318th Polish Fighter Squadron -alternate emblem

No. 318 "City of Gdańsk" Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron ( pl, 318 Dywizjon Myśliwsko-Rozpoznawczy Gdański") was a Polish

tactical reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of ima ...

aircraft

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

formed in Great Britain as part of an agreement between the

Polish Government in Exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...

and the United Kingdom in 1940. It was one of several Polish squadrons fighting alongside the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(RAF) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

Formation and training

The squadron was formed on 20 March 1943 at

RAF Detling Royal Air Force Detling or more simply RAF Detling is a former Royal Air Force station situated above sea level, located near Detling, a village about miles north-east of Maidstone, Kent. It was a station of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

from personnel of No. 309 Squadron and after training with Hawker Hurricane Mk.Is it moved to the Middle East, operating from RAF Muqeibila and

RAF Gaza RAF Gaza was an Royal Air Force airfield on the southwest coast of Mandatory Palestine, in the present day Gaza Strip. History The airfield was one of the first to be built in Palestine. It was built in 1917 for military use by the Ottoman Empir ...

and continuing its training, specifically with II Corps of the Polish Army, by now using Hurricane Mk.IIBs. Training went on until 1944, when the squadron converted to

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

Operations in Italy

The squadron was then involved in ground attack and tactical reconnaissance operations over Italy in support of the Eighth Army following the allied advance; and saw action at the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...

. After hostilities ceased the squadron remained in Italy for another year, but on 15 August 1946 it handed over its aircraft and left Italy for the UK, where it arrived on the 19th. Soon after, the squadron disbanded at

RAF Coltishall Royal Air Force Coltishall, more commonly known as RAF Coltishall , is a former Royal Air Force station located North-North-East of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, which operated from 1938 to 2006. It was a fighter airf ...

, according to some sources on 31 August 1946,Halley 1988, p. 366. while others mention 12 December 1946.Delve 1994, p. 149.Lake 1999, p. 256.Jefford 2001, p. 88.

Aircraft operated

Squadron bases

Commanding officers

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Delve, Ken. ''The Source Book of the RAF''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1994. . * Flintham, Vic and Andrew Thomas. ''Combat Codes: A full explanation and listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied air force unit codes since 1938''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2003. . * * * Król, Waclaw. ''Zarys dzialan polskiego lotnictwa w Wielkiej Brytanii 1940-1945'' (in Polish). Warszawa, Poland: Biblioteczka Skrzydlatej Polski, tom 11, Wydawnictwa Komunikacji i lacznosci, 1981. . * Lake, Alan. ''Flying Units of the RAF: The ancestry, formation and disbandment of all flying units from 1912''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1999. . * Rawlings, John D.R. ''Coastal, Support and Special Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., 1982. . * Sturtivant, Ray,

ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

and John Hamlin. ''RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. .

External links

No.318 Squadron history on the official RAF website

* ttp://www.polishsquadronsremembered.com/318/318story.html No.318 Squadron history as in "Destiny can wait"
Personnel of the Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1940-1947
{{WWII Polish Air Force in Britain 318 No. 318 318 Reconnaissance units and formations of the Royal Air Force Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 Military units and formations in Mandatory Palestine in World War II