| Polish Air Forces In France And Great Britain |
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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 Polish September Campaign of 1939 and they largely contributed to Allied victory in the Battle Of Britain and most World War II air operations. , Pole Mokotowskie ]] HISTORY After the joint Nazi-Soviet victory in the Polish September Campaign 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a week after it was introduced in active service, French minister of war Guy La Chambre ordered all of C.710's to be withdrawn.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 Although the plane was hopelessly outdated compared to the Messerschmitt Me 109E 's it faced, the Polish pilots nevertheless scored 12 confirmed and 3 unconfirmed kills in three battles between June 8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 Polish government and the other to the king of the United Kingdom. However, after the evacuation of 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. Since then 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: 300 and 301 bomber squadrons and 302 and ), 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 flying initially on Hurricanes, then Supermarine Spitfire s, eventually on P-51 Mustang s. The bomber squadrons were flying initially on Fairey Battle s and Vickers Wellington s, then Avro Lancaster s (300 Sqdn.) and De Havilland Mosquito s and B-25 Mitchell s (305 Sqdn.). On April 6 , 1944 , an agreement was reached and the Polish Air Forces in Great Britain went 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 got under 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". STATS NOTES |
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