Władysław Gnyś

Władysław Gnyś (b. August 24, 1910 - February 28, 2000) was a Polish pilot of the Polish Air Force and probably the first Allied victor in aerial combat in World War II.

In May 1939, Gnys was directed to the 121st Eskadra Mysliwska (Fighter Squadron) in the city of Krakow, armed with PZL P.11c fighters. On the 31st of August, that Squadron was assigned to fly in conjunction with and part of the III/2 Dywizjon (Group), and was relocated to a reserve-battle airfield in Balice. In the early morning of 1 September 1939, Gnys was awakened by bomb explosions. German bombers were just making a bombing run over Krakow. At about 7:00 (according to other sources, 5:30 A.M.) Gnyś flew a sortie with Cptn. Mieczyslaw Medwecki, the Group Commander. Just after take off, and at about 300 meters altitude, the Polish fighters were suddenly attacked by a pair of German Ju 87B dive-bombers from I/StG2 "Immelmann", returning back to Germany. Unteroffizier (Uffz., Staff Sergeant) Frank Neubert, piloting a "Stuka" coded "T6+GK", successfully shot at Medwecki and scored probably the first aerial victory of WWII. The P-11 flown by Capt. Mieczyslaw Medwecki fell away having suffered serious battle damage, and the commander of the "City of Krakow" Group was killed. Gnys was now also under attack, but a few seconds later he shot at a "Stuka" piloted by Lt. Branderburg. From the German aircraft there appeared some smoke, but the aircraft managed to escape into the clouds and returned to Nieder-Ellguth airfield. Gnys did not return to his airfield, but instead flew directly to the German border. A few minutes later, Gnys noticed a formation of two Do-17E bombers from KG 77, probably returning from the Krakow bombing. The Polish fighter pilot attacked the bombers with the advantage of altitude. After a few passes, both Do-17E bombers crashed in the country village of Zurada, near the city of Olkusz. One of the German bombers had the call sign "3Z+FR" on its fuselage. All six German crew members were killed, one was later identified as Uffz. Klose. On his return home to base Gnys met a lone He 111, but his guns were out of ammunition.

There is however, a controversion as for this victory. According to Marius Emmerling, basing on German wartime sources, two Do 17Es from 7./KG 77 indeed fell near Żurada, but it was caused by the Polish anti-aircraft artillery, which damaged one Do 17, and next it collided with another one. The combat, in which Medwecki was shot down, took place in 5:30-6:00 AM, and, according to this author, Gnys fired only at Ju 87, but did not shoot it nor did he meet Do 17s. Other authors however claim, that a damage to Do 17, which caused collision, might have been scored by Gnyś [Marius Emerling: "Pierwszy zestrzał w kampanii wrześniowej 1939 r. - Mit ppor.pil. Władysława Gnysia" in: Lotnictwo Wojskowe Nr.5/2002 (in Polish); Letters to editor in: Lotnictwo Wojskowe Nr.6/2002 ] .

Again in September 1939, Sec.Lt. Wladyslaw Gnys personally scored again, this time a He-111. On the sixth of the month, while other sources give the date as the morning of the ninth of September, Sergeants Leopold Flanek and Tadeusz Arabski were engaged in an aerial combat. During this engagement Flanek's plane was heavily damaged but was able to return to Kraczewice airfield. Tadeusz Arabski was able to share a single kill of a He-111 bomber.

References

Citation
last = Tyminski
first = Dariusz
title = First Allied Victory in WW2
date = October 8 1998
url = http://lonestar.texas.net/~snolep/fighter/index02.htm
accessdate =

Awards

* Croix de Guerre
* Distinguished Flying Cross
* Krzyż Walecznych (two times)
* Virtuti Militari