The Air Force of the Polish Army went to combat at the last stage of the
Lublin-Brest Offensive. Between August 23 and September 2, 1944, the 1st Air Force Division supported the 1st Polish Army on
bridgeheads near
Warka and
Magnuszew by making 66 combat flights. After September 10, 2nd Bomber Reg. received an order to support an attack in the direction of
Praga district of
Warsaw, but due to bad weather the regiment didn't take part in the battle. On the following night, between September 11 and September 12, the 2nd Regiment attacked
19th Panzer Division in the area of
Nowe Bródno dropping 70 50-kg bombs, 1819 bombs of smaller weight and 51
flares during 50 flights. After capturing Praga, the 1st Air Force Division supported the attack of
Polish 3rd Infantry Division in the area of
Czerniaków, from September 15 to September 19, and after September 19, attacked German artillery in the area of
Ujazdów Park,
Botanical Garden,
Łazienki Park,
Pole Mokotowskie,
Siekierki and the
Warsaw University of Technology. During the
Warsaw Uprising all units of the 1st Air Force Division made 609 flights. Within this number, 442 flights were made by the 2nd Regiment – 259 of them were attacks on German positions (the regiment dropped 50 tons of bombs) – and 183 were supply flights for fighters in Warsaw (33 tons of food and 72 boxes of weapons and ammunition). At the same time the 103rd Independent Liaison Aviation Squadron operating from
Soplicowo made reconnaissance flights for the 1st Polish Army. In the next stage of the war, between November 1, 1944, and January 13, 1945, the 1st AF Division, renamed as the 4th Mixed AF Division, took part in preparation for the
Vistula-Oder Offensive. In 201 flights, it collected data about the locations of German forces in the area of the 1st Polish Army's planned attack, to the outer limit of 80–120 km behind the front line. Apart from that, each regiment of the division had its own separate tasks. The 1st Fighter Regiment was fighting against the
Luftwaffe's air reconnaissance while the 2nd Regiment between November 1 and 3, made 130 flights bombing German positions in the areas of
Sadów,
Dąbrowa,
Łomianki and
Dziekanów Polski. On January 14, the Vistula-Oder Offensive started, but due to cloudy weather, until January 19, only the 2nd Regiment took part in combat, bombing enemies' positions in the areas of
Modlin,
Leszno,
Błonie and
Sochaczew. The 3rd Ground-Attack Regiment joined the battle on January 16, and under the cover of the 1st Fighter Regiment, attacked German positions in the area of
Modlin,
Adamówek,
Palmiry,
Dziekanów,
Sieraków and
Kaliszki supporting the 47th Soviet Army. After the liberation of Warsaw the 2nd and 3rd Regiments were attacking retreating enemy troops while the 1st Regiment was defending Warsaw as well as reconstructed bridges over the
Vistula after the Luftwaffe attacks. During the first period of the Vistula-Oder Offensive the 1st Reg. made 221 combat flights, the 2nd – 107 and the 3rd Reg – 81. Apart from the combat, units of the 13th Transport Aviation Regiment delivered 4620 kg of weapons and ammunition and 176 officers to the western bank of the Vistula during 666 flights. Due to the fast advance of Allied forces in the West, the 4 Mixed Division was moved to the Sanniki airfield, and later to
Bydgoszcz. From there, aircraft of the division began the next stage of the Vistula-Oder Offensive against the
Pomeranian Wall. First, the 3rd Regiment went into action. From February 4 to February 8, the regiment made reconnaissance flights over the Wall in the areas of
Szczecinek,
Wałcz,
Górnica,
Barwice,
Czaplinek,
Węgorzewo Koszalińskie and
Białogard, under the cover of the 282nd Soviet Fighter Division. Between February 9 and February 15, the 3rd Regiment attacked German troops surrounded in the area of
Piła during 141 flights, and collected data about the enemy during 62 reconnaissance flights. Later on February 15 and February 16, the 3rd and 1st Regiments were attacking the remains of German forces retreating from the Piła area to the rear of the 1st Polish Army near
Tarnówka. On February 19, those two units attacked ground targets in the area of
Orla,
Wierzchowo,
Złocieniec and
Szczecinek. Before that, on February 14, the 1st Regiment made reconnaissance flights over the airfield and eastern part of Piła. On February 20, the 3rd Regiment attacked rail transports in Szczecinek and Złocieniec. Apart from units of the 4th Division, the 103rd Independent Liaison Aviation Squadron also took part in the flights, bombing the fortifications of the Wall on the night of February 8 to February 9. At this stage of the Offensive the 3rd Regiment made 391 combat flights (161 of them were reconnaissance flights), the 1st Regiment made 124 flights and the 2nd Regiment made 51 flights. The whole 4th Division destroyed over 300 wheeled vehicles, 21 locomotives, over 140 horse wagons, 163 railroad cars and much other military equipment. In this same period the Division lost six flying personnel and 5 aircraft (2 Yak-9, 2 Il-2 and 1 Po-2). On March 1, the 3rd Reg. covered by the 1st Reg. attacked the German defence position on the southern edge of
Bojursko in the area of
Żabin, and on Hill 156.6, in preparation for the offensive of the 1st Polish Army in that direction. Later on the same day the two units supported an attack of their land forces in the area of
Wierzchowo, Żabin and
Żabinek. For the next two days the units supported an attack of the 1st Polish Army with direct fire and reconnaissance. During the Battle of
Kołobrzeg aircraft of the 4th Division were relocated to
Mirosławiec. Among encountered difficulties were cloudy weather and problems with fuel supply (especially with the B-70
gasoline used by the Po-2). Due to such circumstances units of the 4th Division were flying only between March 9 – March 11 and March 13 – March 15, (the 2nd Reg. equipped with Po-2 flew only on the night of March 11 – March 12) while battle continued from March 5 to March 17. On those few days the 4th Division made 127 combat flights dropping 25 tons of bombs, sinking 1 transport ship and 4
barges, and destroying 9 batteries of mortars, 3 batteries of field artillery, 8 batteries of anti-aircraft artillery and many points of German defence. After the battle, between March 19 and April 8, units of the 4th Mixed AF Division patrolled the shore of
Baltic Sea between Kołobrzeg and
Dziwnów, and made reconnaissance flights over German positions on
Wolin and
Chrząszczewska Island. The 1st Regiment also protected positions of the 1st Polish Army from attacks of the Luftwaffe. This same regiment conducted reconnaissance flights over the Chrząszczewska Island
V-2 rocket launcher, later heavily damaged by the 3rd Regiment. Aircraft of the 2nd Regiment and 103rd Squadron patrolled
Western Pomerania, tracking remnants of the German troops and giving
coordinates to land forces. The last great operation of the Air Force of the Polish Army in World War II was the
Battle of Berlin. On April 14, the 4th Mixed Division was regrouped to the
Baranówko airfield located 35 km to the east of the river
Odra. On the night of April 15, just before the offensive, the 2nd Regiment attacked German positions near
Bad Freienwalde,
Neu Ranft,
Neu Rüdnitz and
Alt Reetz. On April 16, the Allied land forces began the
Battle of the Oder-Neisse. In the morning of the first day of the operation the aircraft were useless due to thick fog over the Odra valley. In the evening, only a small group of Il-2's from the 3rd Regiment under protection of fighters from the 1st Regiment attacked German positions on the left bank of the river near Neu Rüdnitz. The situation was similar the next day, but on April 18 and April 19, air force actions were much more intensive. Aircraft of the 3rd Reg. gave close support to the attacking 1st Polish Army while pilots of the 1st Reg. fought with Luftwaffe and made reconnaissance flights for the 1st Polish and 61st Soviet Armies. The 103rd Squadron delivered written orders from the Soviet command posts to field commanders at the front and evacuated wounded soldiers on their way back. During this phase of battle Poles made 330 combat flights. In the next stage of the final battle, between April 20 and April 24, the 4th Mixed AF Division provided air cover, especially during the crossing of the
Alte Oder and
Ruppiner Canal. At this time Il-2's attacked the German forces during the attack of the 1st Polish Army in the areas of
Bernöwe,
Oranienburg,
Kremmen and
Nauen. During this phase of battle Poles made 305 combat flights including 72 of them by night. On April 24, the Polish 1st Mixed Air Force Corps, commanded by
Brig. Gen. Filip Aglacow, completed its relocation to airfields in the area of
Myślibórz, but only the 2nd Ground-Attack Division and the 3rd Fighter Division because the 1st Bomb Division was still training in central Poland. Those two units increased the strength of the main group of the Polish Air Force almost four times up to four fighter regiments, four ground-attack regiments and one bomber regiment. On the first day only fighters from the 3rd Division took part in the battle covering units crossing the
Hohenzollern Canal near
Hennigsdorf during 41 combat flights. Between April 25 and April 29, Polish aircraft discovered a threat from
Army Detachment Steiner. The most intensive day of combat between the Polish aviation 1st Army and Steiner's group was April 26. On this day the 2nd Division and 3rd Regiment made 412 combat flights attacking German troops near
Löwensberg,
Zehdenick,
Bercksdorf and
Nassenheide in support of units on the bridgehead over the Ruppiner Canal, while the fighters of the 3rd Division and the 1st Regiment made 128 combat flights on that day, fighting against the Luftwaffe that tried to help Steiner's Group. After the destruction of Army Detachment Steiner all units of the 1st Mixed AF Division and two divisions of the 1st Mixed AF Corps supported the attack of the 1st Polish Army to the
Elbe River. Polish land forces reached the river on May 3. On the same date, in the area of
Havelberg and
Wulkau, Polish aircraft met with groups of
P-51 Mustangs of
United States Eighth Air Force in the air three times. On the next day the commander of the
1st Belorussian Front,
Georgy Zhukov gave an order to stop all combat missions of the air force except reconnaissance. Apart from those main combat units of the AF of the PA other, smaller units like the 17th Liaison Aviation Regiment and the 13th Transport Aviation Regiment were making many flights transporting officers and supply. Also, the 12th Medical Aviation Regiment took part in an operation evacuating 1296 soldiers of the
2nd Polish Army to hospitals in
Poznań.
Contribution of the Air Force of the Polish Army to World War II The main task of the Air Force of the Polish Army was support to land forces. Here are the Air Force's statistics for this task: Ground attacks: • 13,620 flights including 5,800 combat flights • 1.300 wheeled vehicles destroyed • 290 railroad cars destroyed • 28 locomotives destroyed • 25 tanks destroyed • 4 aircraft destroyed on airfields • 1 transport ship sunk • 4 barges sunk • over 400 field artillery batteries destroyed • 25 mortar batteries destroyed • 371 buildings burned Air combat: • 16 aircraft shot down in 57 battles Casualties: • 94 troops including 25
KIA, rest DOW (died of wounds), • 36 aircraft destroyed • 24 aircraft damaged ==Transformation==