Page 32 - History of War - Issue 18-15

303 SQUADRON

wouldalsoenablethemtokeepalivetheunit “IT WOULD TAKE SOME TIME to the tips of their aircraft’s wings. They feel
Giving the Poles their own squadrons
them physically and emotionally. If an enemy
historiesthatmeantsomuchtosoldiers, FOR THIS MISAPPREHENSION damages one of their wings, they feel the shock
sailors and airmen. It meant that 303 as if they had been wounded themselves.”
Squadron, the fourth Polish squadron to be TO BE REMEDIED AND FOR Fiedler also debunked another of the myths
formed, was able to resurrect the ‘City of surrounding the Polish airmen – that they were
of the Pursuit Brigade. The squadron’s roots, THE POLISH AIRMEN TO BE consumed with rage when in the air. The young
Warsaw’ name that it had carried when part
Polish pilots were, of course, hugely motivated
RECOGNISED FOR WHAT THEY
however,ranevendeeperthanthis. by experiences in their home country, but in the
Rise of the Kosciuszko squadron WERE – SOME OF THE BEST air they were calm; their minds blank as instinct
took over and they experienced “a sort of
Following World War I, Poland emerged from mental blackout.” Only in this state could they
morethan100yearsofpartitiontobean PILOTS AVAILABLE TO THE RAF” hope to react quickly enough to survive.
independentnationoncemore.ThePolish- The men of 303 Squadron did not have to
BolshevikWar,however,threatenedtoend wait for their training to offi cially end before
this almost immediately, with Lenin intent on taking the fi ght to the Germans. On 31 August,
absorbing the country within the Soviet Union. It was an illustrious history, based on the the last day of their conversion course to
Help for Poland came from many quarters, willingness of foreign pilots to fly in another fl y Hurricanes, they were ‘vectored’ onto a
butperhapsthemostremarkablewasthe nation’s air force. It is difficult to imagine formation of German planes. Bombers and
squadron of American volunteer pilots formed a more fitting background for the men who their fi ghter escort were returning after a raid
by Merian Cooper. Taking their place in the started training in Britain in August 1940. when 303 Squadron found them. Five kills
Polish Air Service as the 7th Squadron, they The men of 303 Squadron were immortalised were made quickly, while a sixth was added by
were nicknamed the ‘Kosciuszko Squadron’, inabookbyArkadyFiedler.Whilemanyunit Lieutenant Zdzisław Henneberg after he had
after a Polish general that had served with histories are written long after the events, patiently followed a group of four retreating
the Americans during their own War of with aging veterans recalling their days of planes. Six kills, all Messerschmitt Bf 109s,
Independence. The squadron’s badge, designed service, 303 Squadron is a very different text. had announced the arrival of the squadron in
byAmericanpilotElliottChess,combined Written during the Battle of Britain, it has an no uncertain terms, and their admission to
American and Polish elements such as red and immediacy that instantly grips the reader. the offi cial strength of the RAF was timely –
whitestripesand13bluestars(representing Fiedler was an emotive and emotional writer, German strategy had shifted to target Fighter
theoriginal13Americanstates)intoaneye- but even the occasionally overblown rhetoric Command specifi cally.
catching emblem. cannot alter the fact that he offered a glimpse
Following the distinguished service of the inside the workings of a fighter squadron under The Luftwaffe attacks
American pilots (three of whom died during the the highest possible stress, and inside the Just as the shift to an air-based strategy
war), the Kosciuszko name was taken on by workings of the fighter pilot’s mind as well. suited the British, it caused problems for
111 Eskadra, part of the Pursuit Brigade, which “The more-sensitive fighter pilots,” Fiedler the Germans, who were used to combining
in turn provided the basis for 303 Squadron. wrote, “clearly feel that their nerve ends reach their air and ground forces – independent

Hawker Hurricanes
fly in formation

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