The Royal Air Force Museum prepared a full video about the first kill of the Polish 303 Polish RAF squadron in the Battle of England. Interestingly enough, the story shows a military operation that was concluded even before the 303 Squadron became operational… Read more about the story!
When the Battle of Britain entered its most desperate phase in the late summer of 1940, few in the Royal Air Force expected that a newly formed unit of Polish pilots still unfamiliar with English commands and RAF procedures would soon distinguish itself in the skies. Yet the first aerial victory of No. 303 (Polish) Fighter Squadron would become a powerful symbol of both Polish determination and Allied resilience.
On 30 August 1940, during intense Luftwaffe attacks on southeastern England, pilots of No. 303 Squadron were scrambled from RAF Northolt. Flying Hawker Hurricanes, they encountered German bombers escorted by fighters. In the ensuing combat, Pilot Officer Ludwik Paszkiewicz broke formation and engaged the enemy on his own initiative, technically without explicit permission, but with decisive effect. He shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 110, securing the squadron’s first confirmed kill.
You can see the full video here:
This moment carried significance far beyond the destruction of a single aircraft. For the Polish pilots, many of whom had already fought in the September Campaign of 1939 and in France, the victory was a form of vindication.
Exiled from their homeland, they had arrived in Britain as experienced airmen, eager to prove their worth. Paszkiewicz’s success silenced lingering doubts within the RAF about the combat effectiveness of foreign pilots and accelerated the squadron’s full operational deployment.
The first kill of No. 303 Squadron marked the beginning of an extraordinary combat record. In the weeks that followed, the “Kościuszko” Squadron would become one of the highest-scoring fighter units of the Battle of Britain, earning admiration from British commanders and cementing its place in aviation history. That single engagement on August 30, 1940, thus stands as the opening chapter of a legend born in the skies over England.
As a direct consequence of that first engagement, the 303. Squadron was declared fully operational.
“On 15 September 1940, Battle of Britain Day, one fifth of the RAF pilots fighting in the skies over Great Britain were Poles,” the RAF Museum reminds in the description of the video.
Today, the RAF Museum also presents the engine of the very first Messersmitt plane that was shot down that day!
Source: RAF Museum
Photo: X/@CcibChris
Tomasz Modrzejewski
