By Roy Buchanan
The Battle of Britain will live forever in the annals of British history. It is an iconic tale of heroes demonstrating unbelievable bravery, prepared to die for a cause. The fighter pilots of the RAF became the knights of the 20th century, role models for schoolboys for many years afterwards. To say the word Spitfire was enough and one phrase said it all – The Few.
But they were not all British, 20% came from 13 other countries. The greatest number were Polish. With their own country suffering the cruelty of Hitler, these young men came to help us fight against Germany. They formed their own squadrons based at aerodromes throughout southern England. They took to the skies over the white cliffs of Dover in our planes, fighting wing tip to wing tip alongside our pilots and dying with them when shot down over the English Channel, killed far from home, separated from their parents. Most were in their early twenties.
In forty-two days, 126 enemy aircraft were destroyed by the all-Polish 303 Squadron based at RAF Northolt. It became a record. When Winston Churchill said, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much, owed by so many, to so few,” he meant all the fighter pilots. However, in 1946 the British Labour Government showed appalling weakness, buckling under pressure from Stalin not to invite Polish pilots to the London Victory Parade. Why? Returning to Poland meant they would be persecuted, imprisoned or executed by the Russians yet a poll showed 56% of the British people wanted them sent back. Why? What a strange way to say thank you. Please visit the Polish War Memorial on the A40 at South Ruislip to remember the brave young men who died for freedom.