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No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron
303 Squadron badge
Active	2 August 1940 – 11 December 1946
Country	United Kingdom
Allegiance	Polish government in exile
Branch	Royal Air Force
Role	Fighter Squadron
Part of	RAF Fighter Command
Nickname(s)	"Rafałki"
Scarf colour	Scarlet
Anniversaries	1 September Squadron holiday
Battle honours	Battle of Britain 1940, Fortress Europe 1941-1944, France and Germany 1944-1945
Commanders
Notable commanders	Zdzisław Krasnodębski Witold Urbanowicz Jan Zumbach Witold Łokuciewski
Insignia
Squadron Codes	RF (Aug 1940 - Apr 1945) PD (Apr 1945 – Dec 1946)
Aircraft flown
Fighter	Hawker Hurricane Supermarine Spitfire Mustang IV

No. 303 ("Kościuszko") Polish Fighter Squadron (Template:Lang-pl) was one of 16 Polish squadrons in the Royal Air Force during World War II. It was one of the highest scoring RAF units during the Battle of Britain and the highest scoring Hurricane-equipped squadron during that battle. The squadron was named after the Polish and American Revolution hero General Tadeusz Kościuszko, and the eponymous 111th Fighter Escadrille (Poland) founded by Merian C. Cooper, that served Poland in the 1919-1921 Polish-Soviet War. The 303 was formed in Britain as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom. The squadron was disbanded in December 1946.

History

No. 303 (Polish) Squadron was formed on 2 August 1940, and became operational on 31 August of the same year, its initial cadre being 13 Officer and 8 NCO pilots and 135 Polish ground staff. Initially English-speaking serving RAF officers were appointed to serve as CO and Flight Commanders alongside their Polish compatriates, as the Polish pilots were unfamiliar with RAF Fighter Command language, procedures and training. The name chosen by the squadron was in honour of the famous Polish Kosciuszko Squadron which fought during the Polish-Soviet War in 1920. No. 303 Squadron was also linked to the original Kosciuszko Escadrille through personnel that had served in the squadron. Later, further air force units from the aforementioned unit were renamed the 7th, 121st and 111th Escadrilles of the Polish Air Force.

On 30 August 1940, the squadron scored its first victory while still officially non-operational, against a German Bf 110 (initially incorrectly recorded as a Do-17) fighter shot down by Ludwik Paszkiewicz during a training flight. The wreck was dug out in 1982. 303 Squadron claimed the greatest number of aircraft destroyed of the 66 Allied fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it joined the fray two months after the battle had begun. Its success in combat can be attributed to the years of extensive and rigorous pre-war training many of the long-serving Polish veterans had received in their homeland and surviving previous encounters with the Luftwaffe in inferior aircraft; far more than many of their younger and inexperienced RAF comrades being thrown into the battle. In its first seven days of combat, the squadron claimed nearly 40 enemy aircraft. Withdrawn from battle for a rest on the 11 October, the squadron had claimed 126 kills in six weeks. However, losses had also been heavy, with 18 Hurricanes lost, seven pilots killed and five badly wounded.

Although the number of Battle of Britain claims was overestimated (as with virtually all fighter units), 303 Squadron was one of top fighter units in the battle and the best Hurricane-equipped one. According to historian John Alcorn, 44 victories are positively verified, which makes 303 Squadron the fourth best fighter squadron of the battle, after Squadron Nos. 603, 609 and 41, which all flew Spitfires.. Considering that these victories were scored in only 17 days of combat, it was also the most efficient unit, with high kill-to-loss ratio of 2.8:1. However, J. Alcorn was not able to attribute 30 aircraft shot down to any particular unit, and according to Jerzy Cynk and some other Polish historians, the real number of victories of 303 Squadron was in fact about 55–60. Some sources state that 303 Squadron was not only the top scoring Hurricane-equipped squadron but the highest scoring of any RAF squadron.

During 1941–43, 303 Squadron flew on Fighter Command's offensive sweeps over North West Europe, flying various marks of the Spitfire. During Operation Jubilee, 303 Squadron claimed the highest number of aircraft shot down of all Allied squadrons participating. On 11 April 1942, when an aerial gunnery contest was staged within No. 11 Group RAF, the three competing Polish squadrons—303, 316 and 315—took the first three places out of all 22 air squadrons, 303 Squadron coming first by a very healthy margin (808 hits, while 316 Squadron scored 432 hits, and the best British squadron 150 hits). After D-Day, the squadron remained with ADGB ("Air Defence Great Britain"), moving to RAF Coltishall for operations over Holland. April 1945 saw the unit equipped with Mustang IVs.

303 Squadron was the most effective Polish squadron during the Second World War. Its pilots were the only representatives of the Polish Army invited to the London Victory Parade in 1946; they refused the invitation because no other Polish units were invited. After the end of the war, squadron morale decreased due to the treatment of Poles by the Allies, and the squadron was eventually disbanded in December 1946.

The dry statistics are insufficient to convey the frequently suicidal bravery exhibited by the pilots of 303 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. Even though the Hurricanes flown by the Polish pilots were inferior to the main German fighter (the Messerschmitt Bf 109), they were far superior to the outdated Polish fighter aircraft that defended the country's skies during the German invasion in September 1939. Due to critical shortage of Allied aircraft and pilots, 303 Squadron frequently intercepted and engaged large formations of German bombers and fighters which outnumbered the squadron by as much as 10 to one. On one occasion a pilot of 303—Sergeant Stanislaw Karubin—resorted to extreme tactics to bring down a German fighter. Following a prolonged air battle, Karubin was chasing a German fighter at treetop level. As he closed in on the tail of the German fighter, Karubin realized that his Hurricane had run out of ammunition. Rather than turning back to base, he closed the distance and climbed right above the German fighter. The German pilot was so shocked to see the underside of the Hurricane within arm's reach of his cockpit that he instinctively reduced his altitude to avoid a collision and crashed into the ground.

Squadron statistics

(From 19 July 1940 until 8 May 1945)

Scores

Claims during Battle of Britain

(4.7% of all enemy aeroplanes during the battle. In fact some 44-60 victories, this however produces a similar percentage.)

Claims from 1 September 1940 until 8 May 1945)

(include 3-0-3 enemy aircraft on the ground)

Locations

• 2 August 1940 - RAF Northolt
• 11 October 1940 - RAF Leconfield
• 3 January 1941 - RAF Northolt
• 17 July 1941 - RAF Speke
• 7 October 1941 - RAF Northolt
• 15 June 1942 - Kirton-in-Lindsey
• 16 August 1942 - Redhill
• 20 August 1942 - Kirton-in-Lindsey
• 1 February 1943 - RAF Northolt
• 5 February 1943 - RAF Heston
• 3 March 1943 - RAF Debden
• 12 March 1943 - RAF Heston
• 26 March 1943 - Martlesham Heath
• 8 April 1943 - RAF Heston
• 1 June 1943 - RAF Northolt
• 12 November 1943 - Ballyhalbert
• 30 April 1944 - Horne
• 19 June 1944 - Westhampnett
• 27 June 1944 - Merston
• 9 August 1944 - Westhampnett
• 25 August 1944 - RAF Coltishall
• 4 April 1945 - Andrews Field
• 16 May 1945 - RAF Coltishall
• 9 August 1945 - Andrews Field
• 28 November 1945 - Turnhouse
• 4 January 1946 - Wick
• 31 March 1946 - Charterhall
• 23 March 1946 - RAF Hethel

Squadron equipment

• 8 August 1940 - Hurricane I (inter alia, August, 1940: L1696 -T; at the beginning of August, Flight "A": P3700 -E, P3974, R2688, R4178 -G, V7244 -C, Flight "B": P2985, P3975 -U, R4175 -R, R4179, V7235; later: L2026 -Q, L2099 -O, N2460 -D, P3120 -A, P3544 -H, P3939 -H, V6684 -F, V7067 -T, V7235 -M; November: V6577 -P, V7384 -H, V7503 -U, V7504 -G, V7624 -B; December 1940 - February 1941: N2661 -J, P3162 -T, P3585 -C, P3814 -Y, R4081 -O, V6533 -R, V6637 -G, V6757 -E, V6956 -C, V7182 -U, V7466 -S, V7606 -A, V7619 -M, V7644 -Z, V7727 -H, W9129 -W); since 13 July 1941 until 24 August 1941 again Hurricane I (inter alia, P3932 -RF-C).

• 22 January 1941 - Spitfire I (inter alia, N3026 -A, N3108 -P, N3122 -Y, N3285 -J, P9519 -M, R6972 -N); 3 March 1941 - Spitfire IIA (inter alia, P7546 -T, P7786 -C, P7858 -H, P7989 -U, P8039 -R, P8040 -D, P8041 -E, P8073 -Z); 20 May 1941 - Spitfire IIB (inter alia, P8208 -F, P8325 -B, P8329 -P, P8330 -D, P8331 -M, P8333 -S, P8334 -E, P8335 -R, P8336 -W, P8346 -T, P8382 -C, P8385 -A, P8507 -V, P8524 -H, P8531 -Y, P8567 -D, P8642 -X, P8672 -F); since 25 August 1941 until 6 October 1941 again Spitfire I (inter alia, P9429, R6773 -P).
• 7 October 1941 - Spitfire VB (inter alia, at the end of 1941 and in 1942: W3229 -D, W3506 -U, W3765 -P, W3795 -N, W3893 -K, AA882 -G, AA908 -A, AA940 -B, AB174 -Q (Mk VC), AB183 -A, AB824 -S, AB899 -C, AB906 -W, AB929 -R, AD116 -H, AD138 -T, AD179 -F, AD455 -V, BL375 -J, BL432 -K, BL672 -M, BM144 -D, EN951 -D).
• 1 June 1943 - Spitfire F IXC (inter alia, BS451 -M, BS506 -O, BS513, EN172 -J, MA222 -A, MA314, MA593 -Y, MA740 -R, MA754 -K).
• 12 November 1943 - Spitfire VB, Spitfire VC and Spitfire LF VB, Spitfire LF VC (inter alia, Spitfire VB i Spitfire VC: W3380, AA751, AA937, AB272 -D, AD198 -W; Spitfire LF VB and Spitfire VC: AB271, AD237, AD295, AD317, AR513, BL385, BL464, BM207).
• 18 July 1944 - Spitfire F IX, Spitfire LF IX and Spitfire HF IX (inter alia, Spitfire F IX: BS348, BS408, EN122, EN182 -H, EN526 -A, MA528 -E, MA814 -Q, MH692 -C, MH823, MH910 -G; Spitfire LF IX: MH777 -N, MJ120, MJ216; Spitfire HF IX: MK694, ML339)
• 4 April 1945 - Mustang IV and Mustang IVA (inter alia, KH663 -L, KH669 -P, KH770 -Y, KH825 -C, KM112 -D, KM186 -A, KM191 -Z, KM220 -G, KM237 -R, KM297 -K).

Commanding officers

(under British command until 1 January 1941. Abbreviations: mjr: major, kpt.: captain, por.: lieutenant)

• 2 August 1940 - Sqn Ldr (mjr) Zdzisław Krasnodębski
• 7 September 1940 - F/O (por.) Witold Urbanowicz
• 22 October 1940 - F/O (por.) Zdzisław Henneberg
• 7 November 1940 - Sqn Ldr (kpt.) Adam Kowalczyk
• 20 February 1941 - Sqn Ldr (por.) Zdzisław Henneberg
• 13 April 1941 - F/Lt (por.) Tadeusz Arentowicz
• 5 May 1941 - Sqn Ldr (kpt.) Wacław Łapkowski
• 3 July 1941 - Sqn Ldr (kpt.) Tadeusz Arentowicz
• 9 July 1941 - Sqn Ldr (kpt.) Jerzy Jankiewicz
• 21 November 1941 - Sqn Ldr (por.) Wojciech Kołaczkowski
• 7 May 1942 - Sqn Ldr (kpt.) Walerian Żak
• 19 May 1942 - Sqn Ldr (por.) Jan Zumbach
• 1 December 1942 - Sqn Ldr(por.) Zygmunt Witymir Bieńkowski
• 4 July 1943 - Sqn Ldr (kpt.) Jan Falkowski
• 21 November 1943 - Sqn Ldr (kpt.) Tadeusz Koc
• 25 September 1944 - Sqn Ldr (kpt.) Bolesław Drobiński
• 1 February 1946 - Sqn Ldr (mjr) Witold Łokuciewski

Pilots of 303

• Sqn Ldr R G Kellett DSO DFC Original CO of 303 Sqn during the Battle of Britain, (five claims)
• Flt Lt John A. Kent, Canadian Flight commander during the Battle, (11 claims)
• Sgt Josef František, Czech Sgt. pilot flying with 303 Polish Squadron, was the one of the top fighter pilots of the Battle of Britain, with 17 confirmed kills.
• Fg Off Witold Urbanowicz, Polish commander of 303 Squadron from 5 September 1940, scored 15 kills during the Battle of Britain (17 total)
• Plt Off Jan Zumbach, commander of 303 Squadron from 19 May 1942, scored eight kills during the Battle of Britain (13 total)

Pilot list of the No. 303 Polish "Kościuszko" Fighter Squadron

Commanders: Ronald Kellett | Zdzisław Krasnodębski | Witold Urbanowicz | Zdzisław Henneberg | Adam Kowalczyk | Zdzisław Henneberg | Tadeusz Arentowicz | Wacław Łapkowski | Tadeusz Arentowicz | Jerzy Jankiewicz | Wojciech Kołaczkowski | Walerian Żak | Jan Zumbach | Zygmunt Witymir Bieńkowski | Jan Falkowski | Tadeusz Koc | Bolesław Drobiński | Witold Łokuciewski Flight personnel: Tadeusz Andruszków | Zenon Bartkowiak | Marian Bełc | Michał Brzezowski | Arsen Cebrzyński | Jan Daszewski | Mirosław Ferić | Athol Forbes | Josef František | Paweł Gallus | Bogdan Grzeszczak | Eugeniusz Horbaczewski | Wojciech Januszewicz | Józef Kania | Stanisław Karubin | John Kent | Bronisław Kłosin | Wojciech Kołaczkowski | Tadeusz Kołecki | Jan Kowalski | Karol Krawczyński | Bogusław Mierzawa | Włodzimierz Miksa | Tadeusz Opulski | Jan Palak Jerzy Palusiński | Ludwik Paszkiewicz | Edward Peterek | Stanisław Pietraszkiewicz | Marian Pisarek | Mieczysław Popek | Jerzy Radomski | Jan Rogowski Aleksander Rokitnicki | Tadeusz Sawicz | Henryk Skowron | Bronislaw Sikora | Antoni Siudak | Stanisław Socha | Józef Stasik | Eugeniusz Szaposznikow | Mirosław Wojciechowski | Stefan Wojtowicz | Kazimierz Wunsche Stanisław Zdanowski

Quotes

I cannot say how proud I am to have been privileged to help form and lead No. 303 squadron and later to lead such a magnificent fighting force as the Polish Wing. There formed within me in those days an admiration, respect and genuine affection for these really remarkable men which I have never lost. I formed friendship that are as firm as they were those twenty-five years ago and this I find most gratifying. We who were privileged to fly and fight with them will never forget and Britain must never forget how much she owes to the loyalty indomitable spirit and sacrifice of those Polish fliers. They were our staunchest Allies in our darkest days; may they always be remembered as such!

Group Captain John A. Kent DFC, AFC, Virtuti Militari.

Popular culture

The squadron was the subject of the 1942 book "Dywizjon 303" (Squadron 303), written by the well-known Polish writer Arkady Fiedler, which is considered the most famous and popular among this writer's many works and has sold over 1.5 million copies.

As part of an advertising campaign designed to highlight their concerns about the numbers of foreign workers (including Polish migrants) in the United Kingdom, the British National Party used the distinctly British icon of a Spitfire to illustrate their idea of a Battle for Britain. Ironically, the Spitfire shown in their advertising was RF-D from 303 (Polish) Squadron.

See also

Kościuszko's Squadron
3rd Military Air Escadrille 7th Air Escadrille 121st Fighter Escadrille 111th Fighter Escadrille 303rd Fighter Squadron 1st Tactical Squadron
v t e

• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
• Polish Air Force
• Polish contribution to World War II
• Western betrayal
• Polish British

References

Notes

1. ^ Letter of Jerzy Cynk to Skrzydlata Polska 1/2006 magazine, pp. 61–62 (in Polish)
2. Olson and Cloud 2003
3. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron
4. Gretzyngier 2001, p. 62.
5. ^ Rawlings 1978, p. 391.
6. ^ Halley 1988, p. 357.
7. ^ Jefford 2001, pp. 86–87.
8. Spitfire

Bibliography

• Cynk, Jerzy B. The Polish Air Force at War: The Official History, 1939-1943. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1998. ISBN 0-7643-0559-X.
• Cynk, Jerzy B. The Polish Air Force at War: The Official History, 1943-1945. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1998. ISBN 0-7643-0560-3.
• Fiedler, Arkady. Dywizjon 303 (in Polish). London, Roy, 1942. (Translated as Squadron 303: The Polish Fighter Squadron with the R.A.F.. London: Peter Davies Ltd., 1942/New York: Roy Publishers, 1943. New edition Kessinger Publishing, 2007.)
• Gretzyngier, Robert. Poles in Defence of Britain: A Day-by-Day Chronology of Polish Day and Night Fighter Operations, July 1940 - June 1941. London: Grub Street, 2001. ISBN 1-902304-54-3.
• Gretzyngier, Robert. Polskie Skrzydła 4: Hawker Hurricane, część 1 (in Polish). Sandomierz, Poland: Stratus, 2005. ISBN 83-89450-37-2.
• Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918-1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
• Jefford, Wing Commander C.G., MBE, BA, RAF (Retd). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
• Olson, Lynne and Stanley Cloud.A Question of Honor. The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II. New York: Knopf, 2003. ISBN 0-37541-197-6.
• Rawlings, John D.R. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald & Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1969 (revised edition 1976, reprinted 1978). ISBN 0-354-01028-X.
• Zamoyski, Adam. The Forgotten Few: The Polish Air Force in the Second World War. New York: Hippocrene Books Inc., 1995. ISBN 0-718-0421-3.

External links

• Ratuszynski, Wilhelm. No. 303 Polish Squadron History.
• A Question of Honor Listen to Lynn Olsen and Stanley Cloud, authors of "A Question of Honor," about the "Kościuszko" Squadron
• RAF page about 303 Squadron
• 303 Squadron Page at Polish Squadrons Remembered
• 303 Squadron Claims & Losses
• No. 303 Squadron Operations Record Books

v t e Polish Air Force in the United Kingdom during the Second World War
Wings	No. 131 Wing RAF (No. 1 Polish Wing) No. 133 Wing RAF (No. 2 Polish Wing) No. 3
Squadrons	300 "Ziemi Mazowieckiej" 301 "Ziemi Pomorskiej" 302 "Poznański" 303 "Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki" 304 "Ziemi Śląskiej im. Ks. Józefa Poniatowskiego" 305 "Ziemi Wielkopolskiej im. Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego" 306 "Toruński" 307 "Lwowskich Puchaczy" 308 "Krakowski" 309 "Ziemi Czerwieńskiej" 315 "Dębliński" 316 "Warszawski" 317 "Wileński" 318 "Gdański" 663rd Polish Air Observation Post Squadron
Other units	Polish Fighting Team 138 Special Duty Squadron (Polish Flight "C") 1586 Special Duty Flight

v t e Royal Air Force flying squadrons
currently active	1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 25 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 41 42 45 51 54 56 57 60 70 72 78 80 84 92 99 101 115 120 201 202 206 207 216 230 617
inactive	5 15 21 26 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 43 44 46 47 48 49 50 52 53 55 58 59 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 71 73 74 75 76 77 79 81 82 83 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 93 94 95 96 97 98 100 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 116 117 118 119 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 203 204 205 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 353 354 355 356 357 358 360 361 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 547 548 549 550 567 569 570 571 575 576 577 578 582 586 587 595 597 598 618 619 620 621 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 635 639 640 644 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 679 680 681 682 683 684 691 692 695
Australian Flying Corps units attached to the RAF during the First World War	67 (1 Sqn AFC) 68 (2 Sqn AFC) 69 (3 Sqn AFC) 71 (4 Sqn AFC)
Article XV (Commonwealth) air force units attached to the RAF during the Second World War	Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 466 467 Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) 485 486 487 488 489 490
squadrons formed from non-Commonwealth personnel during the Second World War	Argentine 164 Belgian 349 350 Czechoslovak 310 311 312 313 Dutch 320 (Netherlands) 321 (Netherlands) 322 (Dutch) French 326 327 328 329 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 Greek 13 335 336 Norwegian 330 331 332 333 334 Polish 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 315 316 317 318 663 United States 71 121 133 Yugoslav 351 352
Royal Auxiliary Air Force	Special Reserve 500 501 502 503 504 Auxiliary Air Force 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 622
Fleet Air Arm of the RAF (1924–1939)	712 715 718 800 801 802 803 810 811 812 813 814 820 821 822 823 824 825
Volunteer Gliding Squadrons (VGS)	current 611 615 621 622 626 631 632 637 644 645 661 former 612 613 614 616 617 618 623 624 625 633 634 635 636 642 643 662 663 664

• Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
• Squadrons of the Polish Air Force
• Military units and formations of Poland in World War II
• Military units and formations established in 1940
• Military units and formations disestablished in 1946