No. 317 Squadron — City of Wilno

No. 317 “City of Wilno” Polish Fighter Squadron was formed at RAF Acklington on 22 February 1941, one of the Polish squadrons established in Britain following the fall of Poland. Flying Hurricanes in its early months, the unit transitioned to Spitfires in late 1941 and spent the first years of the war alternating between defensive duties in the north and offensive sweeps over occupied Europe from southern bases. In June 1943 the squadron was allocated to the 2nd Tactical Air Force, joining No. 131 (Polish) Wing within 84 Group alongside Nos. 302 and 308 Squadrons. During the build-up to the Normandy invasion the squadron flew fighter sweeps over France, and after D-Day it conducted ground-attack operations in direct support of the Allied advance, moving its base to the Continent in August 1944. The squadron followed the Allied armies through Belgium and into Germany, where it remained as part of the occupation forces before disbanding as an RAF unit at RAF Hethel on 18 December 1946.