Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Polish Air Forces (Polskie Siły Powietrzne) was a name of Polish Air Forces formed in France and the United Kingdom during World War II. The core of the Polish air units fighting alongside the allies were experienced veterans of Invasion of Poland of 1939 and they largely contributed to Allied victory in the Battle of Britain and most World War II air operations.

Contents 1 History 2 Stats 3 Notes 4 Trivia 5 See also

[edit] History

After the joint Nazi-Soviet victory in the Invasion of Poland of 1939, a large part of both the flying personnel and technicians of the Polish Airforce were evacuated to Romania and Hungary, from where hundreds of them found their way to France. There, in accordance with the Franco-Polish Military Alliance of 1921 and the amendments of 1939 Polish Air units were to be re-created. However, the French headquarters was hesitant in creating large Polish air units and instead most of Polish pilots were attached to small units, so-called keys. Only one large unit was formed, the Groupe de Chasse polonaise I/145 stationed at Mions airfield. However, it was not until May 18, 1940, that it was equipped with planes - and even then these were the completely obsolete Caudron C.714 fighters. After 23 sorties the bad opinion of the plane was confirmed by the front-line pilots. It was seriously underpowered and was no match for the enemy fighters of the epoch. Because of that, on May 25, only a week after it was introduced in active service, French minister of war Guy la Chambre ordered all of C.710's to be withdrawn. However, since the French authorities had no other planes to offer, the Polish pilots ignored the order and continued to use the planes. Although the plane was hopelessly outdated compared to the Messerschmitt Me 109E's it faced, the Polish pilots nevertheless scored 12 confirmed and 3 unconfirmed kills in three battles between June 8 and June 11, losing 9 in the air and 9 more on the ground. Interestingly, among the planes shot down were four Dornier Do 17 bombers, but also three Messerschmitt Bf 109 and five Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters. The rest of the Polish units were using the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 fighter, slightly more reliable.

Altogether, the Polish pilots flew 714 sorties during the battle of France. They downed 51 9/10 enemy planes, in addition to 3 unconfirmed kills and 6 3/5 damaged. At the same time they lost 44 planes and 18 pilots, including 2 wounded and 5 missing.

After the collapse of France in 1940, large part of the Polish Air Forces was withdrawn to the United Kingdom. However, the British command did not want to accept the independence and sovereignty of Polish forces and initially Poles were only admitted to Royal Air Force units. Because of that, the majority of much more experienced Polish pilots had to wait in training centres, learning English procedures and language, while the RAF suffered heavy losses due to lack of experienced pilots. On June 11, 1940, a preliminary agreement was signed by the Polish and British governments and soon the British authorities finally allowed for creation of two bomber squadrons and a training centre as part of the Royal Air Force.

Initially the Polish airmen were compelled to wear British uniforms, fly British flags and pass two oaths, one to the Polish government and the other to King George VI of the United Kingdom. However, after the evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk and the arrival of hundreds of Polish airmen from France, the situation changed. On August 5, 1940, the British government finally accepted the Polish Air Force as a sovereign, allied military formation. From then on the airmen were part of the Polish Army, flying their own standards and wearing British uniforms but with Polish rank insignia. Although still subordinate to British command, the Polish units were directly subordinate to a Polish inspector of the Air Forces, who in turn was responsible to the Polish government.

The first units were: No 300 and 301 bomber squadrons and 302 and 303 fighter squadrons. The fighter squadrons, flying the Hawker Hurricane, came into action in the third phase of the Battle of Britain in August 1940, with a very good result. The 303 squadron became the most effective RAF fighter squadron at that time. Many Polish pilots were also flying in RAF squadrons. In the following years, further Polish squadrons were created: 304 (initially in Bomber Command, then moving to RAF Coastal Command), 305 (bomber), 306 (fighter), 307 (night fighter), 308 (fighter), 309 (reconnaissance, then fighter), 315 (fighter), 316 (fighter), 317 (fighter), 318 (fighter-reconnaissance). The fighter squadrons were initially flying Hurricanes, then Supermarine Spitfires, eventually P-51 Mustangs. The bomber squadrons initially flew Fairey Battles and Vickers Wellingtons, then Avro Lancasters (300 Sqdn.) and de Havilland Mosquitos and B-25 Mitchells (305 Sqdn.).

On April 6, 1944, a further agreement was reached and the Polish Air Forces in Great Britain came under Polish command, without RAF officers. After the war, in a changed political situation, their equipment was returned to the British. Due to the fact that Poland ended in Soviet occupation, only a small part of the pilots returned to Poland, while the rest remained in exile.

A memorial to those Polish pilots killed while on RAF service has been erected at the south-eastern corner of RAF Northolt aerodrome. On the public highway, it is accessible without entering RAF areas. It is adjacent to a junction on the A40 Western Avenue; the official name for this junction is still "Polish War Memorial".

[edit] Stats

		1940 [1]	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	total
Fighters [2]	sorties	4,115	13,032	10,390	13,266	25,399	9,238	73,524
	hours	4,533	16,722	15,365	23,264	46,595	18,575	122,816
Bombers [3]	sorties	97	1,357	2,999	1,895	3,607	1,751	11,706
	hours	367.5	7,451	17,788	11,482.5	18,126	8,889	64,113
Special [4]	sorties	-	2	104	191	943	95	1,335
	hours	-	22	835	1,573	6,781	716	9,927
Transport [5]	sorties	163	1,475	2,648	3,995	6,747	3,760	18,788
	hours	261	14,868	16,914	20,111	30,204	14,709	97,067

	1940 [6]	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	total
destroyed	266 1/6	202	90	114 3/4	103	38 1/2	769 5/12
probable	38	52	36	42	10	2	177
damaged	43 2/3 + 3/5	60 1/2	43	66	27	18	252 1/6

[edit] Notes

1. ↑  Including Polish units both in France and in United Kingdom
2. ↑  Including all Polish air units in France, as well as Polish fighter units of the Fighter Command; excluding the pilots of the Polish Fighting Team, as well as Polish pilots fighting in the RAF and USAAF
3. ↑  Including the Polish units of Bomber Command, Coastal Command and Tactical Air Force, but excluding the special units of No. 138 Squadron RAF, No. 1586 Polish Special Duties Flight and No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron
4. ↑  No. 138 Squadron RAF, No. 1586 Polish Special Duties Flight and No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron
5. ↑  Including Polish units of the Transport Command and Air Transport Auxiliary

[edit] Trivia

The Polish-American fighter ace Francis S. "Gabby" Gabreski flew his first combat missions with a Polish RAF squadron.

King George VI, on visiting a Polish squadron, asked a Polish airman what was the toughtest thing he had to deal with in the war. The reply was "King's Regulations...."

[edit] See also

• Polish Air Forces
• Polish contribution to World War II
• Polish Air Forces in France

Polish Air Forces in Great Britain
1st Polish Wing | 2nd Polish Wing | 3rd Polish Wing 300 "Masovian" Sq. | 301 "Pomeranian" Sq. | 302 "Poznań" Sq. | 303 "Kościuszko" Sq. | 304 "Silesian" Sq. | 305 "Greater Polish" Sq. | 306 "Toruń" Sq. 307 "Lwów" Sq. | 308 "Kraków" Sq. 309 "Czerwień" Sq. | 315 "Dęblin" Sq. | 316 "Warsaw" Sq. | 317 "Wilno" Sq. | 318 "Gdańsk" Sq. Polish Fighting Team | 663 Artillery Observation Squadron