when you bring up the battle Britain most aficionados will bring up the excellent record of one particular Squadron number 303 bagged the most aerial victories during the summer of 1940. almost triple the score of the next top scoring British Squadron According to some sources we love to point out that the poles who joined the RF ranks were much better than the average British pilot but was that just because they were Plucky poles or have we been given these Fierce Fighters a little more credit than they are entitled to after looking into this a little deeper my response to comments like this from here on in isn't going to be just an unconscious yes what brave men instead I'll be saying yes what brave men but what did you expect I only really became aware of what an impact polish Pilots had on the Allied war effort especially during the battle Britain relatively late in my education I remember reading Stanley Olson's book on 303 koskus girl Squadron during my first year of University after finishing it I then happily told my polish Friend Thomas about their prowess in the air he immediately answered of course they were polish what did you expect as a proud poll he was no doubt tapping into his national pride backed up by the Admiral determination of his forefathers to continue a war which had consumed their country in a matter of weeks in fact what both of us didn't know at the time was that the genese choir surrounding these Pilots was not entirely down to National character there was a lot more to their story which if you were a betting man would have resulted in you waging huge amounts on their success in the air over Britain in 1940. in essence what we're looking at here is the equivalent of Lewis Hamilton competing in the Grand Prix against your kid brother who's just passed his driving test after about 10 attempts so let's get down to it what made the polls such good fighter pilots in comparison to their British and French counterparts and is it really a fair comparison got that polish chatter and and steer two three zero the traditional Hollywood version of the war in the west is at the British and the French were totally caught with their trousers down in May 1940. of course you and I know that rear moment was in full swing from at least 1938 in both countries and the Raf in particular was being rapidly expanded from as early as 1936. the difference is that Poland's Grand expansion plans had begun in 1926. what happened in 1939 and in 1940 can of course be traced back to the events of the Great War whether you believe that to be directly or indirectly in Britain and France the 1914-18 Wars legacy was bitter and led to policies of disarmament in Poland 1918 is a year of Celebration and marked the rise of the country which had been subjugated for more than a century poles were determined to remain independent and this led to the country having the third biggest army in the world in 1931 there were also ambitious plans for the Air Force following the 1926 military coup led by martial pilsudsky however Poland was not a rich country and was limited by available funds as well as military Doctrine despite these limits the Polish Air Force was one of the most modern by the start of the 1930s and its indigenous aircraft production was able to produce some of the most advanced fighters of the day though this was also limited by available funds the Polish air Crews were also extremely well trained Poland unlike Great Britain required all men to serve at least two years of national service in one of the branches of the military this led to a large percentage of the population who had at least some military training in addition to this flying had taken off in a big way in Poland since 1903. in the 20s and 30s there were numerous programs which offered free glider training which allowed many young men to be funneled into further Flight Training a very similar model was used by Germany to launch its lefwafa this is by far one of the biggest reasons why polish Pilots performed so well during the battle Britain they often had years of flying experience many British recruits on the other hand had a few months at best the average Cadet being commissioned as a second Lieutenant from Dublin Air Force Academy had nearly 1500 hours of Flight Training and the same in theoretical training those who were serving one of the operational squadrons in 1939 would have even more practical flight time if you compare this to the average new RAF recruit in 1940 they may have accumulated 190 hours total flying time if they were lucky bad weather may have cut their General flying hours down and lack of operational aircraft at otus may have led to little stick time in a hurricane or Spitfire to expand on this further when the RAF were recruiting for Pilots among American volunteers the minimum requirement was just 250 hours it may sound like a lot to the uninitiated but even some of you watching might have a similar number in your PPL logbook how would you fancy your chances although the Royal Air Force had rapidly grown by 1939 and most of the pilots were for all intents and purposes weekend flyers in 1935 the RAF only had 30 000 regulars serving in their ranks not all of whom were pilots so you could argue that the Polish Air Force was equally if not more experienced than the bulk of the RAF by the fall of France polish Pilots particularly at the Dublin Air Force Academy followed a French system of training it's unclear to me if this fact alone really meant it was high quality instead I think their success was a result of other aspects of their flight experience firstly according to Carol placa hetman in his article there was equal focus on theoretical training in the Polish Air Force as Flight Training for the average British fighter pilot in 1940 who got 10 weeks training if he were lucky not too much time could be spent on air Theory tactics and other important training peacetime polish Pilots spent almost a full year in the classroom before ever they stepped foot in an aircraft over the three-year training program this amounted to nearly 3 500 hours of theoretical and practical training this meant that the average polish pilot knew everything about his aircraft and how to get the most out of it the average British or Commonwealth pilot simply didn't have this depth of knowledge undergoing training in the Panic of 1939 and 1940. another important aspect of this experience and one that would skew the difference between pole and britisher was the type of equipment he was trained on while Poland had been ahead of the aviation game in the early 1930s lack of National Funds and questionable strategic thinking left them on the back foot in 1939 the plz 11s that equipped the various polish units were woefully obsolete better domestic aircraft wouldn't be available until at least 1941 and Foreign imports hadn't arrived by September 1939 interestingly many of the ordered and paid for French aircraft promised to the Polish government weren't delivered until polls turned up in La Belle France in 1940 as Germany and the Soviet Union had quickly modernized from the mid-1930s their inferiority of equipment was well known to the poles so they learned to adapt to this handicap contrary to a popular meth the Polish Air Force was not wiped out on the ground on the 1st of September 1939 in fact according to Adam zamoisky not a single combat aircraft was lost to Le fueffel raids on polish aerodromes on the first day the same could not be said of the western allies or Soviets when they were surprised by the wehrmacht by the end of the Polish campaign polish fighter pilots had apparently accounted for 126 German planes destroyed 10 probables and 14 badly damaged in the same time only 36 polish Fighters had been brought down by the luftwaffe not bad for a country totally dismissed by the Germans as inferior yet even today we're told the poles were a total walkover Goebbels despite being a skid mark of the man certainly knew how to use propaganda in fact had the Polish Air Force had anything in the way of replacement aircraft or a better system of redeployment and supply apply that tally could have been much higher it's even reported that students of the Dublin Air Force Academy who volunteered to fly a 1933 issue plz7s managed to down several German aircraft including an me-109 an impressive feat as Pilots were shot down and lost their aircraft offering to Friendly attack fire or mechanical issues they became Spectators for the air battle in the last weeks of the struggle many of these Pilots picked up a rifle or began to man The Very anti-aircraft batteries that may have shot them down on this note the high incidence of Friendly Fire during their campaign was due to the fact that polish anti-aircraft batteries were not integrated into the air force regiments they were not given adequate training in aircraft recognition and simply shot at anything flying over I believe that operating hopelessly obsolete aircraft did a lot to nurture the success polls experienced over England in 1940. firstly those pilots who survived combat in the Polish campaign were not just lucky they had to be highly skilled to avoid being killed killed if they were able to shoot down this Superior German and later Soviet aircraft they had to quickly develop tactics and methods to do so the plz 11 was slower than the aircraft operated by the luftwaffe and also feebly armed when you translate these Lessons Learned through bitter experience into an aircraft such as a hawker hurricane which was only slightly inferior to the bf-109 you quickly become a deadly adversary the poles were aggressive and gotten closer in the Battle of Britain simply because that is what they learned to do flying plz 11s over Poland this unlocked the true impact of the 8.303 to Armed a hurricane as one 303 Squadron pilot explained getting in close with a hurricane had very satisfying results he grew in mesites until his fuselage Circle it was certainly time to fire I did so quite calmly and was not even excited rather puzzled and surprised to find that it was so easy quite different from Poland where you had to scrape and strain a until you were in a sweat and then instead of getting the bastard he got you another Factor along the same lines is obsolescent aircraft with a lack of radios and centralized operational command in Polish units only flight commanders had radios fitted in their aircraft these didn't always work effectively in the air all commands were given with hand or other signals this ultimately led to poles being less reliant on verbal communication from the air or ground the result was that even the most Junior pilot became more individualistic self-reliant and observant of the battlefield one story has vetold or vanovich visiting the 75th Fighter Squadron the infamous Flying Tigers in 1943 where he flew combat missions with the Americans even then nearly two years after the AVG had been established he was teaching them the Polish practice of continually looking or rubbernecking when in the combat area it seems shocking that this was even news to them seeing the enemy first was a common trait associated with the poles and one commented on by numerous RAF Pilots where polls physically just better specimens than the average Brit possessed with superhuman sight well no it was more likely a result of this selection process and training as previously mentioned Poland had a great love affair with Aviation its Pilots were highly trained but also a small and Elite Cadre of men in 1935 6 000 men applied to the Dublin Air Force Academy only a hundred were accepted the Air Force would have been able to set any criteria they wanted and to have turned away hundreds of men who exceeded them when you combine the High Caliber of cadets with the lack of radar detection or even adequate Observer core on the ground this resulted in eyesight being Paramount for a successful fighter pilot in RF squadrons it was often the sole polish pilot attached to the unit who saw the enemy first it's also true to say that the highly selective polish Air Force training system created some very skillful Pilots as did the national fascination with Aviation Group Captain Billy Drake then in the instructor at an otu in early 1940 recalled an encounter with a rather tubby boarding middle-aged polish trainee thinking that he would take this poor chap up and teach him how to at least try and survive one battle in a Hurricane Drake soon became the student the poll quickly latched onto the young Britain himself an experienced pilot who could not Shake him for the rest of the training flight on the ground Drake sought out one of the other polish officers who spoke some English he was duly informed that the old man was the Polish aerobatic champion and had held the title for at least two decades when the survivors of the Polish Air Force escaped into France and Britain which in reality was about 80 percent of their personnel on the 1st of September they weren't well received it took a lot of time for these experienced men to be integrated into the French Air Force and even longer into the RAF the French seemed to have despised and mistrusted the polls they were often given the most basic accommodation and when they were mobilized into the air force given casts of aircraft even when more modern models were sitting in Depots you can check out my video on The Cordial cyclon for more information about this if you want the British were wary too despite extended talks with the Polish government in Exile including General Sikorsky Britain was initially unwilling to establish a foreign Sovereign Air Force within its own borders in addition thinking the poles demoralized after the loss of Poland they considered them only fit as a bomber force and not having the stomach to make fighter pilots besides polish Pilots whether as part of the RAF or in National units could not operate within the Dowding system until they learned English a frustrating situation for experienced polish Airmen but a necessity for the safe and effective employment of such Pilots by fighter command as the phony War dragged on and the fight came to the British Shores polls finally made it into Frontline units two popular impressions of Polish fighter pilots in Britain were a what fine Pilots they turned out to be they were especially popular with the British women and B what a bunch of unjust discipline so in size in the air and don't ask me to repeat that I would say what the British deemed as not following the rules was a result of months of idleness neglect by their allies and frustration with a plodding nature of the French and British for some polls entering the battle in 1914 A year had passed since their home had been occupied in truth the Polish Airmen especially those graduates of Dublin were extremely disciplined but approached the war and Military Life in a very different way indeed the concept of King's regulations which were taught to Republican polls just arriving on British Shores baffled them and not purely because of the language barrier another key aspect of their indiscipline in the air was the outdated tactics used by their French and British counterparts as well as their seeming lack of appetite to fight the enemy one polish pilot flying back to base with a French unit during the Battle of France called out a lone German bomber facts like Kroll formerly of the Krakow Squadron was told by the French leader you can do what you like we're going home Crow left the patrol cool and shut down the heinkel and then returned to find his flight in the mess drinking champagne the French at least the Polish mindset didn't realize what was coming and didn't seem to have the motivation to resist it undoubtedly this understanding of what they were up against helped the poles to achieve such high success during the Battle of Britain ever they went they tried to impart their hard-won lesson among their new allies often the Vital Information fell on deaf ears some Polish officers even met General Vega while passing through Beirut fagar did ask them about German tactics but certainly wasn't open to hearing the truth he listened attentively One Pilot remembers but one could see that he put everything we said through a sieve of his own opinions and only retained a few morsels that fitted in with these Carol pinyak attached to 32 Squadron RAF found himself on patrol flying in a tight Vic formation covered by a weaving Lookout behind the other six aircraft he naturally dropped back to cover this vulnerable Squadron mate and was severe clearly reprimanded for it on the ground pinyak said as a pilot I had 10 years experience a fairly High Level Training and some 30 operational wartime sorties in the September 1939 campaign behind this is why I could in no way accept the Commander's opinion and I struggled in my poor English to explain that their way of flying was useless and dangerous the Polish eagerness to pursue and fight any German he saw was also witnessed by the British famously it was just such an episode on the 30th of August which preceded 303 Squadron being declared operational while on the training Mission escorting blenheim's pilot officer Ludwig paskovich noticed the formation of Germans called them out and duly attacked when no orders were given Squadron leader Kenna outwardly officially pissed off nevertheless declared the Squadron operation on the next day he didn't forget to privately congratulate pascovich equally famous as a memo sent out by air Vice Marshall sir Keith Park the group Commander appreciates the offensive spirit that carried two polish pilot over the French Coast in pursuit of the enemy today it read this practice is not economical or sound now that there is such good shooting with inside of London all this to say that when the polls were formed up in their own units they didn't have to learn through trial and error how best to combat the enemy effectively they already knew and so could go about amassing an impressive tally of Victories from day one not so for most new British or Commonwealth squadrons being thrown into the battle full of newly trained pilots it's something of a myth that polish Pilots fighting with the British and then later in their own Air Force were Reckless with their lives true the average poll had a deep hatred of his German adversary for obvious reasons but it would be wrong to think that pulse had little to live for and would make suicidal attacks right up until 1945 most polls believed that they would win the war and return to a free and independent Poland instead the polls launched attacks when the advantage was in their favor and didn't miss the opportunity to engage the enemy they were also protective of each other's lives strongly believe that this was another factor that led to their success during the Battle of Britain the free poles fighting for the Allies though they numbered in their thousands were a close-knit community in a Fighter Squadron this was even more so whereas many British and Commonwealth Pilots might eventually shy away from making friends many of the poles had formed strong bonds the campaign in Poland intermined in Romania or Russia as well as the vast distances all had traveled to reach France or Britain had created something much stronger than experienced by the average British Pilots this is perhaps why polls together did better than individual polish pilots flying with British squadrons there was also no class or caste system in Poland since the Declaration of Independence while British officers didn't socialize with ncos or other ranks polish Pilots often revered their ground Crews one such incident had polish Ace stanislavskowski walk up to his fitter kiss his hands and exclaim were enough for these hands I would never shut down so many planes I'd be dead British officers who witnessed the ACT were a little taken aback saying that skowski was a wing Commander at the time now you wouldn't expect a similar scene at 617 Squadron dispersal with Gibson on bended knee kissing his fitter's hand though you might not be surprised to see Cheshire do it polish ground Crews may also be another important reason for the success of poles during the Battle of Britain especially three or three Squadron although all ground crews are certainly the unsung heroes of World War II it seemed that the Polish arcs were even more dedicated to their pilots and machines reportedly they worked longer hours didn't stop until the task was done and took much more pride in the maintenance and presentation of their aircraft a large factor in this may have been pay while all polish Pilots took a demotion to join the raw Air Force volunteer Reserve as well as a pay cut polish ground Crews saw their salaries more than triple polish losses were bitterly felt and the closeness of such a bond ultimately led to better coordination in the air between fellow poles combine that with thousands of hours of Flight Training and no wonder these men accounted for 7.5 percent of fighter command's tally while only making up five percent of their total Manpower despite the strong bonds they must have felt for each other each pole was also a single force to be reckoned with while fighting in Poland most Pilots operated at flight rather than Squadron strength and often without direct orders from a centralized Commander this enabled them to think for themselves and adapt quickly to changing situations as previously mentioned this enabled them to introduce up-to-date tactics that helped them to overcome the enemy once these lessons had been learned during the Polish campaign the pilots had monster share their experience with each other stuck in isolated French airbases or in RF English classes the important lessons were passed around the Polish Air Force in Exile when it comes to explaining why the average poll was able to outshine the average RAF pilot this is possibly the most important factor had the British been well less British they may have recognized the importance of the Polish experience and being open to learning from them however just as the Polish personality might have been less obedient to silly rules and regulations the British personality made them less able to quickly alter their preconceived notions of modern aerial combat a final National trade that might have made the pole more successful than the average Brit was his patriotism while both nations were certainly patriotic as whether French they were certainly at different ends of the national hierarchy Britain and France for that matter were colonial powers and were the subjugators of other nations while Poland had been subjugated for the longest time now that Poland was a sovereign state every Pulpit that at the top of their list are priorities while we can't say that France simply threw in the towel and I certainly don't subscribe to the anglo-american rhetoric that the French are a bunch of frog-eating surrender monkeys Stephen zarlodger and Victor magia made this point in their book the Polish campaign in 1939 the Polish Army fought for nearly five weeks against the full weight of the Vermont and later the Red Army even though it was substantially outnumbered in contrast the British French Belgium and Dutch armies which outnumbered the Vermont in men tanks aircraft and which did not suffer from precarious strategic encirclement as Poland did held out for only a few weeks more so whatever you think and please let me know in the comments your take on this debate here are the hard cold facts of the 2927 pilots who manned a fighter at any point between June and November 1940 146 just under 5 were polls of the 2692 German aircraft claimed by the RAF as destroyed for certain by either aircraft anti-aircraft fire or balloons 203 which is over 7.5 percent fell under polish guns records suggest that 303 Squadron down three times the average RF score but only suffered one-third of the average casualties Adam zamorski said in his book that when you exclude the 16 planes shot down by the nun poles Kenneth Kent and Forbes 303 accounted for 110 certain kills nine probables and six damage at the cost of eight of their own Pilots what he didn't highlight is the fact that the top scoring pilot in 303 Squadron was Joseph francisc a check so if you've made it this far please like the video to help it spread to others and if you like the videos I make please consider supporting me by clicking on various links joining my patreon or simply by commenting and watching the video I made for you on screen now it's a good and