Lord Tebbit, a great friend of Poland and one of the UK’s most steadfast advocates for truth and historical justice, passed away today at the age of 94. He was one of Margaret Thatcher’s most loyal supporters, former Chairman of the Conservative Party, and Employment Secretary.

Poles remember him well for his statements emphasising just how crucial the role of Polish pilots was in the Battle of Britain. The Battle lasted from 10 July to 31 October 1940. Two Polish bomber squadrons — 300 and 301 — and two fighter squadrons — 302 and 303 — took part (with 145 pilots involved). During the Second World War, 17,000 Poles served in the Polish Air Forces under the command of the Royal Air Force. As Lord Tebbit, a former RAF pilot, once said: „The Battle of Britain would have been won by the Germans if not for the Poles.”

303 Squadron was the top-performing air unit during the battle, claiming 126 Luftwaffe aircraft shot down.

In a 2020 article for the blog Oldie.co.uk, Lord Tebbit wrote: “There was no doubt that the Luftwaffe was in the ascendancy as the RAF casualties mounted. The RAF was simply running out, not of aircraft but pilots, as we flung inexperienced men, just out of flying school, into the air against the battle-hardened Germans. Then, only just in time, the equally battle-experienced Poles arrived to reinforce the RAF, wanting nothing but revenge upon the Germans who had ravaged and occupied their homeland.

Without the Poles, the battle would have been lost and the German invasion craft would have been able to cross the Channel before the autumn gales, bringing the Wehrmacht to massacre the Allied survivors from the Dunkirk evacuation. And the Second World War would have been won by Hitler’s National Socialist regime.”

Parliamentary Recognition

A crucial debate initiated by Daniel Kawczynski MP took place in Westminster Hall, UK Parliament, on Tuesday, 2 July 2019. The debate, titled “The Polish Contribution to the UK War Effort in WW2,” was attended by over 20 MPs and Lords. Kawczynski said: “Today, I again had the great honour of speaking with Lord Tebbit about his views on the Battle of Britain. One of the most enjoyable things that I have done in my 14 years as a Member of Parliament was to join Lord Tebbit at the RAF Club for an Anglo-Polish dinner, where he was the guest speaker. He said something that really resonated with me, that I will always remember, and that I wanted to share with the House.

According to Lord Tebbit, the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe were so evenly matched in the summer of 1940 that the British side was beginning to lose that battle. Those were the words of Lord Tebbit, not my own.
Lord Tebbit said that replacing the planes was relatively easy—continuing production in armaments factories and creating the planes was fine—but that replacing the pilots was extremely difficult. We all know how long it takes to train a pilot, and it was very difficult to replace all the losses. According to him, the Poles coming in such unprecedented numbers to join the British forces in the summer of 1940 was what tipped the balance to the British side.”

Lord Tebbit was also a supporter of building a for a £1 million Spitfire monument to Polish airmen in Hyde Park. At the invitation of Jan Żyliński, the initiator of the monument’s construction, he participated in a meeting at the RAF Club on Piccadilly. Backed by former Conservative deputy chairman Lord Michael Ashcroft, who offered to help fund the memorial, Tebbit argued that the existing Polish War Memorial near RAF Northolt was not prominent enough.

He stated, “By sheer weight of numbers, the Luftwaffe were winning. We had no shortage of aircraft, but we were running out of pilots. Just in time, came the battle-hardened Poles, who had escaped the Germans and were here, eager, skilled, to fight for their country and ours.

They turned the battle. The Luftwaffe backed off. The invasion of Britain was cancelled.”

The event was attended by many distinguished guests, including Anna Maria Anders, daughter of General Anders and future Polish ambassador to Rome. She said: “There is a lot of concern in Poland about what has been happening in the UK. A gesture like this would serve to calm everybody down. The UK still loves Poland and Poland still loves the UK.”

In total, 200,000 Polish servicemen fought under British High Command during the Second World War — more than the number currently serving in the British Armed Forces. Despite their enormous contribution, Polish servicemen were excluded from the 1946 London Victory Parade to avoid offending Stalin, whose Soviet forces were occupying Poland.

Poland has lost a great friend — someone who, for years, actively promoted strong Polish–British relations and fought to preserve the memory of the Polish contribution to the Allied victory in WWII.

At a time when memory often fades and history is too easily politicised, Lord Tebbit reminded us of the simple truth: that without the Poles, the outcome of the Second World War might have been tragically different.

We mourn the loss of a hero, a patriot, and a friend to Poland.

Maria Byczynski