The second part is most certainly true, and 303 Squadron's combat record in just a few weeks of operating from Northolt was quite remarkable.

But the latest research - from 1996 - into actual victories against claimed victories by all RAF Squadrons in the Battle gives a truer picture of actual victories.

Cross-referencing claims in PRO/AIR16/960 with the now-available Luftwaffe Quartermaster returns as well against the exhaustive information from aviation archaeologists contained in 'Battle of Britain - Then & Now' , historian John Alcorn produced a 'league table' which is now generally regarded as being as accurate as possible given current documentation : -

#1 : 603 Sqn 67 claimed/57.8 credited
#2 : 609 Sqn 97 claimed/48 credited
#3 : 41 Sqn 89.5 claimed/45 credited
#4 : 303 Sqn 130 clained/44 credited
#5 : 501 Sqn 100 claimed/43 credited

[img]graemlins/poppy.gif[/img]

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Fewer people are aware, however, of the contribution made during the Battle by Polish pilots, contribution which is perhaps most vividly described in the words of Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding, the C-in-C of the RAF Fighter Command during the Battle:

(...) 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 battle would have been the same.


Excerpt from the diary of a German Heinkel pilot (it's also an interesting snapshot of brain-washed Nazi mentality):

"Moeller says that Poles are excellent pilots. He's not the first to say that, others have noticed that too. They're unpredictable, they fight fiercely like dogs, damned well at that. Moeller says you can feel in the air how they hate us. Personally, I don't have such feelings towards them. Why should I? After all, it wasn't us who started the war and, equally well, they could now be attacking England with us [sic!]. However, people often don't know what's good for them. Many of them don't even know why they hate us"

King George VI visited the unit during the Battle of Britain on September 26. Just left of him, partly visible is S/Ldr Urbanowicz, who took over after S/Ldr Krasnodebski was wounded. Presenting pilots is S/Ldr Kellet. King shakes hand with P/O Feric, who oh his right has P/O Zumbach, F/O Cebrzynski and F/O Januszewicz.

S/Ldr Zumbach in May 1942.

Sgt Popek, who later flew with the Skalski's Circus.


3 June 1944. RAF Horne.
The ceremony of presentation of the 303 badge to General Strahen, Major Cummings and Captain Chess. This three American officers served in 1919 in Polish no. 7 "Kosciuszko" Squadron, from which the 303 derived.





P/O Damm killed in action in August 1942.

Now that sounds like a topic for its own sub-forum on this site...

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"Nervous wait for the whistle to blow
Rush of blood and over we go..."
- Iron Maiden, "Paschendale"

That's very interesting. Any idea as to why No.603 were so accurate in their claims compared with the other British (or any other nationality/country I have ever seen for that matter) squadrons? All things considered they have a remarkably low amount of overclaim!

__________________
"Nervous wait for the whistle to blow
Rush of blood and over we go..."
- Iron Maiden, "Paschendale"

Ver good question indeed, Heartland. Could be due to a number of cicumstances but I would guess mainly discipline and leadership, plus maybe a harder attitude to claims from individual Intelligence Officers .

Interesting also that both top-scoring squadrons were Auxiliary units ( sneered at as 'weekend warriors' by regular units ) so maybe they didn't feel pressure of living up to a reputation.

BTW, no-one should take BofB overclaiming as evidence of fraud or foolishness on the part of the pilots. In the confusion of combat and the desire to excel, errors in claiming were common. For instance, many Messerschmitts were claimed 'diving out of control, pouring black smoke'. Only much later was the 'bunt' ( an immediate nose-down dive ) realised to be a standard Luftwaffe tactic. The 'bunt' would cause the fuel injection to surge, thus emitting a stream of black smoke....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Martin, what were auxiliary squadrons? The RAF version of the Territorial Army?

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This thread is getting a bit out of sorts: closed

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