{"id":1580968,"date":"2020-07-28T12:03:25","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T10:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/armahobbynews.pl\/?p=1580968"},"modified":"2024-07-22T11:24:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T09:24:00","slug":"yak-1b-the-1st-fighter-aviation-regiment-warszawa-1943-45-70027-70028-70029","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armahobbynews.pl\/en\/blog\/2020\/07\/28\/yak-1b-the-1st-fighter-aviation-regiment-warszawa-1943-45-70027-70028-70029\/","title":{"rendered":"The 1st Fighter Aviation Regiment \u201cWarszawa\u201d 1943-45"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 1st<\/sup> Fighter Aviation Regiment \u201cWarszawa\u201d was the first aviation unit of peoples\u2019s Polish Army formed soon after the creation of the, so called, \u201cBerling\u2019s army\u201d had started. Its combat history is relatively short \u2013 less than nine months of fighting in the Eastern Front, when pilots, flying obsolete fighters, flew missions which were not too intensive nor very successful.<\/p>\n

When we compare the \u201cWarszawa\u201d Regiment successes with the achievements of Polish Air Force in the United Kingdom, they are not astonishing. \u00a0Why, therefore, the history of Polish pilots flying Yakovlev\u2019s fighters electrifies Polish aviation amateurs so much?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Beginnings<\/h2>\n

Polish army in the USSR, also known as people\u2019s Polish Army, was created in the spring of 1943 under the inspiration of Stalin. The Soviet leader used Polish communists to create his own Polish army that could be counterweight for Polish Army in the west who were loyal to Polish legal government in London. Regadless of political motives (there was only one actually \u2013 to make Poland dependent from the USSR), the army was the only hope for thousands of Polish citizens, who had been deported to the Soviet Union between 1939 and 1941, to return to their country.<\/p>\n

However, Polish Army in the USSR was not recognised by the United States and the United Kingdom until June 1945 when both countries decided to recognise communist authorities loyal to Stalin as a legal government and withdrew support for the legal government in London.<\/p>\n

Although the adjective \u201cpeople\u2019s\u201d is widely used it was not official nor integral name and that is why in this article it is written with small letter.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Student pilots of the 1st Regiment training group with the Soviet instructor (first left). The others are (from left):unknown, PFC Leon Krempa, PFC Jerzy Czerny, PFC Krzysztof Donigiewicz, PFC Wac\u0142aw Pietkun, Sgt Maj Sergey Danovskiy and Lt Jan Ma\u0142aszewicz. The airmen are standing in front of UT-2. The turn of 1943 and 1944<\/em><\/p>\n

From Moscow to Berlin<\/h2>\n

The 1st Fighter Aviation Regiment was formed at the beginning of July 1943 in Grigoyevskoye, a village between Moscow and Ryazan, near Syeltsy, where Polish 1st Infantry Division was being formed. At the beginning it was an Independent Fighter Flight, being part of the 1st Division. But in August 1943 the order changing the Flight into a regiment was issued.<\/p>\n

Forming an aviation unit was quite a challenge for the Polish Army staff officers \u2013 training of infantry units takes weeks or months but pilot training can take years. The biggest problem was that there were not any Polish airmen in the USSR. Most of them were murdered by Soviets during the mass purge known as the Katyn massacre, and those who survived left the USSR and went straight to Great Britain or were evacuated to Persia together with Polish Army led by Gen. W\u0142adys\u0142aw Anders<\/p>\n

During the search conducted in kolkhozes, sovkhozes, factories, and saw mills around the USSR only few pilot students, two NCO pilots and several ground crew personnel were found. There was also one officer but, unfortunately, he was an air observer, not a pilot.<\/p>\n

Jak-1b nad Stalingradem \u2013 samolot Jeriomina<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n