I really enjoyed watching the above dramatisation on Polish Squadron 303, the men of whom flew in defence of Britain during the Battle of Britain. Despite losing raw recruits left, right and centre, the British were most reticent in allowing the very experienced Polish pilots into the air, and they were only allowed up when one of the pilots broke off from a training run to engage with the enemy. Even then, it was only when their British commander flew with them did he believe they were actually devastatingly effective.
So cool to see it, I highly recommend it.
Weren't the Polish fighters (not just the pilots) wonderful, courageous men?
ReplyDeleteMy father has several in his regiment when they evacuated at Dunkirk and later at Normandy and the long fight through Belgium. He always spoke of them with admiration and respect.
(He also mentioned that they all seemed to have a drinking problem) :)
ReplyDeletePeople forget the Poles fought under British command in WW2. I sometimes think the Brits used them as cannon fodder.
ReplyDeleteThe Brits betrayed the Poles in 1947 - pulled the pin on them as it were.
The great General Sosabowski ended his days as a factory hand in London which is kind of sad.
I have seen the Polish cemetery at Monte Cassino - over 1000 buried there I think.
There's Catholics, Orthodox and Jewish graves, you can tell by the marker who is who - all Poles
Brit generals used everybody as cannon-fodder, Andrei.
ReplyDeleteYou're confusing your world wars KG. Monty in particular used nobody as cannon fodder - that's the very basis of his fame. It was the Russians that took the concept to its ultimate in that conflict.
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ReplyDeleteJames, Brit generals had a history of using various units as cannon-fodder.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not confusing my world wars. An exception to a trend means damn-all.
Monty in particular used nobody as cannon fodder - that's the very basis of his fame
ReplyDeleteI wonder
Battle of Caen
and let's not mention Market Garden
Andrei, I believe that the Brit's adoration of Montgomery was almost entirely unfounded.
ReplyDeleteEisenhower and Patton held him in some contempt and they certainly didn't trust his judgement.
But these are arguments that have gone on since WW2 and I doubt people will be convinced to change their minds now.
It was the Russians that took the concept to its ultimate in that conflict.
ReplyDeleteOh by the way James just as a minor matter of interest the Red Army won the war by defeating the Germans.
I believe the number is 4 out of 5 German battle deaths came at Russian hands.
Our adoration of Montgomery is based on his success in the desert at a time when the Germans had yet to be defeated and his emphasis on the moral of his troops. The Americans can get stuffed because it was Monty that turned their isolated holding operations at the Bulge into a coherent counter-offensive.
ReplyDeleteYeah the Russians "won the war" by killing more Germans (doesn't change the fact that they had callous disregard for the lives of their troops) and the Americans "won the war" too aparently but both may have been shit out of luck if Britain hadn't held out initially and cracked Enigma with the help of the Polish resistance.
at a time when the Germans had yet to be defeated
ReplyDeleteWrong again - they had been stopped in their tracks a Leningrad, turned back from Moscow and driven out of Rostov (which they re-took six months later and had to be driven out again to be sure) just off the top of my head.
At the time of El Alamein the Germans were engaged in a Death struggle at Stalingrad and we know how that turned out - no?
"..it was Monty that turned their isolated holding operations at the Bulge into a coherent counter-offensive."
ReplyDeleteYou have a reputable source for that claim?
I can recommend John Eisenhower's "The Bitter Woods" (1969) for a detailed account of the Battle of the Bulge.
ReplyDeleteHe also doesn't share the Brit's estimation of Montgomery.
Still waiting for that source of your claim about Montgomery turning "isolated holding operations" into a "coherent counter-offensive" James.
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