303 Squadron: These Polish Fighter Pilots Won the Battle of Britain

Many a history buff is familiar with Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill’s famous quote about the Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilots’ heroic performance in winning the Battle of Britain in 1940 and thus dealing Nazi Germany its first major defeat in World War II: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” 

What is not so familiar to those who aren’t hardcore military buffs is that a goodly chunk of those “so few” references by Sir Winston weren’t British or even citizens of a British Commonwealth nation. Say “Witam (Hello)” to the gallant exiled Polish pilots of the RAF’s 303 Squadron—aka, the 303rd “Tadeusz Kosciuszko Warsaw“ Fighter Squadron.

303 Squadron: Born in the Ashes of Conquest

The joint Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939 that signified the beginning of WWII resulted in the conquest and occupation of Poland after a mere thirty-five days. However, the Poles could never be accused of lacking either a willingness or ability to fight during those days; indeed, exiled Polish troops continued to display that fighting spirit even after the joint totalitarian conquest of their homeland. 303 Squadron was a perfect example of this.

303 Squadron was officially activated on August 2, 1940, twenty-three days after the Battle of Britain commenced. However, it would take some time before these Polish fighter pilots were allowed to prove their worth. Despite their eagerness to continue taking the fight to the Germans, the RAF brass would not at first let them fly operationally because few of the exiles spoke English and there were (at least ostensibly) concerns about their morale. What the Brits did not yet realize, however, was that many of the Poles were excellent pilots. Having already been “blooded” in combat through not just the invasion of their own homeland but their contributions to fight against the invasion of France in 1940, they actually had more combat experience than most of their British counterparts and they employed superior tactics.

However, as the saying goes, “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” and soon enough the Polish airmen would be vindicated. As noted by the RAF Museum’s info page on 303 Squadron:

“As the Battle of Britain wore on, and the shortage of trained pilots became critical, the exiles were accepted into RAF squadrons and two Polish fighter units, Nos. 302 and 303 Squadrons, were formed. Once committed to action, the Poles flew and fought superbly, shooting down 203 enemy aircraft for the loss of 29 pilots killed. No. 303 Squadron became the most successful Fighter Command unit in the Battle, shooting down 126 German machines in only 42 days. With 17 confirmed victories, Sergeant Josef Frantisek, a Czech national serving with No. 303 Squadron, was one of Fighter Command’s most successful pilots.” [emphasis added]

Given the fact that it was Churchill’s predecessor, Neville Chamberlain, who sold out Czechoslovakia in his infamous “Peace for our time” appeasement gesture, perhaps there is some degree of poetic justice in Sgt. Frantisek’s aerial combat successes. There’s also something poetic about the numeric designation of 303, as the Hawker Hurricane warbirds they flew during the battle wielded eight Browning .303 Mark II machine guns. (The Poles weren’t given the more famous Supermarine Spitfire until January 1941.)

After the War

After the war ended, it unfortunately took some time for the 303 Squadron to receive its proper recognition for defeating the Luftwaffe scourge. To be sure, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, who headed RAF Fighter Command, would later write:

“Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of the Battle would have been the same.”

However, the political landscape in Britain shifted heavily leftward after the war—as evidenced by Churchill’s 1945 election defeat—and the then-new British government recognized the Soviet-backed Polish puppet regime, leading to the exclusion of Polish forces from the initial VE Day parade in 1946. This decision understandably caused outrage, and even when some Polish pilots were later invited, they rightfully declined in protest.

To compound the outrage with outright tragedy, the 303 Squadron veterans who were repatriated to their old homeland often faced persecution under the Communist regime, which viewed them with suspicion due to their service in the West. Many were barred from flying or even falsely imprisoned; amongst these victims of persecution was (eventual Brigadier General) Stanislaw Skalski (November 27, 1915-November 12, 2004), Poland’s top ace of the war (with at least eighteen and possibly as many as twenty-two kills), who was initially sentenced to death before spending years in prison.

Where Are They Now?

Alas, as far as I have been able to ascertain, none of the brave airmen of 303 Squadron are still alive today. If any of our dear readers know otherwise, please let me know.

About the Author: Christian D. Orr

Christian D. Orr is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS). If you’d like to pick his brain further, you can ofttimes find him at the Old Virginia Tobacco Company (OVTC) lounge in Manassas, Virginia, partaking of fine stogies and good quality human camaraderie.

Image: Shutterstock.