11 July 2015 at Flying Legends Air Show, IWM Duxford, Cambridgeshire
#BoBPoles: Polish Flying Legends
The Hurricane and Spitfire in historic Polish Air Force markings went on show for the first time this summer at the Flying Legends event in Duxford. The two airplanes were displayed as part of the Polish Embassy’s #BoBPoles project marking the 75th anniversary of the Polish contribution to the Battle of Britain.
As part of the #BoBPoles project, the Polish Embassy co-financed the repainting of an historic Hawker Hurricane in the legendary No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron paint scheme. It bears the number RF-E P3700, which is the identifier of the airplane originally flown, among others, by Kazimierz Wünsche, who was forced to abandon the aircraft on 9th September 1940 after it sustained damage during combat.
The Spitfire BM597 is one of the original airplanes flown by Polish pilots of the No. 315 and No. 317 Fighter Squadrons following the end of the Battle of Britain. Colonel Franciszek Kornicki - the last surviving wartime Polish squadron leader - is one of the pilots who flew this particular Spitfire during World War II.
Grażyna Gąsiorowska, daughter of Kazimierz Wünsche, attended the event together with Ryszard Kornicki, son of Franciszek Kornicki, allowing for a unique meeting between the two and their fathers’ aircraft.
The two airplanes belonging to Historic Aircraft Collection Ltd. are on permanent display in Hangar 3 at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, and will appear at several air shows planned for the rest of the 2015 flying season.
Follow #BoBPoles also on @PolishEmbassyUK Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and KZitem profiles until the end of October.
145 Polish fighter pilots served in the Battle of Britain in 302 and 303 Polish squadrons as well as in British units.
Out of the overall number of fighter pilots from Allied countries, they constituted the second largest contingent after the British.
By the end of the war, almost 20,000 Polish airmen and airwomen were serving in the Polish Air Force in Britain.
produced by Polish Embassy UK
filmed and edited by Agnieszka Chmura, Light Leeks
The #BoBPoles project has been organised in co-operation with Historic Aircraft Collection Ltd.
Негізгі бет #BoBPoles
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