Poles in the Battle of Britain: A Photographic Album of the Polish 'Few'
By Peter Sikora
5/5
()
About this ebook
The Polish Air Force, which was created in Britain in the summer of 1940 from flying and ground personnel evacuated from Poland and then from France, proved to be one of the most successful formations to fight the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. Overcoming the obstacles of language and operating in a foreign country, the Polish Air Force gained independent status, flying alongside the RAF rather than being a part of the RAF—and for the first time, the Polish Air Force became a separate air arm of the Polish Armed Forces.
It’s said that 145 Polish pilots fought in the Battle of Britain, many of them experienced and battle-hardened. These men fought not only for the freedom of their own homeland but also for British people, of whom they often knew very little. The Poles were able to form four squadrons, two bomber and two fighter, that went into operations during the Battle of Britain. Many other Polish fliers were dispersed across the Fighter Command, joining various RAF squadrons. They all made a decisive impact, when they were needed the most, gaining the respect of their British colleagues and the British public.
In this superb collection of photographs, the story of the Polish Few is told—from their hazardous journey from Poland to the UK to the great struggle for control of the skies above Britain during that memorable summer of 1940.
Peter Sikora
Peter Sikora is an aviation researcher, historian and writer who specialises in the history of the Polish Air Force between 1918 and 1946, with the particular interest in the achievements of the Polish airmen during Second World War. Based in Berkshire, England, Peter has already had a number of books published in Poland, including Aces of the Polish Air Force, Battles of the Polish Air Force 1918-1945 and Polish Wings over Ireland. He also writes historical articles for the leading Polish aviation magazines, and is a member of the Polish Air Force Memorial Committee at RAF Northolt. In his private life, he is married to Maggie, and together they run a non for profit organisation that helps to reduce unemployment.
Read more from Peter Sikora
The Polish 'Few': Polish Airmen in the Battle of Britain Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Polish Air Force Fighter Aircraft, 1940-1942: From the Battle of France to the Dieppe Raid Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Poles in the Battle of Britain
Related ebooks
Poles in the Battle of Britain: A Photographic Album of the Polish 'Few' Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Through the Eyes of the World's Fighter Aces: The Greatest Fighter Pilots of World War Two Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReported Missing: Lost Airmen of the Second World War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Devils' March - A Doomed Odyssey: The 1st Polish Armoured Division 1939-1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Eastern Front Air War, 1941–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSacrifice for Stalin: The Sacrifice to Keep the Soviets in the Second World War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Stalag XXA Torun Enforced March from Poland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMontpellier Fighter Squadron Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Warsaw to Rome: General Anders' Exiled Polish Army in the Second World War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Stalingrad: Death of an Army Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNo Greater Ally: The Untold Story of Poland’s Forces in World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frantic 7: The American Effort to Aid the Warsaw Uprising and the Origins of the Cold War, 1944 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle For Warsaw, 1939–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Cold War Skies: NATO and Soviet Air Power, 1949–89 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDowding's Eagles: Accounts of Twenty-Five Battle of Britain Veterans Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPoland Betrayed: The Nazi-Soviet Invasions of 1939 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Royal Naval Air Service During the Great War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAir War on the Eastern Front Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret Betrayal of Britain's Wartime Allies: The Appeasement of Stalin and Its Post-War Consequences Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe General European Wars: The House of Stuart Sequence, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPillboxes and Tank Traps Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPoland's Struggle: Before, During and After the Second World War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Behind Enemy Lines with the SOE Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAirway to the East, 1918–1920: And the Collapse of No.1 Aerial Route RAF Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hurricane Pilot Who Became a Gestapo Agent: The Betrayal and Treachery of an RAF Sergeant Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Guns of the Northeast: Costal Defences from the Tyne to the Humber Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe World War II Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Photographic History of Amphibious Warfare 1939-1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrike from the Air: The Early Years of the US Air Forces Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Wars & Military For You
Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mein Kampf: The Original, Accurate, and Complete English Translation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unacknowledged: An Expose of the World's Greatest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"The Good War": An Oral History of World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Poles in the Battle of Britain
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Poles in the Battle of Britain – A Stunning Collection of PicturesPeter Sikora has gathered together a wonderful of collection of photographs of Polish Airmen, who also happened to be part of Churchill’s few at the Battle of Britain in 1940. While much is said about the brave men of the RAF, it is often forgotten, that those with the most ‘kills’ were the Polish airmen.Sikora, uses pictures to explain some of the issues that the Polish faced when they arrived in Britain after the fall of France. Reminding us that the arrival of the Polish airman caused a few complications for the British Government. How the formation or in the Polish case, reformation of a foreign air forces on British soil and that legislation was required.Some of the most poignant pictures are those of the pilots that were killed in action, some of whom still lie undiscovered in the English Channel. These were men who had flown against the Luftwaffe in Poland, France and then in the Battle of Britain. Pictures of these men with their Hurricanes and Spitfires, both symbols of ‘Standing Alone’ against the Germans.Sikora has also used a spread of pictures that the Germans had taken of Pilot Officer Witold Głowacki after his crash landing in German occupied France. Also explained that he had 18 operational sorties during the battle, clearly before he was downed and captured. He died in a German military hospital, there has always been speculation about his death, but that is whole different story.What we are reminded is that the Polish personnel in the RAF were paid according to their RAF rank, which were often higher payments than they had received when in Poland. Which shows that their flying skills were recognised as equal too and sometime better than some of their English colleagues.Sikora has put together an excellent photographic record that is second to none. It is a clear and concise record, with clear explanations. One can learn so much from this excellent book.
Book preview
Poles in the Battle of Britain - Peter Sikora
Chapter 1
Into the Dark
Lieutenant Antoni Ostowicz (far left) was a fighter pilot who, alongside Lieutenant Władysław Nowak (in the middle) and Corporal Jan Kremski (right), represented the 2nd Air Regiment and won the prestigious first place during the Central Fighter Competition in Toruń. The picture was taken on 10 October 1937 when the trio of III/2 Fighter Dywizjon (which was similar to an RAF Wing) received the main prize. When the war broke out, Ostowicz was flying with a Prototype Flight and with no chance for combat. Instead he was given a task of evacuating aircraft of the Independent Experimental Air Squadron. He is best known by historians mostly as the first Pole who reported an aerial victory during the Battle of Britain. Sadly, he was also the first Polish pilot killed in action over England.
An interesting photo of 2nd Air Regiment fighter and aerobatic team of pilots upon their return from Rumania in 1933 with Captain Jerzy Bajan (winner of the 1934 Challenge contest) in the middle and PZL P.7 aircraft as the backdrop. Most of them in 1940 participated in the Battle of Britain, including Lieutenant Antoni Wczelik (1st), Lieutenant Jan Czerny (2nd), Lieutenant Bronisław Kosiński (5th) and Corporal Karol Pniak (7th). Captain Kazimierz Niedźwiecki (3rd) was in charge of the group of pilots who in 1939 went to Rumania expecting delivery of aircraft from France and Great Britain. He was also initially planned to be the first Polish commander of No. 302 Squadron in Britain. Sadly Niedźwiecki was unable to complete this task as he was killed in a flying accident prior to this post, while in 6 OTU. His Hurricane I 324 (L1887) collided with Hurricane L2082 piloted by Sergeant Dudley McGee, who was also killed.
PZL P.11a as well as its twin ‘c’ version was the Polish ‘first-line’ fighter plane of the 1939 Campaign. Here is an aircraft No. 4 with the serial number 7.14 from 113th Fighter Squadron (IV/1 Fighter Wing / 1st Air Regiment in Warsaw) that was photographed on 30 April 1939. This unit was commanded by Lieutenant Wieńczysław Barański, who fought over Britain from 1940.
Corporal Antoni Markiewicz went into the Battle of Britain with significant combat experience gained initially in Poland, where he flew with 122nd Fighter Squadron and then in France, where he joined 1/145 ‘City of Warsaw’ Squadron. In total he claimed three shared victories over Poland and a further two shared in France. Here he is sitting in the middle, with blond hair, while playing cards with other airmen, and looking straight into the camera. This is quite an unusual view, according to his daughter, as he was very shy of cameras. This can be confirmed by the short film recorded during the Battle of Britain that shows the whole of 302 Squadron singing. Markiewicz, who again is sitting in this footage, is avoiding any eye contact with the recording camera. Note distinctive white ‘paper horse’ emblem, which was 122nd Fighter Squadron’s badge, as well as individual number 6, both visible on PZL P.11’s fuselage.