By Ian Cullen Jun 30, 2010, 4:14 GMT
Synopsis: The story of 303 squadron, 34 Polish fighter pilots who overturned RAF prejedices to earn their chance to fight in the Battle Of Britain, in which they shot down 126 Luftwaffe Aircraft.
Synopsis: The story of 303 squadron, 34 Polish fighter pilots who overturned RAF prejedices to earn their chance to fight in the Battle Of Britain, in which they shot down 126 Luftwaffe Aircraft. Courtesy of Channel Four
"Battle of Britain" is part of Channel Four’s bloody foreigners season, a series of hour-long documentaries which illustrate the roles that refugees from other nations played in helping Britain win during the various conflicts taken place over history.
The first in the series, which aired Monday, June 29, showed how a few Black slaves played a key role in helping the British win at the Battle Of Trafalgar, which to this day distinguishes just what a force the British Navy was.
For this episode, we learn from first-hand accounts how the Polish played a definitive role in winning the Battle Of Britain, which dealt a massive blow to the Nazis during the early years of the second world war.
Only the Polish had to fight a battle on two fronts. They were fighting to win the respect of the British pilots, who initially resented the fact that the Polish were even integrated into the RAF.
In these days where so many are resentful of "Bloody Foreigners," these historical documentaries serve to show us that not all outsiders came to our respective shores for an easier life. There are those out there who are often prepared to work, prove their worth and assimilate into our culture, while maintaining ties with their own national identities as well.
The various accounts of Polish heroism over the skies of Germany were insightful and well told, and the dramatic reconstructions of some of the events in the air and on the ground were integrated masterfully into the overall episode.
It took the Polish just one week to overturn British prejudices and prove their fighting spirit, and in a single afternoon on September 7, 1940, when Hitler’s Luftwaffe blitz bombed the City of London, they shot down 16 enemy aircraft in less than 15 minutes. A record unbeaten by any other RAF Squadron, which brought the Polish fighter pilots and the British closer together as a fighting force.
Normally I am not a fan of documentaries that focus on the second World War because it's all been done and talked about before, however this one is an exception to that rule.
The fact is, I always knew that the Polish got a shit deal when the Nazis invaded Poland, the event which triggered the conflict and brought the British into the war.
This one was a refreshing change because it's not the usual politics and ideologies of the war, and tells a very human story of a group of people who fought for the very freedoms that we all enjoy today, despite the fact their compatriots at home were in internment camps and under the iron boots of the Nazi occupation of Poland.
What is sad though is how the Polish were regarded by the British after the war! Especially those that settled in the UK and were competing for jobs in what would have been a much bigger job market than we have today. Especially in light of the fact that there was so much rebuilding to be done. It's the type of documentary and the sort of story which serves to remind us to look beyond ourselves and look at the bigger picture.
Monsters and Critics' contributing writer Ian Cullen is a former actor and community artist, and a lifetime fan of Science Fiction and television. He runs www.scifipulse.net - a site, which follows the trends of science fiction television and movies. He lives in Manchester, England.
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