#303 squadron

[victusinveritas]

A map made for Polish pilots with Polish pronunciation of towns in Eastern England. (I don't know the date of this map, so the WWII and air war tags might not be appropriate.)

[fuckyeahhistorycrushes]

Witold "Tolo" Łokuciewski (1917-1990) was a Polish fighter ace of the Polish Air Force in World War II.

In September 1939, he defended the Polish sky against the German Luftwaffe. One year later, he joined the famous Polish 303 Squadron, achieving the Fighter Ace status during the Battle of Britain.

[carbone14]

Spitfire Mk Vb (AB910, RF-D), construit en 1941 aux couleurs du 303e escadron polonais. Le Donald Duck sur le fuselage était le symbole personnel du chef d'escadron Jan Zumbach.

UK Battle of Britain Memorial au Kemble Air Day 2009 à Kemble - Gloucestershire - Angleterre

©Photo by Adrian Pingstone (Arpingstone)

[pol-ski]

On July 10th, 1940, the Battle of Britain began.

A total of 145 experienced and battle-hardened Polish airmen fought in the Battle of Britain - 79 airmen in various RAF squadrons, 32 in No. 302 Fighter Squadron and 34 in No. 303 Fighter Squadron.

303 Squadron made the highest number of victory claims during the Battle of Britain, despite only joining it halfway through.

(www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Polish-Pilots-the-Battle-of-Britain/)

Overall the Squadron scored nearly three times the number of kills of the average British fighter squadron with one third the casualty rate.

In fact, the Polish record was so impressive that Stanley Vincent, the RAF commander of the base at Northolt, took it upon himself to verify their claims. Following the squadron into combat Vincent witnessed how the Poles dived at the German bombers in their Hurricanes ‘with near suicidal impetus’. On landing back at base Vincent exclaimed ‘My God, they are doing it!’. One RAF pilot noted with admiration ‘When they go tearing into the enemy bombers and fighters they go so close you would think they were going to collide’.

Glory to the heroes!

[polish-spirit]

Samochody polskich hydraulików w Slough w Anglii (2021).

Źródło.

[redarmyscreaming]

Hawker Hurricane 303 Squadron by MercenaryGraphics After the defeat of Poland & France, tens of thousands of Polish servicemen made their way to Britain to continue the struggle against Germany. No. 303 Squadron RAF was one of 16 Polish squadrons in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. It was the highest scoring of the Hurricane squadrons during the Battle of Britain.

[yugoslavfub]

The Battle of Britain's Czech hero

Not all the Battle of Britain pilots were British. A new film celebrates the Polish 303 Squadron - and its sole Czech pilot, Josef Frantisek.

Winston Churchill described the Battle of Britain pilots as "these splendid men… who will have the glory of saving their native land". But they weren't all British. A new film, Hurricane, tells the story of the Polish pilots of 303 Squadron - and highlights the brilliance of an often-overlooked Czech flying ace, Josef Frantisek.

[stillunusual]

Ignorant Brexiteer accidentally pays tribute to Polish immigrants.... Leaving aside Henry Bolton's fake nostalgia for a war that he had the good fortune not to experience first hand (he was born in 1963), the picture tweeted by the former UKIP leader shows four planes that are definitely being flown by Polish pilots (the red and white chequerboard emblem of the Polish Airforce is clearly visible next to the propellers and the badge of the Kościuszko 303 Squadron can also be seen next to the cockpits). The boys of the 303 Squadron certainly had bollocks - they shot down more German planes than any other squadron that took part in the Battle of Britain, even though they joined the fray two months after the battle had begun. Henry posted his jingoistic bullshit on the eve of the anniversary of victory in the Battle of Britain, but it's a shame that he doesn't seem to know that it actually took place in 1940, not 1942. It was nice to see Clare Mulley and others taking the piss out of this obnoxious moron....