7th Air Escadrille

Eskadra Lotnicza), better known as the Kościuszko Squadron, was one of the units of the Polish Air Force during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921.

The unit was formed when Poland regained independence, on 7 November 1918 in Kraków, as the 3rd Air Escadrille, utilizing mostly bomber and reconnaissance aircraft left by Austro-Hungarian forces.

On 25 November 1918 it was moved to Lwów (current Lviv), where it took active part in fighting of the Polish-Ukrainian War until June 1919.

Among pilots was World War I Ace Mieczysław Garsztka and Harvard graduate Edmund Pike Graves.

Number of aircraft was variable, in May 1919 it possessed 3 fighters Fokker D.VIII (E.V), 3 reconnaissance Hansa-Brandenburg C.I and 1 LVG C.V.

In late 1919 eight American volunteers, including Major Cedric Fauntleroy and Captain Merian C. Cooper, arrived in Poland from France where in September 1919 they had been officially named the Kościuszko Squadron (after the Polish American hero Tadeusz Kościuszko) with Major Fauntleroy as its commander.

The train also included the squadron's operational headquarters, aircraft spares and repair workshops and living quarters.

General Puchucki of the 13th Infantry Division wrote in a report: "The American pilots, though exhausted, fight tenaciously.

During the last offensive, their commander attacked enemy formations from the rear, raining machine-gun bullets down on their heads.

Budionny had put half a million rubles on Captain Cooper's head[citation needed], but when he was caught by the Cossacks he managed to convince them that he was a corporal.