Warbird Information Exchange

When the war was over, after the expatriate Poles had fought for Britain for five long years, from saving Britain's ass during the summer and fall of 1940 (303 Sqn was the highest scoring squadron in the Battle, as I recall) all the way through to the final victory in Europe, Churchill bowed to Stalin's demands and not only refused to let any Polish servicemember march in the Victory Parade, but gave the Polish airmen a whole 72 hours to vacate the country after their units were disbanded.

There's a whole lot more to it, including IGNORING the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in August 1944, but suffice it to say that after reading that book, I certainly came away with a less than gracious view of Churchill. And the more I read about the political machinations that took place before and during the war, the more I realize how Stalin played both us and England for consummate suckers.

Lynn

yea cant help thinking we should have let the germans win!

Imritger, I haven't read that book. I own and have read the chapter on Warsaw in "Flames In The Sky" by Pierre Clousterman, the French ace who flew Spitfires in the RAF. It has a chapter on RAF efforts to use bombers to supply the Poles in the Warsaw ghetto, and the losses RAF took. He places much of the blame on Stalin who ask the Poles to revolt and stood by while the Germans killed them. So something is not as that book claims, that the Brits ignored the Warsaw Poles? I don't know any facts about the post war period, maybe some of our UK members do? Also on 303 Sqdn. being the highest scoring, was it all Polish or how many of its members were? There were some top Polish aces, but they did not do it alone. Johnnie Johnson was the top scoring RAF ace, also Bader, Malan etc.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Bill, some info for you concerning the boys of 303:

http://www.geocities.com/psp1945/303/303_story.html

It appears that by the end of 1940 the unit was composed exclusively of Polish pilots.

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

I'm currently reading Armageddon by Max Hastings, subtitled "The Battle for Germany 1944-1945".

There's a fair bit in it about the Warsaw Uprising, far to much to paraphrase here, but I'll add a couple of snippets.

The uprising was triggered by a broadcast by the Lublin (Communist) Poles. The British High Command had concluded several months earlier that any uprising could not succeed, but had apparently not informed the London Poles.

Stalin sat back and waited for it all to finish, although the book does say the Russian Army was over-extended with regard to supplies. Stalin also refused permission for Allied aircraft dropping supplies to refuel in Russian territory. The RAF depatched 306 aircraft and lost 41, equivalent to losing one aircraft for every ton of supplies dropped.

Dan, your excerpt says the Polish pilot led the sqdn until DEC. 1946. Lynn's book says Churchill gave the pilots "72 hours after the end of the war" to leave the country. Something doesn't seem to jibe here, since the war ended before Dec '46.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Hi Bill-

"...gave the Polish airmen a whole 72 hours to vacate the country after their units were disbanded. "

They were there into 1946 at least, maybe later, but when the units were disbanded, the Poles were not permitted to stay in the country.

Lynn

Lynn, you would never believe I was the best reader in my whole school! I missed the distinction. I'll have to learn more about the post war problem with the Poles. Seems like a raw deal on the face of it.Maybe international relations was behind it. I also used to be able to spell before I started writing on the computer. Thanks for your input on this subject. The book I quoted is pretty good with each chapter a glimpse at different parts of the war.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

No research, and I've just returned from the pub so my reasoning may be blurred, but surely Churchill was no longer Prime Minister by this time?

Quite correct Ken. Churchill was voted out of office in July 1945, the Victory Parade and disbandment of the final Polish RAF Squadrons did not take place until 1946.

That doesn't stop the Poles from blaming many of their post-war woes on Churchill though - being married to one means that I have my ear bent about that subject on a fairly regular basis!

Thanks Mike, I didn't think I was that old, stupid or legless but I'm never sure these days.

I'm definitely a huge admirer of Churchill. Like all of us he was human and made mistakes but I dread to think what would have happened without him.