On 9 April of 1945, Polish fighter pilots of RAF's 133-rd Win g (members of the RAF's Polish 306-th, as well as of the 309-th, Fighter Squadron), during an escort sortie of a bomber raid on Hamburg, scored four confirmed victories over German Messerschmitt Me-262 fighter jets and damaged a fifth Me-262, without suffering any losses in the process. These were the first victories scored by Polish fighter pilots over jet planes.
Here is what Porucznik (First Lieutenant) M. Gorzula, a participant of this aerial engagement, has to say about this event in his memoires:
"...we proceeded towards north-eastern Hamburg, where we were supposed to meet the bombers on the city's very outskirts. The "Fries", because that is how we called the bombers, appeared from the south-east right on time, and as usually they stretched in a long column over the horizon for a distance of whole miles.
I thought that it will be difficult to defend them if the Krauts appear in the air, but I concluded that there is not much left of the Luftwaffe, and I turned my attention to other matters. We flew over Hamburg which was covered in great clouds of black smoke, reaching the altitude of 10 000 feet. The last machines dropped their precious cargo, and we turned on our way back to England.
Just as we left the target area, my ear phones vibrated and I heard:
- Attention the commander of the fighter cover, attention commander of the fighter cover! The commander of the bombers is speaking. Fighter jets are near by!
I looked around carefully, but I could not see any Krauts. At once a green signal was shot from the center of the stream of bombers; a second one, and a third one, followed soon after. The events now took place in a very rapid sequence. A command followed another command. "Jettisonize your extra fuel tanks!" I became preoccupied with my engine: more revolutions, more boost. I saw six planes from a distance of around 2 000 yards that dived towards the bombers. We went on them. When we came closer to them, we recognized them as Messerschmitt Me-262, the newest German two engine jets.
The Messerschmitts leveled off after the attack, but one of them broke off to take care of a bomber that was losing altitude. I speeded up and drew nearer to the Messerschmitt from one end with the speed of 500 miles per hour. My Mustang shook from the effort, and the engine cried aloud with full voice. I was in a distance of 1 000 yards from it, but I was unable to come any closer. Jets must be faster than turbo-propelled planes, but I accelerated yet even more, and came to the Messerschmitt just slightly closer. At last I fired at the Kraut a probing round of fire. It appeared to be accurate, I made a slight adjustment and gave a longer round, and yet one more round which was successful. The Messerschmitt slowed down, and I gave it a yet one more round, and this one proved to be the best. I saw an explosion, and the Messerschmitt broke in two. The engines broke off from the body, which went down in a spiral. The German bailed out, his parachute started to open, but it caught fire from the burning machine, and quickly became engulfed in flames. It was worthless to go down after the wreckage or the German; therefore, I flew up and announced my return. The bombers continued to slowly fly back home, and we again assumed positions on their sides, looking after them like a shephard guards his flock."
Taken from:
First Lieutenant's M. Gorzula's private memoires. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/viking.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/viking.gif" alt="" />
