and all six crew members were killed, one later identified as a Uffz. Klose. On his return to base Gnyś met a lone He 111

Heinkel He 111

The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...

, but he was out of ammunition.

There is, however, controversy regarding this victory. According to Marius Emmerling, based on German wartime sources two Do 17Es from 7./KG 77 indeed crashed near Żurada, but this was caused by Polish anti-aircraft artillery, which damaged one Do 17 which then collided with the other. The combat in which Medwecki was shot down took place in 5:30-6:00am and, according to Emmerling, Gnyś only fired at the Ju 87 but did not hit it, nor did he meet Do 17s. Other authors however claim that damage to a Do 17, which caused a collision, might have been caused by Gnyś.

Gnyś personally scored another victory in September 1939, claiming a He-111. On the 6th, while other sources give the date as the morning of 9 September, Sergeants Leopold Flanek and Tadeusz Arabski were engaged in an aerial combat. During this engagement Flanek's plane was heavily damaged but was able to return to Kraczewice airfield. Tadeusz Arabski was able to share a single kill of a He-111 bomber.

France 1940

After the fall of Poland Gnyś fled to France and served as a pilot with the French Air Force

French Air Force

The French Air Force , literally Army of the Air) is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1933...

. Flying the Morane MS 406-C

Morane-Saulnier M.S.406

The M.S.406 was a French Armée de l'Air fighter aircraft built by Morane-Saulnier starting in 1938. Numerically it was France's most important fighter during the opening stages of World War II....

 with GC III./1 and stationed at Toul Croix

Toul-Croix De Metz Airfield

Toul-Croix De Metz Airfield is a former military airfield which is located approximately 1 mile northeast of Toul ; 160 miles east of Paris....

, Gnyś scored three shared victories; a He-111 on 12 May and two Do-17s on 16 May. After the French surrender, Gnys escaped and, via Oran

Oran

Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...

 and Casablanca

Casablanca

Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...

 arrived in Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 on 14 July 1940.

With the RAF 1940-44

Gnyś later fought with the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

, joining No. 302 Squadron as a Pilot Officer

Pilot Officer

Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...

 on 17 August 1940 and seeing combat 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...

 and into 1941. On 21 May 1941 Gnyś' Hawker Hurricane

Hawker Hurricane

The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...

 was badly damaged by fighters although he managed to return to base.

Later he served with the No. 316 Polish Fighter Squadron

No. 316 Polish Fighter Squadron

No. 316 "City of Warsaw" Polish Fighter Squadron was a Polish fighter squadron formed in Great Britain as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom in 1941...

 flying Spitfires and No. 309 Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron

No. 309 Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron

No. 309 Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron was a Polish squadron formed in Great Britain as part of an agreement between the Polish government-in-exile and the United Kingdom in 1940...

, flying tactical reconnaissance Mustangs.

On 22 August 1944, he was appointed to the command of No. 317 Polish Fighter Squadron

No. 317 Polish Fighter Squadron

No. 317 "Wilno" Polish Fighter Squadron was a Polish fighter squadron formed in Great Britain as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom in 1941...

. Two days later, Gnys was shot down over Rouen

Rouen

Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

 by flak and captured by German forces. Despite his wounds, Gnys escaped from a POW hospital a few days later, found by the French Maquis

Maquis (World War II)

The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...

 and returned to the Allied lines safely.

He settled in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 after the war.

Awards

Croix de Guerre

Croix de guerre

The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...

 (France)

Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)

Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)

The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...

Cross of Valour (Poland) 3 times

Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari

Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2 September 1999)

Bronze Cross of Merit (18 June 1935)

External links