Polish Ace and a Spitfire and Mustangs Eugeniusz Horbaczewski was born in 1917 in Kiev, but spent his childhood in Poland. His family moved to Brzesc over the Bug river. Since his early years Horbaczewski was fascinated by aviation. First, he built flying models, but as he matured, he started glider courses, quickly earning his class A and B ratings. On 14 August, 1935 he received his Bezmiechowa glider C rating. Next, he went to Officer Flying School in Deblin, where under the instructor Witold Urbanowicz he was awarded the rank of Pilot, Second Leutnant. In September of 1939 Horbaczewski did not take part in any aerial battles against the Luftwaffe. On September 17th, with a large group of Polish aviators, he crossed the Romanian border and via Yugoslavia, Greece and France, arrived in Britain. After completing fighter training in British aircraft he was assigned to fly "Spitfires" with the Polish 303rd Squadron. To his squadron mates, Horbaczewski was also known as "Dziubek". Five of his confirmed victories took place over North Africa. He was killed in 1944 when 12 Polish fighters very successfully attacked a group of 60 German fighters, achieving 16 confirmed victories, one probable victory, and they damaged an additional three German planes (16 ---- 1 ---- 3). He was the only Polish loss in this spectacular engagement. He was posthumously promoted from Kapitan to Major. WW II ACE STORIES Polish WWII Aces
