1990 Polish No 303 Squadron Battle of Britain FDC

50th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain Polish Post Office First Day Cover

Official Polish Post Office cover produced in 1990 to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. The cover has the words Air Battle over Britain in Polish on the cover and shows a Spitfire of No 303 Squadron. The cover bears 1500zl stamp showing the symbol of No 303 Squadron and a Hurricane of No 303 Squadron and is cancelled with Warsaw Postmark on the 21-12-1990.

From the very beginning of the war the Royal Air Force accepted foreign pilots to supplement the dwindling pool of British pilots. On the 11th of June 1940 the Polish Government in Exile signed an agreement with the British Government to form a Polish Army in Britain and, specifically, a Polish Air Force. The first two (of eventual ten) Polish fighter squadrons went into action in August 1940. In total 4 Polish squadrons took part in the battle (bomber: 300, 301; fighter: 302, 303) with 89 Polish pilots. Together with almost 50 Poles fighting in British squadrons, a total of 145 Polish pilots defended the British sky. Polish pilots were also some of the most experienced pilots participating in the battle. Most of them have already fought in the September Campaign in Poland and the Battle of France. They had also had met the high standards of pilot training in the pre-war Poland. No 303 Squadron, named after the Polish-American hero General Tadeusz Kosciuszko, achieved the highest number of kills (273) of all the fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it was only operational from August 30 onwards. 

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