Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1939-1947, Introduction
Note: Pics are below, in the next post. ;P
As mentioned earlier, organization of Polish Air Force in Exile was to proceed both in France and Great Britain. Although first preliminary arrangements were agreed already during tripartite (Polish-French-British) conference on 25 October 1939, actual progress was very slow for quite long time. First transport of personnel arrived in Eastchurch in December 1939, where a Polish training centre was formed, moved in May 1940 to Blackpool. Significant early obstacle was British demand that Polish air force had no organizational or administrative autonomy (nor separate uniforms, badges etc.) and Polish personnel was treaded as part of RAF Volunteer Reserve. It was explained by legal reasons, but when the fall of France was imminent British authorities realized that there more important things than legal nit-picking and were willing to change drastically their position on contentious issues (which by now applied also to military personnel from other countries overrun by nazi Germany).
That new situation allowed signing on 5 August 1940 an
Anglo-Polish Agreement about creation of Polish armed forces in Great Britain, consisting of land, sea and air units. Part of that agreement was
Appendix I Relating to the Polish Air Force, that specified legal relation between RAF and
PSP, basic organizational and supply issues, funding, uniforms, airplane markings etc. It stipulated that initially 7 Polish squadrons will be formed (4 bomber, 2 fighter and 1 army co-operation) with provision that further units will be created upon mutual agreement, as demanded by situation and possible by personnel and supply realities. On the next day (6 August 1940) subordination of
PSP personnel to RAF Volunteer Reserve ceased and from that point Poles were bound only by Polish oath and subordinate in regards to personnel policy to
Naczelne Dowództwo Polskich Sił Zbrojnych (PSZ) (
Supreme Command of the Polish Armed Forces) via
Inspektorat Generalny Polskich Sił Powietrznych (PSP) (
Inspectorate General of the Polish Air Force).
At the time of the fall of France, Polish air personnel in Great Britain numbered 2226, with 4203 evacuated from France in late June. During the summer of 1940 additional 1700 personnel arrived in Great Britain by various ways, and by 1 October 1940
PSP numbered 8154 soldiers of all ranks. Besides the combat units,
PSP formed also training, maintenance, support and balloon units. During the following years
PSP was gradually increasing it's strength. Few airmen managed to arrive from France, certain amount was recruited from Polish expatriates, and a large influx of personnel occured after the outbreak of German-Soviet war, when around 1700 of pre-war personnel of Polish Military Aviation, taken POW by Soviets during their invasion of Poland in 1939, were released from
GULags. Eventually, by 1 May 1945,
PSP reached strength of:
-15 flying squadrons;
-1 balloon flight;
-Polish Ferry Detachment (
Polski Oddział Transportu Samolotów) at Takoradi, Gold Coast (Ghana);
-2 flying schools;
-1 technical school (No. 16 School of Technical Training) at Cammeringham;
-1 staff college at Weston Super Mare;
-2 schools for teenage cadets;
-Polish Flight at No. 18 Operational Training Unit (bomber) at Finningley;
-support units (2 air depots, airfield construction squadron etc.).Personnel by 1 May 1945 numbered a total of 14351 members, including 2087 commissioned officers, 10662 other ranks, 1137 members of
Pomocnicza Lotnicza Służba Kobiet (Polish branch of WAAF) and 465 teenage cadets. Besides the Polish units, Polish airmen flew also in British units (although they were always members of
PSP) - during the Battle of Britain these were mostly fighter squadrons, later mainly support, training and specialized units.
Polish airmen took part in combat operations in Battle of Britain and later defence of the Great Britain, air operations over France and Western Europe, strategic bombardment of Germany, Operation Overlord and subsequent combat in the North-Western Europe, including Operation Market-Garden, Battle of the Atlantic and operations on the Italian front.
From 1940 to 1945 crews of the Polish Air Force flew a total of 102486 sorties in 290895 hours.
Polish fighter pilots were officialy credited with 745 5/12 of air victories confirmed, 175 probable and 238 1/6 damaged, plus additional 16 aircraft destroyed on ground confirmed, 2 probable and 15 damaged.
Bomber crews (with Bomber Command, Coastal Command and 2nd Tactical Air Force) dropped 13206 tons of bombs and 1502 tons of mines.
Crews of Special Duties aircraft (performing special operations flight in support of armed resistance across the occupied Europe), during 1335 sorties in 9927 hours dropped 1576,8 tons of supplies and transported 692 clandestine paratroopers.
Polish transport and ferry pilots, during 18788 sorties in 97067 hours delivered 12634 aircraft, carried 25187 passengers and 1566 tons of cargo.
This effort came at a heavy price for such relatively small force with so limited personnel base, however, with 4161 personnel died, 104 missing, 331 taken prisoner and 1338 wounded.
Additionaly to the military personnel, to Great Britain were evacuated 1149 aeronautical engineers and qualified technicians, who continued their work in British industrial, research and maintenance establishments.
Winds of history weren't particularly kind for them, though. Allied conferences in Teheran, Yalta and Potsdam located Poland in the Soviet sphere of influence. Soviet-sponsored authorities established in the liberated from 1944 parts of Poland weren't looked on with trust by majority of the
PSZ personnel (and post-war events proved that this distrust wasn't quite unfounded). On the 5 July 1945 USA and Great Britain switched their support from the Polish Government in Exile in London to the
Tymczasowy Rząd Jedności Narodowej (
Temporary Government of National Unity) in Warsaw, which although was nominally a coallition government composed of many, mostly non-communist politicians, including former Prime-Minister in Exile Stanisław Mikołajczyk as Deputy Prime Minister, it was actually a Soviet-backed and communist-controlled entity.
Gradually units of the
PSP were disbanded between September 1945 and January 1947, with
PSP HQ being disbanded on 16 April 1947, thus ending the formal existence of the Polish Air Force in Great Britain. Eventually around 40% of personnel of the Polish Armed Forces in Exile (around 100000 of 240000, with disproportionately minor share of higher ranks) returned after the war to Poland, with the remaining majority taking difficult decision to stay on emigration. Of the airmen that returned to Poland, many re-joined the military aviation, but after few years, during period of hard-line stalinism they fell victim to purges, and although after 1956 they were rehabilitated and reinstated to service, it remains a sad chapter of our history.
Note: Difficult issue with translating English "squadron" and Polish "eskadra" and dywizjon" is explained here:
http://www.shipbucket.com/forums/viewto ... 411#p66411