Eugeniusz Horbaczewski was born in Kiev on 28 September 1917, then his family moved to Brest, Poland. In 1938 he entered the Cadet Flying School in Dęblin, from which he graduated in 1939.

 

During the Invasion of Poland in 1939 he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, but he saw no combat action. He evacuated through Romania, Yugoslavia and Greece to France, still without a combat assignment. He then evacuated to Britain in June 1940.

 

After training on RAF aircraft, he was posted to the Polish No. 303 Squadron, flying the Spitfire Mk.V. In February 1943 he volunteered for the Polish Fighting Team, also known as the "Skalski's Circus", attached to the Desert Air Force. Fighting from March 1943 in the Tunisia Campaign, the team was attached to No. 145 RAF Squadron.

 

Remaining in Africa after the Flight was disbanded, he was transferred to No 601 Squadron, prior to becoming a flight commander in No. 43 Squadron RAF. He commanded the flight from May 1943 and became Squadron Leader (being one of three Poles commanding British squadrons) in August. He fought with No. 43 squadron over Malta, Sicily and Italy. In October 1942, he handed over command and returned to Britain.

 

On 16 February 1944 Horbaczewski took command of the Polish No. 315 Squadron, flying the new P-51 Mustang Mk. III.

 

On 18 August 1944, Eugeniusz led his squadron of 12 aircraft over France on a 'Rodeo' mission, despite being ill with flu. The Poles, using an element of surprise, attacked a group of 60 Fw 190s, over an airfield near Beauvais. 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 Valennes.

 

He was awarded the following medals:

 

Polish

• Virtuti Militari V class

• Virtuti Militari IV class

• Cross of Valour (4 times)

 

British

• Distinguished Service Order

• Distinguished Flying Cross (with bar)

​

Eugeniusz Horbaczewski was a Polish fighter pilot, a flying ace of World War II, also known as "Dziubek" (literally the diminutive of 'beak' in Polish). According to official lists, Horbaczewski was the third highest scoring Polish fighter ace, with 16.5 confirmed kills (16 individual and one shared) and one probable kill.

​

Source: Kosciuszko Squad post on Facebook

 

​

​

Copyright: Horbaczewski family

​

​​​