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| The Polish pilot shown is Stefan Nosowski on the wing of his Spitfire named "HEH Nizam's State Railway No. 2". The Spitfire was very likely funded by the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway in the Hyderabad State, India. He was killed aged 27 in a crash at RAF Newton, Notts. |
RAF Hucknall in WW2 was a major training base for Polish RAF pilots. Twenty percent of all RAF Battle of Britain pilots were refugees or immigrants or from overseas. The Poles were the most numerous with 145 pilots and Hucknall's young Polish pilots were regulars at Watnall Hall's wartime parties.
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| RAF Newton memorial |
Unsurpassed Gallantry
Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, who once was so reluctant to allow Polish pilots into battle, summarised their contribution in probably the most telling way...
"Had it not been for the magnificent work of the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of battle would have been the same."
Dowding himself gave his name to the system of early warning radar which was also vital in winning the Battle of Britain. Watnall's underground bunkers are a present day legacy of the system... https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/2023/09/wartime-watnall-on-battle-of-britain.html
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| Watnall's underground early-warning Operations Room looked very similar to this painting |
The Mess Parties
The trainee Pilots Officers at Hucknall were enthusiastic party-goers with the hundreds of female WAAFs of RAF Watnall. The WAAFs used to throw parties at the Officer's Mess at Watnall Hall or they'd head to the Palais in town when off-duty. A 18-year-old RAF Watnall guard, Jack Davidson, when first posted to Watnall in 1940 commented on the balance of the sexes...
"On arriving at Watnall we stood around in an untidy group outside what I found out later was the Guardroom. There was no one about except a couple of WAAFs [a girl in the Women's Auxiliary Airforce] who walked past and looked at us like we were a prize in a raffle. Not surprisingly, for we found out later that up to us arriving there had been 200 WAAFs on the camp and about 50 airmen. What a shock greeted us in the cookhouse, bread and butter on plates, fish chips and peas followed by strawberries and cream served by pretty WAAFs; they were forced to look pretty as we hadn’t seen any females for four weeks."
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| Balance of the sexes RAF Watnall |
Timeline
From January 1941, Hucknall housed No.1 (Polish) Flying Training School (FTS) and Polish units were based there for the rest of the war. The advanced Service Flying Training School moved from Hucknall to another Nottinghamshire airbase, RAF Newton, in July 1941. No.1 FTS became No.16 (Polish) SFTS and took its de Havilland Tiger Moths, Fairey Battles and Airspeed Oxfords to its new base at Newton. It was replaced at Hucknall by No.25 (Polish) Elementary Flying Training School which remained for the duration of the war.
After WW2, many Polish pilots and airmen who had served with the Allied forces, particularly in Britain, found themselves unable to return to their homeland due to the communist regime's control of Poland. The British government established the Polish Resettlement Corps to help these refugees settle in the UK. Many chose to remain in Britain, while others returned to Poland, sometimes facing persecution or imprisonment.
Films
The 2018 Polish-British film "Hurricane" (renamed "Mission of Honor" for release in the USA) depicts the experiences of a group of Poles flying as part of the No. 303 Squadron RAF (Dywizjon 303) in the Battle of Britain during the war. Watch the trailer here.
Also highly recommended is "Dark Blue World" (Czech: Tmavomodrý svět) a 2001 war drama film by Czech director Jan Svěrák, the Academy Award-winning director of Kolya. The film is about refugee Czech pilots, their escape from their homeland and adapting to their new life in England. The air-to-air dogfighting scenes are particularly excellent. Watch the trailer here.
Read more about Jack Davidson's time at RAF Watnall here https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/.../who-goes-there-who...
the WAAF parties at Watnall Hall here https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/.../wartime-watnall-waaf...
and the history of RAF Hucknall here https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/.../history-of-hucknall...
at the main "Tales from Watnall Hall" website.
Notes and Sources:
Polish Training School - 25 (Polish) Elementary Flying Training School
Film - Hurricane 2018 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_(2018_film)
Non-British personnel in the RAF during the Battle of Britain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-British_personnel_in_the_RAF_during_the_Battle_of_Britain
| State of origin | Number | Ref |
|---|---|---|
 Poland | 145-146 | [1][2][3] |
 New Zealand | 127–135 | [2][4] |
 Canada | 112 | [2] |
 Czechoslovakia | 84–88 | [2][5] |
 Belgium | 28–30 | [2][5] |
 Australia | 26–32 | [2][5] |
 South Africa | 22–25 | [2][5] |
 Free France | 13–14 | [2][5] |
 Republic of Ireland | 10 | [2] |
 United States | 9–11 | [2][5] |
 Southern Rhodesia | 3–4 | [2][5] |
 Barbados | 1 | [2] |
 Jamaica | 1 | [2] |
 Newfoundland | 1 | [2] |
 Northern Rhodesia | 1 | [5] |
Allied aircrew in the Battle of Britain
2,937 British and Allied airmen were awarded the Battle of Britain
clasp for having flown at least one authorised sortie with an accredited
unit of RAF Fighter Command in the period 10th July to 31st October
1940.
The names of all the airmen are now available. Just click on country
name below to view by country. Alternatively use the search facility
(on the home page) to search by name.
Airmen came from the following countries:
Great Britain - 2,342
Australia - 32
Barbados - 1
Belgium - 28
Canada - 112
Czechoslovakia - 88
France - 13
Ireland - 10Jamaica - 1
Newfoundland - 1
New Zealand - 127
Poland - 145
Rhodesia - 3
South Africa - 25
United States - 9
During the Battle 544 lost their lives and a further 795 were to die before the end of the war.
Source : The BOB Monument, Victoria Embankment, London.
https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/our-history/anniversaries/battle-of-britain/
Source : The BOB Monument, Victoria Embankment, London.
https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/our-history/anniversaries/battle-of-britain/
Your intention for this article was not to pay respects to the exiled Polish pilots, but to try to draw comparisons between the exiled WW2 Poles and today's Polish migrant community,as you stated to me in an email. No comparisons exist, and the result is both offensive and insulting to the brave men from Poland who fought and died with the British during WW2.
ReplyDeleteYou refer to the pilots from overseas as being "refugees or immigrants". Empire forces, most notably from Canada would have in fact been on - Overseas Service. Those from countries under German occupation would have in fact been Exiled Forces. You cannot be an immigrant, living in the UK permanently, and at the same time be an active member of a foreign Defence Force. They were not refugees fleeing war for safety. They arrived in the UK still on active service with their own leadership and exiled Government collaborating with the British. The intention was to continue the fight, the state of war they were already under with their British allies with the intention of defeating their mutual enemy, freeing their homeland, and returning home.
ReplyDeleteThe Polish and Czech pilots that served alongside the RAF were not refugees. A refugee seeks asylum from war. The Polish and Czech pilots who arrived here were still on active service under command of their own leadership. For the Poles, that was the Polish Government in Exile. Not overly familiar with the Czech leadership, I do not have any books on the Czech exiled forces, and prefer not to do historical research from the internet as it is so heavily flawed with mistakes. The Polish Pilots were here in EXILE, not refugees. I have tried to explain this to you before, but again you refer to them as refugees. It seems like you are happy to insult the memory of these men to suit your own political narrative - shame on you! I do not know to what extent you have researched (found on the net) the subject of Exiled Polish Forces, or understand their post-war situation. I had the pleasure of talking with many of the old Poles living around Eastwood back in the 1980's about their wartime experiences, sadly now as time has moved on, they are no longer with us including my own Grandfather. The Poles came here with the intention of fighting their enemy Germany with their British allies with the aim of defeating Germany and returning home. As it turned out, post-war Poland was placed under a forced dictatorship under Russian command. Most of the Poles exiled in the UK were from Eastern Poland, my grandfather included. This area, first invaded by the Russians in 1939 was now again under Russian occupation, the Poles had no chance of returning to eastern Poland, even the remaining Poles living in eastern Poland were forced to move into western Poland. Some Poles after WW2 did return from exile to Poland. Many of which found themselves imprisoned under trumped up charges of spying for the west, political descent and all manner of excuses to remove them. Stalin did not want "westernised" Poles to return and made it near impossible. For the remaining exiled Polish forces in the UK, the British government set up the Polish Resettlement Corps. They continued to be housed in military bases until relocation. They were given two choices. Become miners of farm labourers. That is why the mining rich area around here saw many Poles live in the area. They continued to live here in exile. They were not refugees of immigrants, in fact it can be said, they arrived here as they were ordered to come here as they were all still on active service from1939 until1947.
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention, (sorry,this is not a copy / paste from the net, it's all from memory) one of the main reasons that Stalin did not want the exiled Polish forces to return. Poland had the largest resistance armies in Europe. Not entirely united, some were established to fight the Nazis, some were established to fight the communists after the 1939 invasion. The anti communist forces did not stop fighting to free Poland after the European war had finished. Around 200,000 Poles died in action fighting the Russians upto 1947. The last thing Stalin wanted returning to Poland was tens of thousands of highly trained, six years of combat experienced patriotic Poles returning to Poland to continue their fight for a free Poland, therefore they had to remain in exile.
ReplyDelete