Seeing the Battle of Britain stories and commemoration activities on the news during September got me thinking about the RAF and its role in the Second World War. In films and on television RAF officers and pilots are often depicted as dashing and daring English gents, but in truth around 20% of RAF personnel were men and women from allied countries around the globe.
Sherwood Forest and Newark have particularly strong links with Polish airmen, with the first Polish RAF squadrons 300 and 301 operating from RAF Swinderby from August 1940 to July 1941. This site had a satellite station, RAF Winthorpe, which was on the site of the current Newark Air Museum and 6 miles south west of Swinderby. 300 and 301 squadrons used RAF Winthorpe when Swinderby was waterlogged [1]. Both squadrons were bomber crews, initially flying Fairey Battle light bombers (middle photo) and, later, Vickers Wellington medium bombers (bottom photo) [2]. 301 squadron flew 44 missions from Nottinghamshire in 1940, losing only one crew of three men.
The badge shown here is that of the 300 squadron - CCC is 300 in Roman numerals, the eagle is from the Polish coat of arms, the crowned lion represents England, with the red and white colours from both the English and Polish flags, designed to show the unison between the two countries' air forces. The Air Ministry announced the formation of 300 squadron on 13th December 1939: “Somewhere in England . . . the first detachment of the Polish Air Force is already training with enthusiasm to form itself into the first of several squadrons that will soon become part and parcel of the Royal Air Force . . . RAF officers, who have had the task of getting their Polish recruits housed in a RAF station, are full of admiration for their new charges. One officer of great experience said: "Those who have arrived so far are a magnificent body of men. All have plenty of actual flying experience and are full of enthusiasm, yet show a quiet determination to get on with their jobs as quickly as possible.” [3]
Polish airmen were highly skilled and their experienced pilots quickly earned their reputation as fearless and effective, with very high success rates. In fact, 302 and 303 squadrons, who fought in the Battle of Britain, were so successful, Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, head of the RAF Fighter Command, said "Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of the Battle would have been the same." [4] The Polish airmen must have been incredibly worried about their homeland which had been invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany in 1939. Some crew members signed their bombs with chalk 'dedications' such as "Present for Hitler. For Warsaw" [5].
Newark Cemetery has a dedicated plot for RAF burials which contains the graves of 397 Polish servicemen killed during the Second World War and a memorial cross dedicated to Polish airmen [6]. There are also memorials to these men at Newark Air Museum's Memorial Garden [7] and at Southwell Minster [8].
If you have a story to share about the Polish airmen stationed in Newark, please do get in touch at susie.mcgraw@sherwoodforesttrust.org.uk.
Find more information at:
winthorpe.org.uk [1]
raf.mod.uk [2]
rafmuseum.org.uk [4]
iwm.org.uk [6]