No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron
Encyclopedia
No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron "Land of Pomerania
" was a Polish
World War II
bomber
unit. It was fighting alongside the Royal Air Force
and operated from airbases in the United Kingdom
and Italy
.
, the Polish government signed an agreement with the Royal Air Force
. According to the appendix to the Polish-British Alliance, should the war with Germany break out, two Polish bomber squadrons were to be created on British soil, with additional two being created en cadre
. However, following the German and Soviet invasion of Poland
, most of Polish airmen who managed to get to the west were incorporated into the Polish Air Forces being recreated in France. It was not until the fall of France
that Polish airmen started to arrive to the United Kingdom in large numbers.
Polish evacuees and refugees with experience in aerial warfare were initially kept in a military camp in Eastchurch
. Finally on July 1, 1940, the No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron
was created as the first of such Polish units. As the number of Polish airmen, often with experience in fights against the Germans from Poland and France, was high, already on July 24 additional bomber squadron was created. Named No. 301 (Polish) Squadron by the British authorities, the new squadron also received the name of Land of Pomerania
, in accordance with Polish naming traditions.
Initially commanded by Lt.Col. Roman Rudkowski, the squadron was equipped with 16 outdated Fairey Battle
bombers. The personnel included 24 entirely Polish air crews, while the technical personnel (some 180 people initially) was mostly British. Formed at RAF Bramcote
on August 23 it was relocated to RAF Swinderby
. On September 14 the squadron flew its first combat mission: three crews took part in bombing raids against the German invasion fleet gathered in Boulogne
for Operation Sea Lion. On September 25 the squadron lost its first crew: one of Faireys was damaged by German anti-air artillery over northern France and crashed on landing.
The early stage of 301 Squadron ended on October 20, 1940 when it was withdrawn from active service and badly needed new aircraft arrived. Training with the Vickers Wellington
bombers lasted until December. At the same time the number of ground crew was extended to about 400 men. On December 22 the squadron took off for the first bombing raid with their new bombers. The raid damaged an oil refinery in Antwerp. It was repeated on December 28, with no friendly losses. On the night of January 1, 1941 three aircraft crashed on landing because of bad weather. The Swinderby airfield proved unsuitable for medium bombers, and was further damaged by the crashing planes, which resulted in the entire squadron being grounded.
After several weeks the weather improved and 301 joined 300 squadron, both being based at RAF Ingham
Lincolnshire
, in a bombing campaign over France and Germany. Among common targets were Bremen
, Hamburg
, Brest
and Essen
. Overnight of May 31st the squadron took part in a large bombing raid on Cologne
. Overnight of June 6 it visited Essen
, where it lost two crews. On June 27 it bombed Bremen
, losing additional air crew. On July 3 yet another crew was lost. Overnight of July 22 another three were lost to enemy AA fire and fighter planes. The Polish HQ, lacking manpower and experienced airmen, decided to disband the squadron on April 7, 1943.
The remaining crews were then attached to the RAF Tempsford
-based No. 138 (Special) Squadron RAF
as the newly formed Flight C operating the Handley Page Halifax
bomber.
On 7 November 1944, the squadron was reformed at Brindisi, Italy, when No. 1586 Flight was renamed. The squadron operated the Handley Page Halifax
and Consolidated Liberator
until 1945. In 1945 the squadron returned to RAF Blackbushe
, England to operate the Vickers Warwick
. In 1946 the squadron re-equipped with the Handley Page Halifax
again until it was disbanded at Chedburgh on 18 December 1946.
or Griffon
, one of the symbols of Pomerania
. After the reconstruction of the 301st in 1944 it received a new double name of Land of Pomerania - Defenders of Warsaw. Because of that, the new patch featured the White Eagle
with a Pegasus and a Coat of Arms of Warsaw
.
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
" was a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
unit. It was fighting alongside the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and operated from airbases in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
History
Already before the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Polish government signed an agreement with the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
. According to the appendix to the Polish-British Alliance, should the war with Germany break out, two Polish bomber squadrons were to be created on British soil, with additional two being created en cadre
En cadre
En cadre or cadre is a French expression originally denoting either the complement of commissioned officers of a regiment or the permanent skeleton establishment of a unit, around which the unit could be built if needed...
. However, following the German and Soviet invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
, most of Polish airmen who managed to get to the west were incorporated into the Polish Air Forces being recreated in France. It was not until the fall of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
that Polish airmen started to arrive to the United Kingdom in large numbers.
Polish evacuees and refugees with experience in aerial warfare were initially kept in a military camp in Eastchurch
Eastchurch
Eastchurch is a village on the Isle of Sheppey, in the English county of Kent, two miles east of Minster.The village website claims "... it has a history steeped in stories of piracy and smugglers".- Aviation history :...
. Finally on July 1, 1940, the No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron
No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron
No. 300 "Land of Masovia" Bomber Squadron was a Polish World War II bomber unit. It was fighting alongside the Royal Air Force and operated from airbases in the United Kingdom.- History :...
was created as the first of such Polish units. As the number of Polish airmen, often with experience in fights against the Germans from Poland and France, was high, already on July 24 additional bomber squadron was created. Named No. 301 (Polish) Squadron by the British authorities, the new squadron also received the name of Land of Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
, in accordance with Polish naming traditions.
Initially commanded by Lt.Col. Roman Rudkowski, the squadron was equipped with 16 outdated Fairey Battle
Fairey Battle
The Fairey Battle was a British single-engine light bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company in the late 1930s for the Royal Air Force. The Battle was powered by the same Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine that gave contemporary British fighters high performance; however, the Battle was weighed...
bombers. The personnel included 24 entirely Polish air crews, while the technical personnel (some 180 people initially) was mostly British. Formed at RAF Bramcote
RAF Bramcote
RAF Bramcote was a Royal Air Force station near Nuneaton in Warwickshire during World War II. It later became HMS Gamecock and then Gamecock Barracks.-RAF operations:The Station opened in 1939. The main user No...
on August 23 it was relocated to RAF Swinderby
RAF Swinderby
RAF Swinderby was a Royal Air Force Bomber Command airfield opened in 1940, one of the last of the stations completed under the RAF's expansion plans started in the 1930s...
. On September 14 the squadron flew its first combat mission: three crews took part in bombing raids against the German invasion fleet gathered in Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
for Operation Sea Lion. On September 25 the squadron lost its first crew: one of Faireys was damaged by German anti-air artillery over northern France and crashed on landing.
The early stage of 301 Squadron ended on October 20, 1940 when it was withdrawn from active service and badly needed new aircraft arrived. Training with the Vickers Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
bombers lasted until December. At the same time the number of ground crew was extended to about 400 men. On December 22 the squadron took off for the first bombing raid with their new bombers. The raid damaged an oil refinery in Antwerp. It was repeated on December 28, with no friendly losses. On the night of January 1, 1941 three aircraft crashed on landing because of bad weather. The Swinderby airfield proved unsuitable for medium bombers, and was further damaged by the crashing planes, which resulted in the entire squadron being grounded.
After several weeks the weather improved and 301 joined 300 squadron, both being based at RAF Ingham
RAF Cammeringham
RAF Cammeringham was a Royal Air Force base used by RAF Bomber Command between 1940 and 1945 and the Polish Air Force until 1946...
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, in a bombing campaign over France and Germany. Among common targets were Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
and Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
. Overnight of May 31st the squadron took part in a large bombing raid on Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. Overnight of June 6 it visited Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, where it lost two crews. On June 27 it bombed Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, losing additional air crew. On July 3 yet another crew was lost. Overnight of July 22 another three were lost to enemy AA fire and fighter planes. The Polish HQ, lacking manpower and experienced airmen, decided to disband the squadron on April 7, 1943.
The remaining crews were then attached to the RAF Tempsford
RAF Tempsford
RAF Tempsford in Bedfordshire, England was perhaps the most secret Royal Air Force airfield in World War II. It was home to the Special Duties Squadrons, No. 138, which dropped Special Operations Executive agents and their supplies into occupied Europe, and No...
-based No. 138 (Special) Squadron RAF
No. 138 Squadron RAF
No. 138 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force that served in a variety of roles during its career, last disbanded in 1962. It was the first 'V-bomber' squadron of the RAF, flying the Vickers Valiant between 1955 and 1962....
as the newly formed Flight C operating the Handley Page Halifax
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...
bomber.
On 7 November 1944, the squadron was reformed at Brindisi, Italy, when No. 1586 Flight was renamed. The squadron operated the Handley Page Halifax
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...
and Consolidated Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
until 1945. In 1945 the squadron returned to RAF Blackbushe
RAF Blackbushe
RAF Blackbushe was a Royal Air Force station in Hampshire, England, during World War II. It is now known as Blackbushe Airport.-History:The station was opened on 1 November 1942 as RAF Hartford Bridge and it was used throughout the remainder of Second World War for reconnaissance, defence and...
, England to operate the Vickers Warwick
Vickers Warwick
The Vickers Warwick was a multi-purpose British aircraft used during the Second World War. Built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands, Surrey, the Warwick was used by the Royal Air Force as a transport, air-sea rescue and maritime reconnaissance platform, and by the civilian British Overseas...
. In 1946 the squadron re-equipped with the Handley Page Halifax
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...
again until it was disbanded at Chedburgh on 18 December 1946.
Patch
Initially the squadron's insignia featured a PegasusPegasus
Pegasus is one of the best known fantastical as well as mythological creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine horse, usually white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. He was the brother of Chrysaor, born at a single birthing...
or Griffon
Griffon
Griffon is a type of dog, a collection of breeds of originally hunting dogs. There are three recognized lines of the griffon type Fédération Cynologique Internationale FCI, the griffon vendéens, the wirehaired pointers, and the smousje...
, one of the symbols of Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
. After the reconstruction of the 301st in 1944 it received a new double name of Land of Pomerania - Defenders of Warsaw. Because of that, the new patch featured the White Eagle
White Eagle
White Eagle may refer to:A coat of arms:*White Eagle of the Serbian royal houses Nemanjić, Mrnjavčević, Lazarević, Crnojević, Obrenović and Karađorđević used on the Coat of arms of Serbia and the Flag of Serbia ....
with a Pegasus and a Coat of Arms of Warsaw
Coat of arms of Warsaw
The Coat of Arms of Warsaw consists of a syrenka in a red field. Polish syrenka is cognate with siren, but she is more properly a fresh-water mermaid called “Melusina.” This imagery has been in use since at least the mid-14th century...
.
See also
- Polish Air Forces in Great Britain
- Polish contribution to World War IIPolish contribution to World War IIThe European theater of World War II opened with the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. The Polish Army was defeated after over a month of fighting. After Poland had been overrun, a government-in-exile , armed forces, and an intelligence service were established outside of Poland....
- List of RAF squadrons