Fly Past

26 FLYPAST September 2018

Gienek arrived on

August 20, on which day the unit

had its first engagement with the

enemy. Among his contemporaries

was Plt Off Władysław Gnys, who

had shot down the first Luftwaffe

aircraft of the war.

A ‘PROBABLE’

The Battle of Britain was in its late

stages when Gienek opened his

‘account’ on October 18. By that

time, the squadron had moved to

Northolt, west of London. Ordered

to scramble at 1500hrs, in very

poor weather, the unit was told to

patrol Maidstone, Kent, at 15,000ft

(4,572m). Gienek was piloting

Hurricane P3205 in ‘A’ Flight as

Yellow 2. They were soon engaged.

His combat report tells the story:

“After about an hour, Red 1 [Flt Lt

James Thomson – ‘A’ Flight

commander] attacked a Ju 88,

shooting at it and receiving very

heavy fire from the rear upper gun

turret. I [went] after Red 1 from

three-quarters above and slightly

behind. The e/a [enemy aircraft] was

painted such a dark green colour

that it was scarcely possible to see

the black crosses.

“I was unable to see the effect of

Red 1’s attack and...I got in a burst

of two seconds, opening fire at

about 250 yards, closing to 100. I

did not encounter any fire

whatsoever from the e/a either in my

first or second attack, and I

supposed the gunner was put out of

action by Red 1.”

Gienek noticed no results from his

first burst and went in a second time

from above and behind. Opening

fire at about 150 yards (137m),

closing to about 30 yards, he got in

a three-second burst.

“I broke away to starboard,

climbing and I noticed two persons

from the Ju 88 crew jump out, and

their parachutes open. The e/a

continued in a gentle glide

earthwards, and after a few seconds

disappeared into clouds, lost

from view.”

He was credited with the Ju 88 as a

‘probable’. Given his track record,

the two men who baled out were

perhaps fortunate to have made it

out in one piece.

This was a bright spot in an

otherwise dreadful day for 302

Squadron: three pilots crashed and

were killed; another baled out from

50ft and died. Only three pilots

from a formation of 12 made it back

to base.

HECTIC DOGFIGHT

On November 8, the courageous

Pole was fortunate to escape with his

life when 302, in company with 615

Squadron, were bounced by a large

formation of Messerschmitt Bf 109s

from the famous Jagdgeschwader

26 (JG 26). The two units were still

climbing and at 20,000ft, to the

south of London, when they

were attacked.

Within moments, Gienek saw one

of their number, Sgt Wilhelm

Kosarz, plummeting down in

flames. A hectic dogfight ensued,

Gienek losing 10,000ft before

suddenly finding himself – as

happened so often in such fights – as

the only aircraft left in the sky.

Spotting another Hurricane, which

he identified as that of Flt Lt

Antonio Wczelik, the pair joined up

and began climbing to continue the

patrol. Flying along the length of the

Channel at 30,000ft, Gienek spotted

more Luftwaffe fighters above them,

but stayed out of trouble.

When they only had 15 gallons (68

litres) of fuel left, they opted to head

for home. Gienek acted as a ‘weaver’

while Wczelik lost height in a series

of long S-turns. Bursting through a

1918 2018

thin layer of cloud, they perhaps

thought they were safe.

Suddenly canon and machine gun

shells thudded into Gienek’s

Hurricane. He wrote later:

“The cockpit filled with smoke,

oil and glycol, blinding me. I

smelled burning.”

Wczelik made a steep turn and

escaped. Gienek was not so lucky.

Fearing he had only moments before

the aircraft exploded, Gienek undid

his straps and slid the cockpit

canopy back, ready to jump.

On seeing two Messerschmitts

close by, he thought better of it. He

put the Hurricane on its back and in

a desperate bid to escape, put it into

a steep dive. Initially the enemy

followed, but soon gave up the

chase, either because they were low

on fuel themselves, or because they

believed the Hurricane was done for.

With great skill, Gienek managed

to half roll his damaged aircraft and

land, wheels up, in a field near

Detling in Kent, smashing his head

against the Perspex hood and cutting

himself. When rescuers arrived, they

found him conscious but covered in

blood and oil. Wczelik managed to

land at Detling with a bullet hole

in his glycol system. (He was killed

in action 18 months later, on April

14, 1942.)

(4,572m). Gienek was piloting

Hurricane P3205 in ‘A’ Flight as

Above

Nowakiewicz, second

left, with fellow

pilots.

Above right

A ‘V-sign’ from

Gienek, standing on

the wing root of his

Spitfi re.

Right

Nowak and a member

of the groundcrew.