No. 306 Polish Fighter Squadron

No. 306 Polish Fighter Squadron
306 Squadron logo
Active	1940–1946
Country	United Kingdom
Allegiance	Polish government in exile
Branch	Royal Air Force
Role	Fighter Squadron
Part of	RAF Fighter Command
Nickname(s)	306 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Toruński"
Commanders
Notable commanders	Douglas Scott Tadeusz Rolski
Insignia
Squadron Codes	UZ (Aug 1940 – Jan 1947)

No. 306 (City of Torun) Polish Fighter Squadron (Template:Lang-pl) was a Polish fighter squadron formed in Great Britain as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom in 1940. It was one of several Polish fighter squadrons fighting alongside the Royal Air Force during World War II.

History

Upon formal formation on 28 August 1940 at RAF Church Fenton the squadron inherited the traditions, along with the emblem and a large part of the initial crew, of the pre-war Polish Torunian Fighter Squadron. The bear climbing a tree (Coat of arms of Madrid) was an emblem of the No. 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron, the unit of the first (British) commander of the new squadron, F/Cdr. Douglas Scott.

Throughout its existence, the squadron claimed 68 confirmed kills, 16½ probable and additional 26 damaged. In addition, the crews of the 306 downed 59 enemy V1 rockets. It was disbanded in December 1946 shortly after the end of World War II.

Commanding officers

From	To	Name	Remark
Aug 1940	Dec 1940	S/Ldr. Douglas R. Scott	British Officer
4 Sep 1940	17 Oct 1940	Kpt. pil. Tadeusz Rolski	ad interim Polish co-commander
18 Oct 1940	11 Nov 1940	Maj. pil. Jerzy Orzechowski	Polish co-commander
Dec 1940	Mar 1941	S/Ldr. D.E. Gilliam, DFC, AFC	British Officer
12 Nov 1940	30 Jun 1941	Kpt. pil. Tadeusz Rolski	First as co-commander, from March 1941 as Squadron Leader
1 Jul 1941	14 Aug 1941	Kpt. pil. Jerzy Zaremba
15 Aug 1941	29 Aug 1941	Por. pil. Jerzy Słoński-Ostoja, VM
30 Aug 1941	14 Apr 1941	Maj. pil. Antoni Wczelik
15 Apr 1941	22 Aug 1942	Kpt. pil. Tadeusz Czerwiński, KW
23 Aug 1942	13 Mar 1943	Kpt. pil. Kazimierz Rutkowski, DFC
14 Mar 1943	1 Jan 1944	Kpt. pil Włodzimierz Karwowski
2 Jan 1944	7 Jun 1944	Kpt. pil. Stanisław Łapka
8 Jun 1944	23 Jun 1944	Kpt. pil. Janusz Marciniak
27 Jun 1944	25 Sep 1944	Kpt. pil. Paweł Niemiec
26 Sep 1944	24 May 1945	Kpt. pil. Józef Żulikowski
25 May 1945	May 1946	Kpt. pil. Józef Jeka, DFM
May 1946	Jan 1947	Kpt. pil. Tadeusz Andersz

Aircraft

• Hawker Hurricane Mk-I – from 4 September 1940
• Hawker Hurricane Mk-IIA – from 5 April 1941
• Supermarine Spitfire Mk-I i Mk-II – from 12 July 1941
• Supermarine Spitfire Mk-VB – from 11 December 1941
• Supermarine Spitfire Mk-IX – from 29 November 1942
• Supermarine Spitfire Mk-VB – from 13 March 1943
• Norh American Mustang Mk-III – from 26 March 1944

See also

• Polish Air Forces in Great Britain
• Polish contribution to World War II

References

Bibliography

• Delve, Ken. The Source Book of the RAF. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 1994. ISBN 1-85310-451-5.
• Gretzyngier, Robert. Polish Aces of World War 2, Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 1998.
• Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
• Jefford, Wing Commander C.G. RAF Squadrons: a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2001. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
• Rawlings, John D.R. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1969 (Revised edition 1976). ISBN 0-354-01028-X.
• Grodyński, Andrzej S.T. (306 Squadron Pilot) The Grodyński Brigade. Charleston, USA: CreateSpace 2013. ISBN 978-1-4812-8367-0.

External links

• Polish Squadrons in the RAF
• Photo Gallery of 306 Squadron
• History of No.'s 300–318 Squadrons at RAF Web
• Personnel of the Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1940–1947