Eugeniusz Horbaczewski (28 September 1917 – 18 August 1944), also known as "Dziubek" (the

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

of 'the beak' in Polish), was a Polish fighter pilot and

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. According to official lists, Horbaczewski was the third highest scoring Polish fighter ace, with 16.5 confirmed aerial victories (16 individual and one shared) and one probable. He was the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...

IV class and V class, four times the Cross of Valour, and the British

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

and Distinguished Flying Cross (twice).

Biography

Horbaczewski was born in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now Ukraine), but grew up in Brest. At school, he completed a

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sports, air sport in which pilots fly glider aircraft, unpowered aircraft known as Glider (sailplane), gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmospher ...

course. In 1938 he entered

cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

flying school in

Dęblin Dęblin is a town at the Confluence (geography), confluence of Vistula and Wieprz rivers, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Dęblin is the part of the agglomeration with adjacent towns of Ryki and Puławy, which together have over 100,000 inhabitan ...

, from which he graduated in 1939.Pawlak 2009, p. 234. During the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in 1939 he was made a Podporucznik (2nd lieutenant) but saw no combat. He was evacuated through

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and Greece to France. Still without a combat assignment he was then evacuated on 27 June 1940 to Britain.Krzystek 2012, p. 225. After training on

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) aircraft, on 21 August 1941 Horbaczewski was posted to the Polish No. 303 Squadron, flying the Spitfire Mk.V. He probably shot down his first aircraft, a

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

fighter, on 6 November over France. His first confirmed kill was a

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (Shrike) is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the ...

on 4 April 1942. He shot down a Bf 109 on 16 April and a Fw 190 on 19 August.Sikora 2014, p. 169. In February 1943 Horbaczewski volunteered for the Polish Fighting Team, also known as the " Skalski's Circus", attached to the

Desert Air Force The Desert Air Force (DAF), also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, the Western Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF), was an Allies of World War II, Allied tactical air force ...

. Fighting from March 1943 in the

Tunisia Campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. The ...

, the flight were attached to No. 145 Squadron RAF.Śliżewski, Sojda 2009, p. 36. On 28 March he shot down a

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...

,Śliżewski, Sojda 2009, p. 92. then four Bf 109s (on 2 April,Śliżewski, Sojda 2009, p. 99. 6 April,Śliżewski, Sojda 2009, p. 108. and two on 22 April).Śliżewski, Sojda 2009, p. 160. On 6 April his Spitfire Mk.IX was hit and started burning, but as he prepared to jump the wind extinguished the fire and he managed to land on an airfield.Śliżewski, Sojda 2009, p. 109. Remaining in Africa after the flight was disbanded, Horbaczewski was transferred to No. 601 Squadron, before becoming a flight commander in

No. 43 Squadron RAF Number 43 Squadron, nicknamed ''the Fighting Cocks'', was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron originally formed in April 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It saw distinguished service during two world wars, producing numerous Flying ace, ...

. He commanded the flight from May 1943 then in August he became a

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

(being one of three Poles commanding British squadrons). He fought with No. 43 squadron over Malta,

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and Italy. On 4 September he shot down a Fw 190 and on 16 September two more. In October he handed over command and returned to Britain.Zieliński 1994, p. 12. On 16 February 1944 Horbaczewski took command of the Polish No. 315 Squadron, flying the new

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

Mk. III. On 12 June 1944 he shot down a Fw 190, and on 30 July one Bf 109 individually and one with his wingman (counted as 0.5 'share'). During this period, he also shot down four

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

s.Sikora 2014, p. 170-171.

Death

On 18 August 1944 Horbaczewski led his squadron of 12 aircraft over France on a 'Rodeo' mission, despite being ill with flu. The squadron, using the element of surprise, attacked a group of 60 Fw 190s of ''Jagdgeschwaders'' 2 and 26 over an airfield near

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; ) is a town and Communes of France, commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise Departments of France, département, in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, north of Paris. The Communes of France, commune o ...

. Horbaczewski quickly shot down three Focke-Wulfs, but went missing during the dogfight. In 1947, the wreck of his Mustang with his body was found crashed near Velennes (Oise).Paul Hamlin, Coolham Airfield Remembered, Private Pressing, Sussex (1996) Exact circumstances are unclear; he was probably shot down in combat by an aircraft of II./ JG 26. The squadron was credited with shooting down 16 aircraft in this encounter, with their only loss being the squadron leader (according to German documents, eight Fw 190 of JG 26 and four of JG 2 were destroyed).

Awards

IV class (

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

)

V class
Cross of Valour (Poland) 4 times

(posthumously)
UK DFC w bar BAR

Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers, and since 1993 to other ranks, of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, services, and formerly to officers of other ...

and bar

References

External links

WW II Ace Stories – Eugeniusz "Dziubek" Horbaczewski and his Last Battle

Bibliography

* Tadeusz Jerzy Krzystek, Anna Krzystek: ''Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii w latach 1940–1947 łącznie z Pomocniczą Lotniczą Służbą Kobiet (PLSK-WAAF)''. Sandomierz: Stratus, 2012, p. 225. * Jerzy Pawlak: ''Absolwenci Szkoły Orląt: 1925–1939''. Warszawa: Retro-Art, 2009, p. 234. * Piotr Sikora: ''Asy polskiego lotnictwa''. Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza Alma-Press. 2014, pp. 167–173. * Grzegorz Śliżewski, Grzegorz Sojda: ''Cyrk Skalskiego. Przyczynek do monografii''. Warszawa: ZP Grupa Sp. z o.o., 2009 * Józef Zieliński: ''Asy polskiego lotnictwa''. Warszawa: Agencja lotnicza ALTAIR, 1994, pp. 12–13. ISBN 83862172. {{DEFAULTSORT:Horbaczewski, Eugeniusz 1917 births 1944 deaths Military personnel from Kyiv Polish expatriates in Ukraine Polish World War II flying aces Polish World War II pilots Royal Air Force squadron leaders Polish military personnel killed in World War II Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Aviators killed by being shot down Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Missing in action of World War II Aerial disappearances of military personnel in action Formerly missing people