Everything about Non-british Personnel In The Raf During The Battle Of Britain totally explained
The
British Royal Air Force (RAF) and
Fleet Air Arm (FAA) utilised non-British personnel from the beginning of
World War II. The RAF roll of honour for the
Battle of Britain recognises 574 pilots from countries other than the
United Kingdom, as flying at least one authorised operational sortie with an eligible unit during the period of
10 July to
31 October 1940, alongside 2,353 British pilots. The numbers differ slightly from the participants engraved on the Battle of Britain London Monument, unveiled on
18 September 2005. Aviators, regardless of nationality, who flew with British units during the battle are known collectively, after a phrase by
Winston Churchill, as "
The Few".
Volunteers from the
British Commonwealth, and personnel of the air forces of the
Dominions, were not technically regarded as foreign at the time, but are still listed on the roll of honour. The majority of those who served in the battle had joined the RAF rather than the Dominions' air forces, which were training large numbers of personnel for service in Europe, under the
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), when the battle commenced. No
Article XV squadrons — Dominion air force units under RAF operational control — took part in the battle.
Polish contribution
On
11 June 1940, the
Polish Government in Exile signed an agreement with the British Government to form a
Polish Air Force in the UK. The first two (of an eventual ten) Polish fighter squadrons went into action in August 1940:
302 and
303 Squadrons, with 89 Polish pilots. Another 50 Poles took part, in British squadrons. In all, 30 Polish airmen were killed during the battle.
Polish pilots were among the most experienced in the battle; most had pre-war flying experience and had fought in the
Polish September Campaign and/or the
Battle of France.
No. 303 "Kosciuszko" Squadron, which was named after the Polish hero General
Tadeusz Kosciuszko, claimed the highest number of kills (126) of all the squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it only joined the combat on
August 30 (though the number of claims should be verified down, but claims of the British squadrons were verified down proportionally as well). The 147 Polish pilots claimed 201 aircraft shot down. Sgt
Josef Frantisek — a Czechoslovakian in 303 Squadron — claimed 17 kills.
S/L Witold Urbanowicz of 303 Sqn was the top Polish scorer with 15 claims.
Tony Glowacki was the only Allied pilot in the battle to shoot down five German planes in one day, being
August 24.
RAF pilots were often sent into the air for training with no ammunition, and told that if they were faced with a problematic situation they should return to the ground to have ammunition loaded. When Polish pilots found themselves in this situation, rather than obeying orders, many tried to ram the German planes, sacrificing themselves to destroy German bombers and illustrating the deep hatred of the Poles for the occupiers of their homeland.
The
Polish War Memorial on the outskirts of
RAF Northolt was dedicated in 1948 as a commemoration of the Polish contribution to Allied arms.
New Zealand contribution
The
Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) was set up as a separate service in 1937, but numbered less than 1,200 personnel by September 1939. The Empire Air Training Scheme (as the BCATP was known in New Zealand and Australia), had resulted in about 100 RNZAF pilots being sent to Europe by the time the battle started. Unlike the other
Dominions, New Zealand didn't insist on its aircrews serving with RNZAF squadrons, thereby speeding up the rate at which they entered service. An annual rate of 1,500 fully trained pilots was reached by January 1941.
The most prominent New Zealander in the battle was
Air Vice Marshal Keith Park, who was in overall command of
No. 11 Group RAF, which was tasked with the defence of
London.
The RAF recognises 127
Fighter Command aircrew from New Zealand as having served in the battle. Several New Zealanders became high scorers, including
P/O Colin Gray (
No. 54 Squadron RAF) with 14 claims,
F/O Brian Carbury (
No. 603 Squadron RAF) 14 claims and P/O
Alan "Al" Deere (54 Squadron), nine claims.
Canadian contribution
Many Canadians served in the fighter squadrons which repulsed the Luftwaffe in the summer of 1940. In fact, although the RAF only recognises 83 Canadian pilots as flying on fighter operations during the Battle of Britain, the
RCAF claims the actual figure was over 100, and that of those 23 died and 30 were killed later in the war. Another 200 Canadian pilots fought with
RAF Bomber Command and
RAF Coastal Command during the period and approx 2,000 Canadians served as ground crew.
Of these, 26 were in
No. 1 Squadron RCAF, flying
Hurricanes. The squadron arrived in Britain soon after
Dunkirk with 27 officers and 314 ground staff. This squadron would later be re-numbered as No. 401 "City of Westmount" Squadron RCAF, in line with Article XV of the
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, which numbered
Dominion air force units under RAF operational control in the 400-series, to avoid confusion with RAF units. (These squadron numbers are still used by Canadian squadrons, to honour their predecessors.)
No. 1 Squadron made an inauspicious start to its service with Fighter Command, when on
August 24,
1940 two of its Hurricanes mistook a flight of
Bristol Blenheims for
Ju-88's, shooting one down with the loss of its crew — an example of what is now known as
friendly fire. No. 1 became the first RCAF unit to engage enemy planes in battle when it met a formation of German bombers over southern England on
August 26 1940, claiming three kills and four damaged with the loss of one pilot and one plane. By mid-October the squadron had claimed 31 enemy aircraft destroyed and 43 probables or damaged for the loss of 16 aircraft and three pilots.
Other Canadians were spread across RAF squadrons, and on the second day of the battle,
July 11, Canada suffered its first fighter casualty. In a Luftwaffe attack on the
Royal Navy Dockyard naval base at
Portland Harbour,
P/O D. A. Hewitt of
Saint John, New Brunswick, with flying a Hurricane with
No. 501 Squadron RAF, attacked a
Dornier Do-17 bomber and was hit himself. His plane plunged into the sea. Another Canadian pilot, Richard Howley, died eight days later.
The dispersed Canadian airmen included one who flew with
No. 303 (Polish) Squadron. A total of 12 Canadian pilots in the Royal Air Force flew with
No. 242 Squadron RAF at various times through the battle. On
August 30, under the command of Squadron Leader
Douglas Bader, nine 242 Squadron planes met 100 enemy aircraft over
Essex. Attacking from above, the squadron claimed 12 victories for no loss.
Canadians also shared in repulsing the Luftwaffe's last major daylight attack. On
September 27, 303 Squadron and 1 Squadron RCAF attacked the first wave of enemy bombers. Seven enemy planes were claimed destroyed, one probably destroyed and seven damaged.
The top Canadian scorer during the battle was
F/L H. C. Upton of 43 Squadron, who claimed 10.25 aircraft shot down.
Czechoslovakian contribution
There were also a lot of Czechoslovak pilots in the Battle of Britain. Two Czechoslovak fighter squadrons No. 310 and No. 312, were formed early enough in 1940 to take part in the battle. Together with Czechoslovak pilots serving in other RAF units, a total of 88 Czechoslovaks (87 Czechs and 1 Slovak) served claiming almost 60 air kills. Eight pilots were killed. The top Czech scorer was Sgt.
Josef František, flying with 303 Polish Squadron who claimed 17 confirmed kills.
The participation of Czechoslovak pilots to the Battle of Britain was depicted in
Jan Sverák's 2003 film
Dark Blue World.
Australian contribution
Australia was among the first countries to declare war on Germany and the
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF; previously the Australian Flying Corps) was among the world's oldest air forces, having served in Europe and the
Middle East during
World War I. A large number of RAAF trainees had entered the Empire Air Training Scheme (as the Air Training Plan was known in Australia) by early 1940.
However, the flow of Australian personnel to RAF fighter units was slowed by two factors: RAAF doctrine at the time emphasised the
army co-operation and
maritime patrol roles, and; the Australian government placed great emphasis on Article XV of the Scheme, which stipulated that
Dominion aviators in Europe should serve with units from their own air forces. The first RAAF fighter squadron formed during the war didn't commence operations in Europe until mid-1941. As a result, the official Australian contribution to the battle was only 22 aircrew, the majority of whom had joined the RAF rather than the RAAF.
The top Australian ace in the battle was Flight Lieutenant
Pat Hughes, of
No. 234 Squadron RAF, who claimed 14 kills before his death in September 1940.
South African contribution
One of the RAF's leading aces, and the one of the highest scoring pilots during the Battle of Britain was
Adolph "Sailor" Malan DFC, an RAF pilot since 1936, who led
No. 74 Squadron RAF during the height of the Battle of Britain. Under his leadership No. 74 became one of the RAF's best units. Malan claimed his first two victories over Dunkirk on
21 May 1940, and had claimed five more by the time the battle started in earnest. Between
19 July and
22 October he shot down six German planes. His "
Ten Rules for Air Fighting" were printed and pinned up in crew rooms all over Fighter Command. He was part of a group of about 20 pilots from South Africa that took part in the battle, eight or nine of whom (depending on sources) died during the battle.
Other notable pilots included Albert "Zulu" Lewis, who opened his account with the Luftwaffe over France in May, shooting down three
Messerschmitt Bf 109s in one action. Lewis scored ten in the battle, before being shot down on
27 September. Burned and blinded, he missed the rest of the battle and his recovery to flying fitness took at least three months.
Basil Gerald "Stapme" Stapleton, with several probables to his credit, survived a crash on
7 September, trying to stop bombers getting through to London. Both men would later command RAF squadrons.
Irish contribution
Among the dozen or so Irish pilots who flew in the battle was Dubliner
Brendan "Paddy" Finucane, an air ace who went on to claim a total of 32 enemy aircraft before being shot down and killed in 1942. He became operational in July 1940 and shot down his first Bf 109 on
12 August, getting a second Bf 109 the following day. In a 51-day period in 1941 he claimed 16 Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters shot down, while flying with an Australian squadron. "Paddy" Finucane went on to become the youngest wing commander in the RAF, an appointment he received at the age of 21. He was killed on 15 July 1942.
United States contribution
The RAF recognises 7 aircrew personnel who were from the United States as having taken part in the Battle of Britain. American citizens were prohibited from serving under the various US
Neutrality Acts. Americans either misled the British authorities about their origins, claiming to be Canadian or other nationalities at war.
Pilot Officer (P/O)
W.M.L. "Billy" Fiske saw service with
No. 601 (County of London) Squadron, claiming one kill before dying of wounds on the
17 August 1940. The kill wasn't confirmed. P/O A.G. "Art" Donahue served with
No. 64 Squadron RAF.
No. 609 squadron RAF had a trio of American pilots see action through August and September. P/Os Andy Mamedoff, V.C. "Shorty" Keogh and E.Q. "Red" Tobin had joined the French Air Force but not flown in anger before the Fall of France. P/O P.H. Leckrone was with
616 Squadron, while P/O J.D. Haviland served in
No. 151 Squadron RAF. Only the latter pilot survived the war.
Ultimately three squadrons of RAF pilots from the
United States, known as
Eagle squadrons fought with the RAF, although the first (
No. 71 Squadron RAF) became operational in February 1941, well after the main daylight battles.
Palestinian contribution
The RAF's official "Battle of Britain Roll of Honour" recognises one Palestinian, Pilot Officer
George Ernest Goodman, a
Jew from
Palestine, then a British
Mandate territory.
The Palestinian contribution is also sometimes described as the "
Israeli contribution", although the
State of Israel wasn't
proclaimed until 1948.
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