The Untold Battle of Britain

Robert AThreads: 2 Posts: 228 Joined: Jul 29, 08 ♂	Jun 29, 10, 22:01 #1
On Channel 4 Now . . . . "The story of 303 Squadron . . . "

dtaylor5632Threads: 48 Posts: 4,346 Joined: May 2, 09 ♂	Jun 29, 10, 22:05 #2
Thanks, im gonna watch that. But I expect the Poles to come on and tell us how they single handedly won the war for Britain :P

Robert AThreads: 2 Posts: 228 Joined: Jul 29, 08 ♂	Jun 29, 10, 22:16 #3
I was based at Northolt for 3 years . . . so far the prog appears to be unbiased & certainly it reflects the frustration of the Polish pilots.

internaldialogThreads: 9 Posts: 427 Joined: Apr 25, 10 ♀	Jun 29, 10, 22:34 #4
my grandfather was in No. 300 (Polish) "Land of Masovia" Bomber Squadron - i'll be watching it online later on the 4oD service :)

♂

Edited by: Harry Jun 29, 10, 22:57 #5

dtaylor5632:

But I expect the Poles to come on and tell us how they single handedly won the war for Britain :P

I wonder if it's going to mention the day that a single Polish squadron claimed so many kills that they were credited with shooting down more planes than the entire RAF managed on that day; we constantly hear how the Polish pilots won the entire battle but we rarely hear about how they lied about the number of kills they got.

AmathystThreads: 30 Posts: 3,898 Joined: Nov 10, 06 ♀	Jun 29, 10, 23:01 #6
Just caught the end of it and loads of old Poles moaning about the English! Some things just never change!

Robert AThreads: 2 Posts: 228 Joined: Jul 29, 08 ♂	Edited by: Robert A Jun 29, 10, 23:03 #7
Harry: Harry 16 kills in 15 minutes - all confirmed!! Highest scoring sqn at that time!!! No doubt, if we didn't have the Poles, we would've lost the Battle of Britain . . . very close run thing!! A shame that their sacrifice wasn't acknowledged in 1946

dtaylor5632Threads: 48 Posts: 4,346 Joined: May 2, 09 ♂	Jun 29, 10, 23:03 #8
Amathyst: Just caught the end of it and loads of old Poles moaning about the English! Some things just never change! They had some good reason to moan though, If you watched it all ;)

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,160 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Jun 29, 10, 23:04 #9
There are many Youtube accounts available. The RAF spoke very well of the Poles.

AmathystThreads: 30 Posts: 3,898 Joined: Nov 10, 06 ♀	Jun 29, 10, 23:07 #10
dtaylor5632: They had some good reason to moan though, If you watched it all ;) Nope only the end...that was enough - Poles settled in the UK and forged some nice communities, they must have rounded up the miserable moaning ones for good TV.

Robert AThreads: 2 Posts: 228 Joined: Jul 29, 08 ♂	Jun 29, 10, 23:08 #11
Amathyst: they must have rounded up the miserable moaning ones for good TV. They had bloody good reason to moan

♂

Jun 29, 10, 23:12 #12

Robert A:

Highest scoring sqn at that time!!!

Highest claiming. 303 very clearly overclaimed their actual number of kills.

Robert A:

A shame that their sacrifice wasn't acknowledged in 1946

Please don't trot out the old lies again: 303 pilots were invited to the London Victory Parade. And they were also all given jobs and homes for themselves and their families, far more than Poland ever gave it's defeated allies.

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,160 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Jun 29, 10, 23:14 #13
That's true! Britain really looked after many of those Polish pilots and they intermingled with many locals. I can't see where the moaning can come in.

♀

Edited by: Amathyst Jun 29, 10, 23:21 #14

Seanus:

I can't see where the moaning can come in.

To make good TV, it wouldnt do to say that Poles were welcome and made good lives for themselves - Im sure there were some who made them feel unwelcome but times were hard and Im sure people were not feeling as charitable as they may have preferred.

Maybe they should have spoken the family members of those that were here from the 1930s

http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/polish/polish_community.shtml

♂

Jun 29, 10, 23:34 #15

Harry:

Please don't trot out the old lies again: 303 pilots were invited to the London Victory Parade. And they were also all given jobs and homes for themselves and their families, far more than Poland ever gave it's defeated allies.

stop moaning about the victory parade which this thread is clearly not about. Back to the topic - many pilots of all the countries claimed more shoot downs than they actually did. Basically pilots took hits for granted if they have noticed smoke or fire and the plane disappearing at the corners of their eyes. I've read "Poles in defense of GB" by Polish authors and they wrote that on numerous occasions polish pilots have misreported shot down planes that later turned out to come back to the german base safely. A pretty interesting book consists mainly of reports by english german and polish pilots (so is a bit boring if somebody doesn't like reading) It says a lot about some of the heroic flights by Poles but in the same moment it's not sugar icing. There's a lot of critic of polish pilots having hard time getting used to the steering and general handling of British planes (which they destroyed frequently and were sent back to training, some even over and over again) or multiple cases of friendly fire by Polish pilots. Despite massive failing instances I personally think they did a good job there. Case closed. ;o

frdThreads: 8 Posts: 1,956 Joined: Feb 3, 09 ♂	Jun 30, 10, 00:41 #16
frd: g if somebody doesn't like reading damn I must be really tired ;) "doesn't like reading tables with lots of numbers and similar data" ;)

enderThreads: 13 Posts: 528 Joined: Nov 7, 09 ♂	Jun 30, 10, 00:48 #17
Harry is like Gazta Wyborcza. He claim he says truth and can be understand only by intelligent people. But when you check him it appears he knows only few 'useful' to manipulate. BTW I am sure he is not English. I am sure for couple reason main one is: he knows what sarcasm stand for. He is cunning but not too smart.

MatowyThreads: 1 Posts: 519 Joined: Jul 4, 09 ♂	Jun 30, 10, 00:57 #18
You can watch it here (if you're in the UK). The part I like most is the description: "This dramatised documentary..."

Marek11111Threads: 49 Posts: 1,858 Joined: Aug 6, 09 MEMBER ♂	Jun 30, 10, 01:31 #19
One thing for sure Polish pilots came to defend England in crucial point of bob

polishcanuckThreads: 10 Posts: 583 Joined: Feb 11, 07 ♂	Jun 30, 10, 05:40 #20
ender: TW I am sure he is not English. I think he is from OZ. Don't mind him, he is just a little grumpy aussie failure who had to resort to teaching english grammar as a career. His only purpose on this forum is to **** on poles because it makes him feel superior. He's quick with wikipedia though:)

plk123Threads: 30 Posts: 6,410 Joined: Aug 29, 07 ♂	Jun 30, 10, 06:41 #21
Robert A: The Untold Battle of Britain that is not an untold story though.. it's rather well known but i guess maybe not in england?

Eagle20Threads: 33 Posts: 129 Joined: Dec 12, 07 ♂	Jun 30, 10, 19:13 #22
A review of "The Untold Battle Of Britain" http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/reviews/article_1567417. php/Review-The-Untold-Battle-Of-Britain Anyone seen any other reviews?

MediaWatchThreads: 29 Posts: 1,264 Joined: Aug 30, 08 ♂	Jul 1, 10, 01:23 #23
Robert A: On Channel 4 Now . . . . "The story of 303 Squadron . . . " I hope there are more shows like that. As an American, I never heard about Squadron 303 until I read about it on the internet from other bloggers. I am glad I did and aware of it now. http://www.303squadron.com/history.htm

PeterThreads: 5 Posts: 291 Joined: Mar 31, 07 ♂	Jul 1, 10, 01:45 #24
I would'nt mind seeing that programme...........I wonder if the History Channel will carry it.

enkiduThreads: 18 Posts: 978 Joined: Sep 23, 08 ♂	Jul 1, 10, 01:52 #25
Seanus: That's true! Britain really looked after many of those Polish pilots and they intermingled with many locals. I can't see where the moaning can come in. I have got a strange feelings in my guts, that the sign "Poles go home!" on the nearest pub to the airfield, placed there right after the war ended might be a clue to answer this question. :-]

alexw68	Jul 1, 10, 23:04 #26
Harry: Curious then that the majority of Poles in the UK in 1945 decided to take up the offer of a free home, free food and free money while they looked for a job which a British worker could have taken. Yeah, way f*cking curious mate. Because of course the Russians in PL in 1945 were just waiting to welcome the returning AK troops with open fire ^H^H^H^H arms. A

MagdalenaThreads: 5 Posts: 1,365 Joined: Aug 15, 07 ♀	Jul 1, 10, 23:10 #27
Harry: free trip back to Poland to continue fighting for a free Poland, You mean the Polish should have started a new war with the Soviet Union immediately after WW2?

BzibziohThreads: 6 Posts: 3,648 Joined: Oct 15, 08 ♀	Jul 1, 10, 23:44 #28
Harry: And that so few of them took up the offer of a free trip back to Poland to continue fighting for a free Poland, especially given how many of them whined about the British not continuing that fight. Maybe they should have tried the British style: declaring the war and then sitting on their asses for they were not ready. One hell of the fight i tell ya!

Marek11111Threads: 49 Posts: 1,858 Joined: Aug 6, 09 MEMBER ♂	Jul 1, 10, 23:53 #29
british could not deal with Poles so they send Poles in Soviet hands to be kill

HarryThreads: 59 Posts: 7,994 Joined: May 2, 07 ♂	Edited by: Moderator Jul 1, 10, 23:53 #30
Bzibzioh: Maybe they should have tried the British style: declaring the war and then sitting on their asses for they were not ready. One hell of the fight i tell ya! Or the Polish style: run for British ports before the first shot is even fired. Harry, please stop trolling as i'm getting fed up of cleaning this thread.

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