Battle of Britain starring Polish pilots begins 77 yrs ago
77 years ago, on July 10th 1940, the battle of Britain between the British and German air forces began. Britain won mostly thanks to the bravery and effectivity of the Polish pilots.
During the months-long battle (see: NOTE), Britain's biggest problem was the lack of pilots. Factories could churn out new airplanes quickly, but replacing well-trained and experienced pilots was not so easy.
For this reason, the Royal Air Force command decided to use pilots from allied countries in the campaign. This included two Polish flight squadrons (302 and 303) as well as two bomber squadrons (300 and 301). They entered the fray at the most difficult moment, in late August, when the German Luftwaffe was especially dominant.
The British forces eventually won the battle with Polish contribution having been critical. Overall the Polish pilots shot down 170 enemy warplanes and severely damaged a further 36, breaking all records.
Polish pilots, initially marginalised and looked down on by the British command, not only shot down the most enemy planes but ended up coaching other pilots in the unique "Polish style" of battling Germans in the air.
One of the last ace pilots, Captain Witold Aleksander Herbst, member of the legendary Polish RAF squadrons 303 and 308 during World War II, died in early June in Edmonds, USA.
Born in 1918, the year in which Poland regained independence after 123 years under partition (see: NOTE 1), Herbst lost his father shortly after the outbreak of World War II in one of the first Nazi executions of Poles in Mniszek by Swiec.
An aviation fan since childhood, Herbst learnt gliding as a boy and joined an air force cadet school in Deblin, southeast Poland, in 1939. In November 1939 he crossed from Romania to France and subsequently Britain, where he continued his flying training.
During the 1940 Battle of Britain (see: NOTE 2) against the German Luftwaffe Herbst flew Spitfire fighters in the RAF's Polish squadrons 308 and 303, the latter booking more shoot-downs during the battle than any other RAF squadron.
In all Herbst flew 141 missions on Spitfire machines, both on patrolling missions and covering Allied bombing raids on Germany. Herbst was also among the pilots assisting the Allies 1944 D-Day landing in Normandy. For his courage Herbst was thrice decorated with the Cross of Valour, he also held numerous British distinctions. His reminiscences titled "Under the English Sky" came out in Poland in 1997.
NOTE 1: The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (see: NOTE 3) towards the end of the 18th century which ended the existence of sovereign Poland for 123 years. The partitioning powers were the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and Habsburg Austria, which divided the country among themselves progressively.
NOTE 2: The Battle of Britain was a World War II military campaign in which the British Royal Air Force (RAF) successfully defended the United Kingdom against the German Luftwaffe between June and October, 1940. Notable in the battle were several Polish flight squadrons formed from pilots who escaped Poland after its 1939 invasion by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Especially renowned was Flight Squadron 303, which accounted for more shoot-downs during the battle than any other single RAF squadron.
NOTE 3: The Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth was a 16th-18th century Polish-Lithuanian state composed of the Crown - Poland, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and considered a precursor to modern democratic systems such as federation or constitutional monarchy. The Commonwealth was ruled by one monarch, who was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
The Commonwealth was one of the biggest countries in 16th/17th-century Europe, at its peak spanning about 1.2 million km2 and with a multi-ethnic population of about 11 million. It was formally established by the Union of Lublin in July 1569. Considerably reduced in size by the First Partition of Poland in 1772 and the Second Partition in 1793, it disappeared from the European map after the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. (PAP)
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