"Sikorski's tourists", or Polish pilots arriving in Great Britain in 1940, were greeted reluctantly in the UK. The English did not believe that after the devastating defeat in September and the lightning defeat of France, the Poles were still able to fight the Germans. RAF commanders also had doubts as to whether newcomers from the Far East of Europe would be able to master the technically advanced Hurricanes and Spitfires. During the Battle of Britain, Poles showed that they could fly. But first they won the hearts of English women.
The 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, which falls this year, is an opportunity for re-analysis, recalling memories, reports, researching archival documents, comparisons and statistical calculations. In Poland, we treat this air battle very emotionally. This is evidenced, for example, by the stormy discussion that flared up after the publication of the article "Who really won the Battle of Britain".
If not for the Poles…
The achievements of our fighter pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain in Polish and English squadrons have permanently entered the history of World War II and are the pride of the Polish army. The dispute between professional historians and aviation enthusiasts concerns mainly the participation of Poles in the victory over Germany.
"The air struggle over England in the summer of 1940 is the only breakthrough battle of World War II, in which the participation of Poles had a significant impact on its victorious end" - says Wojciech Matusiak, aviation historian. Is it possible to defend the thesis, promoted mainly by the pilots themselves - participants of the battle, that if it were not for the Poles, the air defense of Great Britain would have been broken, and England would be invaded by Wehrmacht land forces?
Unfortunately, both in Poland and in England, the knowledge about the participation of Poles in the defense of Great Britain is currently very superficial. It is true that most of us know the name "303 Squadron", and some even know that there was also "302 Squadron", but hardly anyone can name the names of their commanders, the best pilots or give other details, for example, the most emotional - the number of kills. It is true that the wonderful book by Arkady Fiedler "Dywizjon 303" is still popular in our country, but almost 80 years have passed since its first publication!
The gap in knowledge about these times is perfectly filled by Piotr Sikora's book These few. Polish airmen in the Battle of Britain . This is a thorough study describing in detail the activities of Polish squadrons fighting in 1940 over the British Isles, London, Dover and the English Channel, but also the flights, fates, successes and failures of several dozen Polish pilots who were incorporated into English squadrons. Their successes are undeniable and undeniable, and the difficult conditions they have to fight under must be taken into account.
They went into action a few weeks after arriving in England, very often not knowing the English language yet. They had to quickly master the piloting of modern airplanes that were put at their disposal. Lt. pilot Bolesław Drobiński and his two colleagues were assigned to a squadron flying Spitefires, although the Poles did not know these machines yet. As part of the training, they were allowed to fly three times with a total duration of… 45 minutes!
Change to Hurricane and Spitfire
The planes they boarded in the UK differed significantly from the machines they flew in Poland in 1939 and earlier. Technically the British Hurricanes and Spitfires were "an entire era" further than our PZL-11, and "two eras" further away from the PZL-7. In Poland, until September 1939, high-wing fixed-undercarriage was used, in England in 1940, conventional low-wing fighters were common - fighters that dominated the skies during World War II. They were equipped with a retractable landing gear (which improved aerodynamic performance in flight) and a number of other technical innovations. The standard equipment of the English machines were on-board radios, which the English could use wisely, and the Poles - during their first flights over England - simply turned them off, because they were annoyed by the stream of incomprehensible messages sent by the ground service.
"My knowledge of England - zero, but the desire to fly and bloodthirsty revenge for Poland - very high . I didn't care about R / T (radio station) - always turned off - only after take-off I watched the sky looking for swastikas "- recalled years later Lt. Pilot Henryk Szczęsny, flying in the 74th Squadron.
303 Squadron pilots. From the left:P / O Ferić, F / Lt Kent, F / O Grzeszczak, P / O Radomski, P / O Zumbach, P / O Łukuciewski, F / O Henneberg, Sgt. Rogowski, Sgt. Szaposznikow.
It was the ignorance of the English language that caused the first problems and conflicts that arose when Polish pilots came to England and declared their will to fight Germany as soon as possible. The English were distrustful. First, they preferred to teach Poles the language, drill, honor and recognition of military ranks. However, the Poles first mastered the basic phrases that allowed them to meet restrained English women.
Police from Sheerness on Sheppey Island reported that on 22/3 a.m. several Polish officers accosted women in the street in a way that scandalized passers-by. " Police authorities also reported that on one of the previous nights, three Polish officers spent a night with two English women in a public orchestra room. We can only assume that these officers taught these women some romantic Slavic songs
- writes Piotr Sikora in his book.
Distrusting Englishmen
The English commanders took much more time to understand and convince the Polish pilots, and in many cases their distrust and disbelief never subsided. There was even the nickname "Penguins" in reference to Polish pilots who were accused of not being able to fly because they lost the air campaign in Poland so quickly. However, with the beginning of the Battle of Britain, the RAF command understood that "if you don't like what you like, you like what you have" and decided to immediately include the Poles in the fight. In the upcoming clash with the Germans, the English had many advantages, such as an excellent radar control network (not yet recognized by the Germans) and a huge number of combat aircraft ready for combat and in the production phase. However, they lacked trained pilots to man these machines.
Poles played key roles in the Battle of Britain
Indeed, the Poles who came to England had two defeats behind them, but also - many years of comprehensive aviation training. Importantly, they had something else inaccessible to the English - combat experience. Despite the reservations and doubts appearing from everywhere, they were incorporated into the English squadrons and the creation of separate - Polish squadrons was started. During the Battle of Britain, there were four of them - two fighter and two bomber.
Lieutenant Antoni Ostowicz was the first Polish pilot to be assigned to the RAF front unit. On July 16, 1940, he entered service in 145 squadron RAF stationed in Tangmere. On July 19, he recorded his first aerial success - shooting down the He 111.
We approached 300 yards, and when Red 1 opened fire on him, the enemy sprang slightly to the right, and I managed to fire a burst at him. The right engine released smoke. Moments later, I fired another burst and walked down and to the right. Then I saw the enemy make a right turn, turn into a shaft flight, and finally take off. It sank in about three minutes, I noticed four crew members in the water
- we read in Ostowicz's memoirs, quoted in the book Tych nielu. Polish airmen in the Battle of Britain . His achievements have been impressive. Many other Poles also recorded two or three shots down, and a large group of the best received the honorable title of "ace" for shooting down at least five enemy planes. Piotr Sikora in his book tried to sum up the achievements of Poles:
In the first stage of the battle, there were still few Polish pilots in the front line, the result of ½ – 0–1 (plane downed, probably shot down, damaged) can be considered decent. In the second phase, bearing the German code name "Eagle Attack", Poles marked their presence in the British skies more and more, which translated into over 30 air victories reported by Polish fighter pilots and recognized by the RAF. There is a significant improvement in the third stage as it brings 303 Squadron right into the middle of the battle.
There is no doubt that the boys did a great job; out of 43 enemy planes shot down for sure, nine probably and seven damaged, only 23 were assigned to other Poles serving in RAF units.
The fourth stage, when the "Blitz" started, brought another 117 Luftwaffe machines shot down by the Poles, 16 probably and 10 damaged
- we read in the book These few. Polish airmen in the Battle of Britain .
The final achievement in the form of 203 enemy planes shot down for sure, 35 probably and 36 damaged, officially credited to the pilots of the Polish Air Force during the Battle of Britain, was then impressive and remains so to this day.
Source:
- The article is based on the book by Piotr Sikora, Tych nielu. Polish airmen in the Battle of Britain, published by the REBIS Publishing House in connection with the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.