Original illustration of Supermarine Spitfire EN315, ZX-6, a Spitfire MkIXc that was piloted by Flight Lieutenant Stanisław Skalski of No. 145 Squadron RAF during the North African Campaign of the Second World War.
Skalski was the first Allied fighter ace of the war, scoring six victories in September 1939 during the German invasion of Poland. Following the fall of Poland he eventually found his way to Britain where he flew with No. 501 Squadron RAF during the Battle of Britain, during which he scored four more victories. In October 1942 Skalski was appointed as the Commanding Officer of the 'Polish Fighting Team' (nicknamed Skalski's Circus or Cyrk Skalskiego), a volunteer force who were attached to No. 145 Squadron RAF in North Africa from February to May 1943. Skalski's Circus established themselves as a feared group of pilots, scoring 25 victories for just one casualty.
With the Allied victory in North Africa the formation was disbanded, with Skalski reassigned to command No. 601 (City of London) Squadron (becoming the first Polish CO of a Royal Air Force squadron) and later No. 131 Polish Fighter Wing and No. 133 Polish Fighter Wing. By the end of the war he had scored at least 18 victories, and established himself as the highest-scoring Polish fighter ace of the war. After the war, Skalski returned to Poland, where he was arrested under false charges of espionage and imprisoned until 1956. He later re-joined the military. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 88.
The illustration was produced in partnership with the Polish Heritage Flight, which honours the memory of the Polish pilots who served with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War. You can learn more about them and their mission here.
This Spitfire illustration by Rob Wisdom is a high quality Giclée art print on cotton-rich fine art paper.
12x16" art print shown. Cropping and title position (if applicable) may differ slightly on 'A' size art prints.
