Site in French

Fighter Group GC I/145 "Varsovie"

Historical

On January 22, 1940, General Zajac, Polish General in Exile, obtained the agreement, by the French government, for the creation of a Polish Fighter Group to help the Finns in their war against the USSR. But the Armistice between the two countries intervenes before the end of the Training of the Group. On April 15, this becomes GC I/145. The training of the pilots is carried out on MS406, but the final endowment will be based on Caudron Cr714. During its training period, GC I/145 is attached to the ZOAA (Alpine Air Operation Zone).

On May 19th, the Group moves to Villacoublay and takes into account its Caudron who prove to be very under-powered Fighters. On June 2, the Group moved to Dreux and is in charge of protecting Paris. The missions on alerts are often useless: the Cr714 does not climb fast enough to join the attackers.

On June 11, 1940, GC I/145 moved near Etampes, then to Chateauroux on June 14th. After joining Rochefort where they provide a time defense of the ground, the pilots finally board to Britain on June 19th.

 


Staff

Commander of the Group GC I/145 "Varsovie"
Commander KEPINSKI Jozef  
Captain LAGUNA Piotr  
Commander of the 1st Escadrille
Captain WCZELIK Antoni
Lieutenant CZERWINSKI  
Commander of the 2nd Escadrille
Captain FREY Juliusz
 

 


Pilots

Pilots of the Group
Names of pilots
Rank
Squadron
Victories
Informations
Photo
Indiv. Card
Sure
Prob.
CZERNIAK Jerzy
Sub-Lieutenant
2nd Sqn.
2
   
CZERWINSKI Tadeusz
Lieutenant
Staff 1st Sqn.
1
   
DOBRZINSKI Witold
Sub-Lieutenant
Killed by accident the May 19, 1940    
FIEDORCZUK Eugeniusz
Sub-Lieutenant
1st Sqn.
   
FREY Judiusz
Captain
Staff 2nd Sqn.
   
GLADYCH Boleslaw
Sub-Lieutenant
2nd Sqn.
   
GODLEWSKI Jerzy
Sub-Lieutenant
1st Sqn.
   
GROWCZYNSKI Czeslaw
Sub-Lieutenant
2nd Sqn.
1
   
JAUGSCH Leon
Sub-Lieutenant
2nd Sqn.
   
JODA Antoni
Corporal
1st Sqn.
Assigned to GC I / 145 May 30, 1940
KEPINSKI Josef
Commandant
Staff. Group
Seriously injured in Air Combat June 10, 1940    
KOWALSKI Julian
Lieutenant
1st Sqn.
1
Injured in aerial combat on June 9, 1940    
LACHOWICKI-CZECHOWICZ Lech
Sub-Lieutenant
2nd Sqn.
Killed in aerial combat on June 9, 1940    
LAGUNA Piotr
Captain
Staff. Group
1
   
LANOWSKI Witold
Sub-Lieutenant
   
LUKASZEWICZ Marian
Sub-Lieutenant
1st Sqn.
   
MARKIEWICZ Antoni
Master Corporal
1st Sqn.
1
NIEWIARA Andrzej
Corporal
2nd Sqn.
   
OBUCHOWSKI Jan
Lieutenant
1st Sqn.
Killed in aerial combat on June 9, 1940    
PALAK Jan
Sergent
2nd Sqn.
   
PARAFINSKI Mieczyslaw
Corporal
1st Sqn.
1
PATEREK Edward
Sergent
2nd Sqn.
   
SIUDAK
1st Sqn.
   
SKIBINSKI Bronislaw
Sub-Lieutenant
1st Sqn.
SZALEWICZ Marian
Sub-Lieutenant
2nd Sqn.
   
SZEMPLINSKI Lucjan
Master Corporal
1st Sqn.
UCHTO Edward
Master Corporal
2nd Sqn.
Killed in aerial combat on June 9, 1940    
UHER Ladislav
Master Corporal
1st Sqn.
Czech pilot assigned to GC I / 145 on May 30, 1940    
WATOLSKI Ernest
Corporal
2nd Sqn.
   
WCZELIK Antoni
Captain
Staff 1st Sqn
2
WILCZEWSKI Waclaw
Lieutenant
2nd Sqn.
   
WROBLEWSKI Zbigniew
Sub-Lieutenant
2nd Sqn.
Assigned to GC I / 145 May 30, 1940    
ZADROZINSKI Zdzislaw
Lieutenant
2nd Sqn.
   
ZANIEWSKI Piotr
Corporal
1st Sqn.
ZIELINSKI Jerzy
Sergent
2nd Sqn.
   
ZUKOWSKI Aleksy
Sub-Lieutenant
1st Sqn.
1

 


Airfield

Names of airfields
Period of use of airfields
Lyon-Bron
April 3, 1940
Villacoublay
May 17, 1940
Dreux
June 2, 1940
Sermaize
June 11, 1940
Châteauroux
June 14, 1940
Rochefort
June 17, 1940

 


Aircrafts

The GC I/55 has been equipped since its creation on April 15, 1940, with the following aircrafts:

The used aircrafts are described in the accessible file by the link below. You will find N ° of series, Registration, date of affectation to the group, and fate of the plane there.

In this list are identified :

  • 38 Caudron Cr714

 


Records

Confirmed Victories
7
Messerschmitt BF109E
4
Dornier Do17
3

 


Casualties

Killed Pilots
4
Sub-LieutenantDOBRZINSKI (Accident)
May 19, 1940
Lieutenant OBUCHOWSKI (Combat)
June 9, 1940
Sub-LieutenantLACHOWICKI-CZECHOWICZ (Combat)
June 9, 1940
Master Corporal UCHTO (Combat)
June 9, 1940
Wounded Pilots
2
Lieutenant KOWALSKI (Combat)
June 9, 1940
Commander KEPINSKI (Combat)
June 10, 1940

 

Links to WebSite
"Naval Aviation"