‘303 Squadron would become legendary within the RAF… While on a training flight on 30 Aug, the Poles spotted the Germans & contrary to all orders immediately went to attack. Lt. Ludwik Paszkiewicz shot down a Dornier bomber & the RAF concluded… that the Polish squadron was ready to be made operational.
‘The British had harboured doubts about the value of the Poles… [who they] viewed as ill-disciplined, reckless & over-keen to fight the Germans, but as the British losses mounted among their inexperienced pilots, they would come to appreciate these qualities… A Polish pilot described his first kill: “I caught up with him easily. He grew in my sights until his whole fuselage filled the mini-circle. It was certainly time to fire. I did so quite calmly & was… rather surprised to find it so easy…”
‘The secret to their success was their ability to hold fire until they were within 100–200 yards of the German plane, whereas the less experienced British pilots started firing at 400 yards. The Polish kills mounted up & on 27 Sept 1940, 303 Squadron posted its 100th confirmed kill…
‘When the Battle of Britain officially ended… the Poles were acknowledged as having made a contribution that belied their small numbers. They lost 33 pilots but 34 had become aces – men who had scored 5 or more kills. 303 Squadron had downed 3 times the RAF average.
‘The Poles received enormous publicity & gratitude for their daring deeds in the sky. After visiting a Polish squadron… the king was heard to remark: “One cannot help feeling that if all our Allies had been Poles, the course of the war… would have been very different.” The head of Fighter Command, Sir Hugh Dowding, told Churchill, “the Poles in our Fighter Squadrons were very dashing but totally undisciplined”. Churchill responded: “1 Pole was worth 3 Frenchmen, Gort & Dowding said nearer 10!”
‘Having a Polish pilot on one’s arm became the height of fashion for young women in Britain… & jealous RAF pilots sometimes adopted phoney Polish accents to attract girls. The headmistress of a girls’ school ended her speech to the school leavers with the warning: “And remember, keep away from gin & Polish airmen.”
~ Halik Kochanski
