Sunday Rerun - 303 Squadron

The 303 Polish Fighter Squadron in the Battle of Britain In the summer of 1940 the first Polish squadrons were formed in Fighter Command. No 303 'City of Warsaw' Squadron was the top-scoring RAF unit in September 1940, with nine of its pilots claiming five or more kills. Pilot Officers Jan Zumbach (left) and Mirosław Ferić, two of its aces, playing with the Squadron's mascot - a puppy dog. This photograph was taken at Leconfield in October 1940.

Okay Sarge, I get it, you're tired, your eye is still healing, and that finger is still pretty useless, but come on, another rerun? That's two Sundays in a row boyo, who do you think you are, CBS?

Okay, guilty as charged, what's worse is that the post I'm about to rerun has been rerun before. No, seriously. It was originally posted here, then rerun here. Shameless, innit? But in my defense, the rerun (this particular rerun) is because I just saw a pretty good film treatment of 303 Squadron. It's not a documentary, it's a human interest thing, shows the pilots as the real-life flesh and blood humans that they were. Also the tragedies they had to deal with, both as individuals and as citizens of Poland.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mission of Honor...

I give it four out of five Phantoms...

Perhaps I should have said four out of five Hurricanes...

The movie is available on Netflix (you in the back, sit down and behave), give it a look, well worth your time.

Now then, on to the rerun. (Sorry, but I really, really like 303 Squadron.)

Hurricanes of No. 303 ("Kościuszko") Polish Fighter Squadron
303 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki"

It seems that yesterday's post has left me in a Polish frame of mind. So to speak. Besides which, the fame of No. 303 Squadron lends itself naturally to my "series within a series" of Famous Aviation Units (as part of the Friday Flyby).

The Royal Air Force (RAF) Museum's website has this to say about No. 303 Squadron:

The Poles were keen to fight but the RAF would not at first let them fly operationally. This was because few of the exiles spoke English and there was concern about their morale. What the British did not yet realise was that many of the Poles were excellent pilots. Having come through the Polish and French Campaigns, they had more combat experience than most of their British comrades and they employed superior tactics.

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. Czech Sergeant Josef Frantisek, also of '303', was the top scoring pilot with 17 confirmed victories.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, who led 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."

Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding
Commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain

In the same vein, RAF Uxbridge, which was the headquarters for No. 11 Group of Fighter Command which was responsible for the aerial defence of London and the south-east of England during the Battle of Britain has this as one of it's static displays -

Hurricane of No. 303 Squadron

You can tell this is a Polish aircraft by the Szachownica z kirem (chessboard with a pall) insignia on the nose of the aircraft just under the exhaust stacks.

Szachownica z kirem

Of course, there is this wonderful scene from the film Battle of Britain...

I think I have seen this movie 20 times and that is one of my favorite scenes!

Undaunted by Odds
by Robert Taylor

RAF fighter squadrons all had a distinctive 2-letter code painted on the side of the aircraft, No. 303 Squadron's code was "RF". The third letter on the side was the letter code for the individual aircraft within the squadron.

Squadron Leader Witold Urbanowicz's Hurricane MkI of 303 Sqn during a combat over Beachy Head in the summer of 1940 -

CHANNEL
by Piotr Górka

No. 303 Squadron Spitfire Mk.Vb RF D of S/Ldr Jan Zumbach with Donald Duck nose art.

No. 303 Squadron was one of 16 Polish squadrons in the RAF, No. 303 was the highest scoring RAF squadron during the Battle of Britain. Here are some squadron statistics for WWII.

No. 303 Squadron downed 126 German aircraft ("Adolf's") during the Battle of Britain.

No. 303 squadron pilots in 1940. From left: P/O Ferić, F/Lt Kent, F/O Grzeszczak, P/O Radomski,
P/O Zumbach, P/O Łukuciewski, F/O Henneberg, Sgt. Rogowski, Sgt. Szaposznikow.

F/O Bronisław Kłosin holding an aerial gunnery contest award, on the left side of him, Flt Lt Bieńkowski, on the right side Flt Lt Zumbach.

Some of the high scorers of No. 303 Squadron were:

• Squadron Leader R G Kellett DSO DFC, Original CO of 303 Sqn during the Battle of Britain, (five claims)
• Flight Lieutenant John A. Kent, Canadian Flight commander during the Battle, (11 claims)
• Sgt Josef František, Czech pilot flying with 303 Polish Squadron, was one of the top fighter pilots of the Battle of Britain, with 17 confirmed kills.
• Flying Officer Witold Urbanowicz, Polish commander of 303 Squadron from 5 September 1940, scored 15 kills during the Battle of Britain (17 or 19 + 1 + 0 total)
• Pilot Officer Jan Zumbach, commander of 303 Squadron from 19 May 1942, scored 8 kills during the Battle of Britain (12 1/3 + 5 + 1 total)

Sgt Josef František

Flying Officer Witold Urbanowicz

Pilot Officer Jan Zumbach

P/O Zumbach's Spitfire
The last thing you'd want to see on your Six, if you were German in 1940!

King George VI visited the unit during the Battle of Britain on September 26.

In that photo above, just to the left of the King, partly visible is S/Ldr Urbanowicz, who took over after S/Ldr Krasnodebski was wounded. Presenting pilots is S/Ldr Kellet. The King shakes hand with P/O Januszewicz, on who's his right has P/O Henneberg, F/O Cebrzynski and F/O Paszkiewicz. To the left of Januszewicz are: P/O Grzeszczak, P/O Zumbach and P/O Feric. (Source)

That source linked above is an excellent website dedicated to No. 303 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. They start with this -

It must be said, that before the two Polish squadrons and one Czech entered the battle, the British Command regarded their Slavic allies as inferior pilots to their own, with broken morale, hindered by language incapability. Except for the language they were completely wrong.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you No. 303 Squadron of the Royal Air Force - 303 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki".

Dobra robota!

Repeat please...
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