317 'Wilno' Squadron was formed on Feb 15th, 1941 at RAF Acklington in Northumberland. They recieved their first planes, 10 mark 1 Hurricanes on Feb 22nd. It took until late April for the Squadron to be declared operational and with their new operational status came a move to RAF Ouston, near Newcastle, providing protection for the Allied shipping channels off the East Coast.
317 Squadron moved a couple of times over the proceeding months, first to RAF Colerne in Wiltshire and then to Fairwood Common, Swansea before arriving in Exeter on August 6th,1941. Shortly after arriving in Exeter 317 squadron were equipped with the Mk II Hurricane. It was not untill October 1941 that they would finally get their hands on the iconic Spitfire, from which our team draws its name.
317 Squadron were intially tasked with defending the city of Exeter as well as providing cover for allied shipping. By the end of 1941 the Squadron had flown in over 2,000 sorties, amassing 2,617 flying hours. Armed with the Spitfires at the end of 1941, they began offensive operations in 1942, taking part in offensive strikes on targets on the continent as well as providing escorts to bombing raids on enemy shipping in a bid to keep allied shipping channels safe.
317 Squadron
1942 saw one of the worst days during the war for 317 Squadron, when on March 17th, returning from operations in France, fighter pilots hit sevre weather off the South Coast of England. Running low on fuel Squadron leader Brzezinski attempted to land at Bold Head but was tracically killed crashing into rocks. Other members of the squadron were able to ditch their planes into nearby fields while those with more fuel were able to land at various near by airfields. In all, 317 squadron suffered 1 fatality, 6 seriously injuried and 8 Spitfires destroyed and another 2 seriously damaged,
317 Squadron remained at Exeter Airfield for 2 years, before being moved to RAF Heston in London in July 1943. They followed allied troops to the continent arriving in Belgium in 1944 before eventaully ending up in Germany in 1945.
They were officially disbanded on January 3rd, 1947, while based at RAF Portreath in Cornwall. During the war effort they flew a total of 10,251 sorties in 14,352 flying hours. They are credited with shooting down or destroying; 48 enemy aircraft, one 500 tonne ship, 595 motor vehicles, 13 locomotives and 111 railways cars, 17 self propelled guns, 30 barges and tugs and 17 military buildings.
25 brave pilots paid the ultimate price while a further 2 were MIA and 5 taken prisoner of war. 59 aircraft were lost and a further 25 damaged.
317 'Wilno' Squadron, Sept 1942.
Ground L-R; Piotr Kuryłłowicz, Stanisław Bochniak, NN, Stanisław Elmerych, Stanisław Brzeski, Adam Kolczyński, Stanisław Łukaszewicz, Jerzy Mencel, Marian Trzebiński, Stanisław Skalski, Przesław Sadowski, Elgin Scott (mechanic), Roman Hrycak, NN, Kazimierz Rutkowski, Ryszard Lewczyński;
Wing L-R: Piotr Hanzelka. Kazimierz Sztramko, Jan Malinowski, Zygmunt Słomski
