Issues with claims by Capt. W Lanowski PAF

[esc201faem]

Good evening
Just got in the mail the book OUT IN FRONT A Polish Fighter Pilots dramatic air war by Witold Lanny Lanowski who flew in the PAF, RAF and USAAF. my problem is the mention of two kill credits with the RAF .but so far I have found no reference in any of the book i have to include C. Shore Books on Aces. Or I am missing something here?
He served in No.317 and later in No.302 Polish Air Force but found no claims from him there, all his USAAF claims are there and mentioned. Any input ?

Santiago

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

You're missing something! See: Frank Olynyk's, Stars And Bars (p.393).

LANOWSKI, Witold Aleksander.

According to the first edition of Aces High, he was credited with two victories while serving with the RAF. However, no documentation can be found, and he told me that he was told the he had had two victories confirmed while in the RAF, but that he knew nothing beyond that of these two victories.

Col.

[keith A]

Agreed. Lanowski never gives any details of any claims with the RAF, including probables or damaged. None of my sources indicate he made claims of any type, but was certainly an experienced pilot although I am not sure of how much of this was combat related. He did not see action in Poland or France as far as I am aware. By the time he was attached/transferred to the USAAF. He appears to have blossomed under US command.

I know that he appears to have had issues with the Polish Government-in-exile which impacted on his career when he arrived in the UK.

regards

Keith

[esc201faem]

Good Morning
Thank you Col. and Keith for your comments I sure miss it, since I was looking under RAF not USAAF. but if he had two kills under RAF command he would have been in Shores Other Eagles book for the pilot with 2-4 claims to their credits. hhmmmmmmm......

[edwest2]

There should be a paper trail for this man.


http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/237987

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

There is a very long paper trail on Lanowski!

In his book, Aces & Wingmen II (Aviation-Usk,1989, Vol.1, pp.50-60), Danny Morris wrote up an 11-page, Illustrated biography of Witold Lanowski. He detailed his life story, including his troubles with the Polish, RAF and USAAF authorities.There are lengthy extracts, seemingly from Lanowski's Log Books (with combat reports), on his USAAF service.

Lanowski's RAF service included, service as an instructor, then to 308 Squadron, joining them in December 1941. His subsequent postings were, 317 (Polish) Sqn in January 1942, Fighter Leaders School in April 1943 and 302 Sqn., as a flight commander, in May 1943.
His USAAF service details are well recorded, but here's the rub on his service with the RAF.

"Lanowski flew his first RAF sortie on April 2, 1942 and until February 22, 1944 flew a total of 97 combat missions totalling 220 hours and destroyed two German aircraft."

Morris does not elaborate (nor does Lanowski), on these two victories, he just mentions them in passing.

There is much more to be said on Lanowski, including his later UK naturalisation, and subsequent re-entry into the RAF (Including surviving a take-off crash at Fassberg, Germany, in 147 Sqn Venom WE385, on 13 May, 1955*).

* http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/20574

Col.

[keith A]

"Aces and Wingmen" was where I encountered Lanowski first. It always surprised me that he failed to register any victories during his spell as an operational pilot. His RAF career seems undistinguished in statistical terms, but he must have been a useful pilot to gain promotion to flight commander.

[Alfred.MONZAT]

What about his claims with the PAF, with which unit and when did they were scored?

[XjrTaz8615]

Hi, to answer some of your queries... unfortunately I have no ‘official’ records or documents for the 2 kills my father claimed to have with the PAF prior to his USAAF stint..!
I have some manuscript notes where it says he shot down 2 German recon planes first week of September campaign, other than that I have no clue where or when or with which squadron they were.
I have dads personal notes where he mentions 2 with PAF and 4 ‘official’ with USAAF.
he also had several documented unclaimed kills including 4.6 ground kills he never claimed.
Chris shores acknowledged his 6, as did W Hess in several publications.
If anyone that knows of my fathers story and his persecution by the ignorant Polish high command, especially a certain person named Bajan who wrote and published ‘Lista Bajana’ that everyone takes as gospel for Polish pilots kills, even though there are inaccuracies in the numbers.
To answer Keith A, yes, dad was a very ‘useful’ pilot. He was an instructor at officer school when the war broke out, and even Skalski stated that dad was a more skilled pilot than himself...skilled to the point that both Gabreski and Zemke would argue over who’s wing dad would fly...

[esc201faem]

Originally Posted by XjrTaz8615

Hi, to answer some of your queries... unfortunately I have no ‘official’ records or documents for the 2 kills my father claimed to have with the PAF prior to his USAAF stint..!
I have some manuscript notes where it says he shot down 2 German recon planes first week of September campaign, other than that I have no clue where or when or with which squadron they were.
I have dads personal notes where he mentions 2 with PAF and 4 ‘official’ with USAAF.
he also had several documented unclaimed kills including 4.6 ground kills he never claimed.
Chris shores acknowledged his 6, as did W Hess in several publications.
If anyone that knows of my fathers story and his persecution by the ignorant Polish high command, especially a certain person named Bajan who wrote and published ‘Lista Bajana’ that everyone takes as gospel for Polish pilots kills, even though there are inaccuracies in the numbers.
To answer Keith A, yes, dad was a very ‘useful’ pilot. He was an instructor at officer school when the war broke out, and even Skalski stated that dad was a more skilled pilot than himself...skilled to the point that both Gabreski and Zemke would argue over who’s wing dad would fly...

Hello
Thank you for your input about your father, since reading about him some time ago I been puzzled about his claim list. Yes i do understand that the List Bajana should not be taken 100 percent since they are error and not all information was available at the time it was written and publish. also Polish pilot scores were noted based on the type of scoring system that the PAF, RAF,USAAF and French Air Force had during the war. example the USAAF went down to fractions while the French was a simple Share to a individual claim. Thanks for joining the discussion.
cheers
Santiago