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RAF and the Polish uprising
Worth a read, not to mention a salute
BBC News - RAF veterans remember the Warsaw Uprising 70 years ago |
Anyone interested might want to visit:
Warsaw Flights In Johannesburg there is a memorial and annually there is a remembrance service. The service is attended by representatives of the RAFA and SAAFA and normally by the British Air Adviser (Attache in a Commonwealth Country). |
[quoteIn Johannesburg there is a memorial and annually there is a remembrance service. The service is attended by representatives of the RAFA and SAAFA and normally by the British Air Adviser (Attache in a Commonwealth Country).][/quote]
I have also attended on occasion representing the RAF Officers' Club of Johannesburg, Ian. The SAAF participation in the "Warsaw Flights" still evokes poignant memories in some of our more senior members. |
The Men Who Went To Warsaw
From Tinus le Roux
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIz8zYjmRLw PZU - Out of Africa (Retired) my late Father was an RAF(VR) A/G attached to 34 Squadron SAAF who went to Warsaw |
Heroes....
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The RAF, SAAF, and units of the Polish Air Force flew 223 long-range low level night supply sorties and lost 34 aircraft.
Bob C |
Even now, in Northern Italy ,there is still a village that honours the sacrifice of a Liberator SAAF crew on the Warsaw flights that came to grief in the hills behind their community.
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Don't forget that the RAF/SAAF squadrons were heavily populated with RAAF crews..
First RAAF loss during Warsaw Uprising In August 1944, the Polish resistance staged an uprising in Warsaw in the hope (ultimately unfulfilled) that advancing Russian forces would help liberate the city from the occupying Germans. No 148 Squadron, RAF, and two Liberator units of the RAF’s 205 Group based at Foggia, Italy, flew missions to support the insurgents by heroically dropping relief supplies into Warsaw, at night, and often in extremely adverse weather. For the units at Foggia, the task entailed a 2800-kilometre round trip avoiding known areas of heavy enemy flak (anti-aircraft fire). RAAF personnel were serving in all three squadrons, and took part in many of the more than 200 sorties attempted––only 104 of which were successful. On this day the aircraft of No 178 Squadron flown by Warrant Officer Murray Baxter failed to return from a mission begun the night before. He was the first Australian lost during the most intensive period of operations. |
A dark chapter in WW2 history; the Soviets cynically held back to allow the Germans to liquidate those Poles who might otherwise have proved troublesome in the years ahead.
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I seem to remember that one of the stories in Pierre Clostermann's book "Flames in the sky" is about a crew doing a supply flight to Warsaw - and they were attacked (without fatal consequences) by a Pe-2. Are there any records of the Soviets actively interfering with these flights?
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Well, yes, you've just given one, black gate. In the likely event that others were actually shot down, the witnesses, as for most of Stalin's crimes, would have been conveniently liquidated.
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I remember that line in the Closterman book. Is it just possible that RAF aircraft type recognition wasn't at the top of the Russian's training syllabus?
After an excellent landing etc... |
It is possible, flash but clutching at straws since, a) we must have told them our aircraft were coming, and b) the Germans didn't have any (aside from a very few FW200's)four-engined types in theatre.
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I'm not really looking for straws, I just find that stupidity, incompetence and organizational blunders can explain much that has been attributed to malice.
After an excellent landing etc... |
As a general comment I completely agree, flash. But in this instance there is a wealth of evidence demonstrating Soviet hostility to the supply flights. The Polish fighters were branded "criminals" and "enemies of the state" and a successful supply operation would have caused Stalin major political difficulty. He had no interest in dealing with the Poles as equals. They had airfields within a few minutes flying time which would have made our operation far more effective but these were expressly denied. Aircraft received ground fire from Soviet held territory; on balance it's unlikely Closterman's attack was a one-off accident.
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Was a chapter in one of Pierre Clostermans books "The rear gunner with tears streaming down his face, watched the flames recede". Can't remember if it's the Big Show, or Too Little, Too Late
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