Stanisław Skalski Stanisław Skalski ( 27 November 1915 – 12 November 2004 ) was a Polish fighter ace of the Polish Air Force in World War II , later rising to the rank of generał brygady . Stanisław Skalski was the top Polish fighter ace of the war and the first Allied fighter ace of the war , credited , according to official list , with 18 victories and two probable . Some sources , including Skalski himself , give a number of 22 victories . Biography . Stanisław Skalski was born on 27 October 1915 in Kodyma near Odessa , Russian Empire . After completing Pilot Training School in 1938 Skalski was ordered to the 142nd Fighter Squadron in Torun ( 142 eskadra " Toruńska " ) . On 1 September 1939 he attacked a German Henschel Hs 126 reconnaissance aircraft , which was eventually shot down by Marian Pisarek . Skalski then landed next to it , helped to bandage wounded crew members and arranged for them to be taken to a military hospital . By 16 September Skalski reached " ace " status , claiming a total of six German aircraft and making him the first Allied air ace of World War II . His claims consisted of one Junkers Ju 86 , two Dornier Do 17 , one Junkers Ju 87 , two Hs 126s and one Hs 126 shared ( official list credits him with four aircraft : two Do 17s , one Hs 126 , one Ju 87 and one Hs 126 shared ) . Soon after he fled the country with other Polish pilots to Romania , and from there via Beirut to France and after went on to fight with the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain . In August 1940 Pilot Officer Skalski joined 501 Squadron . From 30 August to 2 September 1940 he shot down a He 111 bomber and three Messerschmitt Bf 109 s . On 5 September Skalski himself was shot down . Skalski bailed out with severe burns that hospitalized him for six weeks . He returned to his unit in late October 1940 . During the Battle of Britain , he was credited with four planes shot down and one shared . In March 1941 he was assigned to the Polish 306 ( Polish ) Squadron , flying in " Circus " sorties over France . On 1 March 1942 , he became a flight commander in 316 ( Polish ) Squadron . On 29 April 1942 Flight Lieutenant Skalski was made Commanding Officer of the 317 ( Polish ) Squadron for five months . From November 1942 he was an instructor with No . 58 Operation Training Unit . In October 1943 he was given command of the Polish Fighting Team ( PFT ) , or so called " Cyrk Skalskiego " ( Skalski ' s Circus ) - a Special Flight consisting of fifteen experienced Polish fighter pilot volunteers . The Poles arrived at Bu Grara airfield , west of Tripoli in March 1943 and attached to 145 Squadron . The PFT took part in actions in Tripolitania and in Sicily . On 6 May 1943 the " Skalski Circus " fought its last combat . The unit has been disbanded after the conclusion of the North African campaign . During its two months on operations , the Polish pilots had claimed a total of 26 German and Italian aircraft shot down . Flight Lieutenant Skalski scored four aircraft , and Pilot Officer Eugeniusz Horbaczewski claimed five confirmed victories . Skalski then became commander of 601 ( County of London ) Squadron the first Pole to command an RAF Squadron . He then took part in the invasion of Sicily and invasion of Italy . From December 1943 to April 1944 Wing Commander Skalski commanded No . 131 Polish Fighter Wing . On 4 April 1944 he was appointed commander of No . 133 Polish Fighter Wing flying the Mustang Mk III . On 24 June 1944 Skalski scored two air victories over Rouen . He left for a tour of duty in the USA in September 1944 , returning in February 1945 to a staff position at No . 11 Group . After the war he returned to Poland in 1947 and joined the Air Force of the Polish Army . In 1948 however he was arrested by the communist regime under the false charge of espionage . Sentenced to death , he spent three years awaiting the execution , after which his sentence was changed to life imprisonment in Wronki Prison . After the end of Stalinism in Poland , in 1956 he was released , rehabilitated , and allowed to join the military . He served at various posts in the Headquarters of the Polish Air Forces . He wrote memoires of the 1939 campaign " Czarne krzyże nad Polską " ( " Black crosses over Poland " , 1957 ) . On 20 May 1968 he was nominated the secretary general of the Aeroklub Polski and on 10 April 1972 he retired . On 15 September 1988 he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General . In 1990 he met with the German pilot he had rescued on the first day of the war . Stanisław Skalski died in Warsaw on 12 November 2004 . Awards . Virtuti Militari , Golden Cross < br > Distinguished Flying Cross ( United Kingdom ) and two bars < br >