The German attack on Poland began in the early hours of September 1st, from the air, when three German Stukas bombed the control posts of the important Dirschau Bridge on the Vistula River, in order to prevent it from being blown up by Poles.
Flying at a height of 10 meters, in the morning fog, the German squadron, led by Lt. Col. Bruno Diley, attacked the Polish outposts. The outposts, along with firing wire, were destroyed. Two hours later, however, the Poles managed to blow up the bridge. The time was 05.25. The war was just beginning.
The German Air Force was organized into two air fleets. The 1st, under Kässerling, was based in N. Prussia and had 347 Me 109 fighters, 64 Me 110s, and 611 He 111, Do 17, and Ju 87 bombers. The 4th Air Fleet, under Leer, based in Silesia, had 227 Me 109 fighters and 569 He 111, Do 17, Ju 87 and Hs 123 bombers. There were also reconnaissance Squadrons, and about 500 more air cooperation aircraft, directly subordinate to the invading armies.
On the other hand, the Poles, lagging both quantitatively and qualitatively, also committed the error of developing their air forces in a wrong way. Their main forces formed a pursuit brigade, with only 55 obsolete PZL 11 fighters, and a bomber brigade with 36 state-of-the-art, for the era PZL 37s, 50 PZL 23 light bombers and about 20 old RWD 8 biplanes, military cooperation. The rest of their air force was allocated directly to the direct support of the army.
Thus, the Łódź Army was supported by 22 PZL 7 and 11 fighters, 10 PZL 23 light bombers and 18 old military cooperation and liaison aircraft. The Kraków Army was supported by 21 fighters, 10 light bombers and 23 air cooperation aircraft. The Carpathian Army was supported by 10 fighters, 10 light bombers and 6 military cooperation. The Pomorz (Pomeranian) Army was endowed with 22 fighters, 10 light bombers and 20 military cooperation aircraft.
The Poznan Army also had 22 fighters and 10 light bombers and 17 military cooperation aircraft. Finally, the Narev military command had 10 PZL 7 fighters, 10 light bombers and 10 cooperation aircraft.
In this way, the Polish command allocated the volume of its aircraft to seven, essentially independent groups, which could not support each other and which would be fatally destroyed one after the other. The logic of the Polish staff to have "everyone from something" worked disastrously in the air as well as on the ground.
The German plan for air operations provided for the surprise attack of Polish aircraft on the ground, already on the first day of the war. However, the plan remained on paper, since the Poles had already dispersed their aircraft to dozens of auxiliary airfields. The weather also did not help, since on the first day of the war thick clouds covered the battlefield.
At first light on September 1, the Lufwaffe spread its wings over hapless Poland. The first downing of the Second World War occurred just before 06.00. The "Imelman" Squadron had taken off about 35 Stukas with the aim of Krakow airport. The target was bombarded with no appreciable results. On the way back, however, the German aircraft accidentally spotted a Polish auxiliary airfield, headquarters of the 121st Polish Pursuit Squadron.
Immediately her commander, Captain Mircislav, attempted to take off to confront the raiders, along with Lieutenant Gnis. He had barely reached a height of 300 meters when a Stuka opened fire on him. The PZL blew up. The perpetrator was Lt. Col. Frank Niubert. The second Polish pilot managed to gain height. He spotted two Do 17 bombers which he immediately attacked, shooting them both down.
The day did not seem to start well for the Lufwaffe. It would probably go on worse. A Squadron of He 111 bombers attempted to bomb targets near Warsaw. But there were concentrated the Polish fighters of the pursuit brigade, which intercepted the German aircraft, shooting down six of them. Fortunately for the Germans, Me 110 chasers arrived in the area, which in turn engaged the PZLs. In the dogfight that followed, 4 PZLs were shot down.
The Polish pilots only managed to seriously damage the aircraft of the German ace Graben, who already had seven victories in Spain. At the same time, the Lufwaffe launched fierce attacks against coastal targets, on the Baltic coast, but also in the southern sector of the front. In the most successful attack of the day, 28 Polish training aircraft were destroyed on the ground at Rakowice.
Later that day, German bombers, escorted by Me 109 and 110 aircraft, again flew towards Warsaw. As soon as the German formations were spotted, 30 Polish fighters rushed to intercept them. A fierce aerial battle ensued, in which the Poles prevailed beyond all expectations. German bombers intercepted.
A total of 14 German aircraft were shot down against 5 Polish ones. The hero of the day was the Polish Lt. Col. Pamula, who, having shot down a He 111 and a Stuka, rammed a Me 109. German fighters shot down 5 more Polish fighters in the Modlin Army area and damaged 24 more. Despite their Pyrrhic victory, it was clear that the Polish Air Force would soon be exhausted.
At the southern end of the front, in the 4th Air Fleet area of operations, Richthofen commanded the Special Operations Air Division. Richthofen had at his disposal about 150 Stukas, 40 Hs 123s, 23 Do 17s and 47 Me 109s. With these aircraft, faithful to the doctrine he developed in Spain, he launched devastating raids against the Polish troops, in direct cooperation with the ground forces. Every move, every command and communications station, every warehouse, was the target of Richtofen's aircraft.
In the afternoon a Polish cavalry brigade was spotted rushing to the front to reinforce the almost destroyed sections of the front line.
The brigade never arrived. The men, horses, vehicles and armored vehicles at his disposal were "cut to pieces" by the German "hawks". The Hs 123 biplanes, throwing syrizas on the ground, harvested with the machine guns, releasing the small improvised napalm bombs, the "flambos". More than 90 sorties were made by Richthofen's aircraft, annihilating the Polish brigade.
The second day of September started with fierce battles on the airwaves. That morning a Me 109 Squadron covered the bombers of the Richthofen Special Missions Division. A swarm, led by Lt. Col. Waldemar von Rohn, was flying at an altitude of about 1,000 meters in the area of Łódź, in Polish Silesia.
Fortune smiled on the Germans. “I was leading the swarm in the Lodz area at an altitude of about 1,000 meters when I spotted two Polish fighters. I attacked the nearest one. My shots must have hit him in the engine because he immediately started to fall. We followed him, "sticking" to his tail. We were surprised to discover below us an excellently camouflaged airfield. We would never have discovered it if we weren't flying so low. However, from this height we could clearly distinguish five enemy bombers.
Meanwhile, the aircraft I had hit nosedived into the ground and caught fire. Its pilot jumped out and ran for cover. We flew over the bombers, at a very low altitude, and hit them. All five were soon engulfed in flames. We made another "pass". Four other fighters were there. And these were soon on fire, while the ground crews ran like ants under attack in their nest."
This is how von Rohn described the specific attack later in his report, but on his return to base he was lucky, spotting four Polish bombers in the air. The German pilots immediately attacked and shot down all four. On that day, Rohn's unit succeeded in destroying, on the ground and in the air, a total of 16 Polish aircraft, without loss.
Meanwhile, Polish bombers attempted to reinforce the hard-pressed ground divisions. They were ordered to shell the motorized German phalanxes. At the southern end of the front 24 PZL-23 Karas attacked units of the German 14th Army. The Polish aircraft, however, flying in antiquated tight formations, were a prime target for German anti-aircraft. In total, seven of them were shot down or severely damaged.
In the central sector of the front the Poles also attempted to counterattack in the air. However, they were heavily damaged, although they shot down a total of 21 German aircraft. The next day, the Germans attempted to bomb the PZL factories near Warsaw, but were again intercepted by 40 Polish fighters. In the ensuing battle, three Polish and three German aircraft were lost. Another 12 German aircraft, mostly military cooperation type Hs 126, were shot down that day.
The Lufwaffe, on the same day, turned its attention to direct support of friendly ground forces in the Danzig corridor. There, the Panzers had already broken up the Polish troops and were advancing in depth, with the aim of encircling the Polish Army of Pomorze and Łódź. Also, the German bombers destroyed the most valuable Polish warships in their ports. The Polish Squadrons, tasked with covering these two armies, fought fierce battles with the superior enemy forces. The Poles achieved four downs, but lost seven of their own aircraft.
On the afternoon of September 4th the Poles suffered even greater losses when they attempted to attack the German ground forces strangling their two armies with all the aircraft of their Bombardment Brigade. Polish bombers inflicted heavy casualties on the 4th Panzer Division, but lost 1/5 of their strength.
The next day (September 5), saw the collapse of the central Polish armies. The central front ceased to exist, and large pockets formed. Under these conditions, the Polish aircraft were withdrawn further back and their units were regrouped. The Polish Air Force continued to fight until 16 September. From that day until the end of operations very few aircraft were available, and these were used in a "stealth air war".
The Lufwaffe had "cleared" the Polish skies, but paying a respectable price. By the end of operations in Poland it had lost 285 aircraft and 327 airmen. In contrast, he succeeded in annihilating the Polish Air Force – about 600 Polish aircraft of all types were destroyed, except for a few that escaped to Romania.
The first air battle of the war had ended successfully for the "young hawks" of the Lufwaffe, but they only sharpened their claws in Poland, preparing for the biggest prey, which was called France.