THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN (1969) | The Polish Pilots | MGM 

Essential skill of any soldier, knowing when to play dumb

Which is what makes the scene all the funnier!! Undoubtedly my favourite part of the film!!

My late Polish father-in-law used to play that trick here in the UK whenever his car was pulled over by the police for a minor motoring infringement.

Indeed.. “ sorry , language issue “ is my excuse for everything. In fact.. I live in the UK for 12 years and I don’t have problems with English at all. 😂

I use it to this day

I think Hungarians were on Axis side. 😁

Repeat please.....................

@@neilclark2245 😆

​@@pietvanels Yes, unfortunately we were. For a matter of fact we always tend to choose the wrong side.

“Never in the Field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to do few”

I remember reading in, I believe it was a note to Arkady Fiedler's 'Division 303' book, that one of the pilots was actually displeased with this scene. He said; 'We didn't gaggle like gooses'. This was connected to the fact that those were elite pilots who originally trained and fought on fighters without radios, so they didn't have a habit of using the radio in the first place. But the reaction as of immediate attack without orders is historically correct.

My Uncle flew in 305 then emigrated to the US and funnily Chicago ended up in Illinois on Minuka Road I believe.

I am from Ukraine but still got what they were saying.

Let alone after being given a fighter plane after such a long time and no chance to fight while tha battle was raging and they had no chance of proving themselves and serving victroy

"Silence in polish!" Priceless.

In Tobruk?

They also had the wonderful bear called Voijtek (Wojtek?) who basically became a soldier.

@@Radbug11 Potentially, he was there and elsewhere in North Africa so was at Tobruk but not sure if the Poles were there at the same time. Being a mechanic by trade he ended up driving and repairing the captured Italian light tanks.

ORP Piorun, G65, british N-Class Destroyer, Piorun fought with Bismarck for an hour, not allowing the visual contact to be broken and giving Adm Tovey the opportunity to join forces. His commander was to give the order before the start of the attack "Three salvos in honor of Poland"

@@13macias84 Actually that is apocrypha

​@@jimwalsh8520 Yes you're absolutly right, and that's why I wrote "His commander was to give the order" not "His commander gave the order" Even the Polish Navy chronicler Perepeczko writes that this order is uncertain - there is no mention about in the Log Book, but apparently veterans mention that Pławski was supposed to utter such words. Where is the truth? Who know...

PIORUN!!!

@@krakenpots5693 You obviously believe in fairy stories

All were long term veterans from the Polish air force with many years of flying experience all put together in two fighter squadrons 303 and 303, whilst other raffle squadrons were filled with new pilots, the raf having seen far more combat and having lost over 300 pilots up to the b of b, so yes they should have performed better.

@@planet_69the Poles should have performed better? They did perform - as in performed far better than other RAF squadrons, as they had more flying time and more experience than their British comrades. Who’d you think taught the RAF to shoot and fly more effectively?

they had it in for the Germans because of the BLIZ....revenge was a huge driving force behind them.

​@@twirajuda I think you misunderstand. 'Should have performed better' than the other squadrons, not should have performed better!

My grandfather used it to the police when he was a witness to a failed attempt at stealing a car. The car's owner happened on the scene when he exited a store, then he grabbed the thief and proceeded to pummel him. When the police arrived and tried to get a statement, my grandfather pretended not to understand the officer and replied in a mix of Slovak and badly fractured English.

Not just the pilots, wherever the served: in the sky, on the ground, or at sea, the Poles had a reputation for being blood-spitting Mad Lads determined to stick in to the Germans anyway they could.

The Poles have the same love for the Germans as they have for the Russians, and for much the same reasons.

They were ticked.....it helped.

Not fearless, just crazy enough to fly so close to the german planes so they can see fear and panick in german's eyes

@@puffin51 god bless the poles

You right, Deblin academy was one the best aviation in worldwide.

I don't think they meant to show them as completely rowdy and undisciplined. More like a ragtag group of veteran pilots who are itching for a chance to get revenge on their invader which I wouldn't blame them for. I totally get your point though

@@vito7428 well most certainly, there was no ill intent in casting them in a such light. It just isn't good optics for a broader audiance, if you know what I mean :).

@@CS-lz1nz I totally get that. Wouldn't want to cause misconceptions among people who view historical media casually and aren't very familiar with the historical details

I find that interesting that the reason why polish were so skilled in flying was exactly because of the antiquated airforce. At the time of 1939 invasion the polish aircraft were inferior to that of Germany, this forced the polish pilots to improvise by executing much harder manouvers than the opponents. This has led to mostly highly trained and skilled pilots to survive, thus the bias. When those skilled and vengeful veterans got inside newer planes no wonder they were more successful.

Yorkshire Television made a documentary which was transmitted on the national 'First Tuesday' slot on the 1st of September 1985 and repeated on 9th November 1986. My husband filmed it and was lucky enough to meet and talk with many of the Polish and other pilots and hear their confidential remarks.

Hail Polska'!

Repeat..please...

This is my favourite sequence of the entire film. It brilliantly takes the Mickey out of the whole British colonial attitude; "Silence!....in Polish!" I'm told that the Polish pilots were brave but reckless; they tended to make sure the German planes crashed, which left themselves vulnerable to attack.

“Repeat, please!” 😂😂😂

Prawda, bardzo milo przeczytać coś pozytywnego. Nie zawsze z rozsądkiem ale zawsze z sercem, za naszą wolność i waszą!!

​@@latarnickboston believe it

Your countri your compatriots really are brave

He is mentioned in 2:45, as the signed officer, AOC 11 Group.

On ferry and training flights, ammunition was rarely in place.

The dialogue is not exactly a strong/historical part of this movie and one of the pilots actually complained about it 'we didn't gaggle like gooses!'. This was related to the fact that those were very highly trained pilots who originally were trained and fought on PZL fighters that didn't have any radios, so they weren't used to radios in the first place, and for communication they used specific slight manoeuvres, such as wing waving. But here you go: 'Germans, Germans, down there! 'Where, I can't see them! 'Down there, on the right, I'm going for them!' "I see them!' Later: 'Max (?) watch out! Fritz is behind you! ' 'I've got him! I's had it sonuvabitch!' 'Don't fight!' 'Thank you, I'm leavhing thorugh right (side)' then; about the same sentences shouted in altered order and incohorent. Then the only thin I can understand is; 'They're shooting at us!' So, this dialogue doesn't make much sense. It's also worth noting that these guys had undergone a very difficult training in Boom&Zoom technique back in Poland, and then fought in the actual campaign, and still managed to shoot down some German planes, using obsolete and totally outclassed PZL fighters. They wouldn't have shouted incoherently in battle. Especially since they had been trained to fire and evade from collision course only once they could see whites of enemy's eyes. Even if they did that a little earlier in much faster Hurricane, that still required extreme concentration. And not only you want to Boom in, but also Zoom out in such a way to preserve as much pendulum as possible, so the Germans can't jump on your tail, and you're good for another attack as quickly as possible. They really had no time for distractions. Also, in the final battle scene of this movie, the exact same dialogue is cut and played in random order.

Poles conscripted into the Wehrmacht were often the only additions to Polish units in the west and often looked for an opportunity to surrender to the Allies but this was not always the case because many signed Volklist and simply served as Germans

confirmed, I was there then

Yes ,George Beurling comes to mind .Laddie Lucas knew how to handle him .

Unfortunately Josef František was killed when he crashed his Hurricane on 8th Oct 1940.

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Good.

Both are poorly made CGI shitfests, and are in NO way comparable to this 1960s classic.

​@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684Does everything have to be a comparison/competition? The 1969 film is of course a classic. But it is about the Brits.This segment is just a small piece of the puzzle and that's ok. At least it is included in the film in general. I have seen both of the films that the poster mentions and they are Ok. These two films focus on the Polish experience exclusively, they revolve around the Poles and tell the story from their perspective.

Proud to stand side by side with Poles still to this day 🇬🇧🇵🇱

@@crassusofrome6386 Cheers! Glad to know this! 🇵🇱🇬🇧😉

'Repeat please!' is the only historically accurate part of the whole dialogue in this scene.

"'What they say, they (deliver)'" And yet their claimed tally of 127 aircraft during the battle of Britain, when cross referenced during postwar research, was amended downwards to 57.5 credited kills.... just like all squadrons were, as overclaiming was a factor common amongst ALL nations due to the confused chaos of air combat.

Yes there is.

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 it is? 😃

@@szymonziolkowski5967 hurricane its a movie about the poles

Repeat..please...

"not putting up with"? They were completely subjugated for 5 years, and were only released by the soviets who then kept the Poles on a leash for another 45 years. Poles are once again being prepared to be led to the slaughter for the benefit of global corporations.

Just be quiet. These nationalist rants are tiresome.

@@CB-fz3li Funny. There always has to be some poorly educated racist who doesn't get the facts right. A poor person who doesn't understand the words he uses and demands that everyone keep quiet because he doesn't know much himself so every now and then he experiences cognitive dissonance.

@@CB-fz3li It's the truth! Those honchos should have been ashamed of themselves. Thís was their HUGE chance to make things right for world peace, but they were more afraid of making the mean uncle mad!! And they KNEW what happened to their 22,000 friends, and Uncle Meanie lied about not ordering it!!

Poles were invited to the Victory parade in 1946.

@@rista1969 No, they did not. Only pilots. Don't be silly.

I vaguely remember one of the Brexit campaigns had an anti-immigration poster with a Spitfire on it. What they didn't bother to check was that it had a Polish RAF squadron markings on it.

Sounds like every Brexiteer I've ever had the misfortune to talk to. Ignorant and proud to be ignorant.

I think the wartime generation had different motivations for their emigration. Less economic, more patriotic, but we've supplied our fair share of economic emigrants from Britain too.

The Polish pilots had already had combat experience and were of a high standard, they were capable,aggressive airmen their tally of victories a match for any squadron.They were treated appallingly at wars end

I bet that guy has the same opinion about The Tuskegee Airmen...The Red tails.

I assume you mean Zdzisław Krasnodębski. Many of his WW2 flight logs and other personal momentos are on display at the Atkinson museum in Southport UK. A Whole gallery is dedicated to the Polish pilots of various Polish fighter squadrons who for a time flew from RAF Woodvale near Liverpool.

The film crew had only three flying Hurricanes and 12 flying Spitfires.

Bump. C'mon, guys, look at the vid.

The film crew had only three flying Hurricanes and 12 flying Spitfires.

@@StarskiPL I knew it would be something like that. Plus they got lots of those "German" planes from Spain of course.

That was British RAF Squadron Leader Ronald Gustave Kellett.

This expression is usually considered a bit risque in England even today, so it's reduced to 'struth' or 'strewth', as if it meant 'it's the truth'. But it's absolutely typical of the 1940s.

If it wasn't for the UK the world would have been VERY different. Apart from the UK & France not one other country in the world cared whether Poland existed or not in Sept 1939. Not even the US.

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 But Poland returned the favour and supported this little island in our need bravely and will always be remembered..

@@shauntbarry The "little island" that had a massive empire protected by the largest navy in the world? That little island?

@@obvious-troll I'm from the UK and we are a small island compared to the US, etc.. It was a sarcastic comment

If looking at 2023 is the issue, then England and most of Europe wasted their time. Almost the entire continent of Europe is socialist now. There are a couple of countries that have resisted being socialist, Poland being one of them. But the rest have fallen to the cancer. There is no such thing as freedome of speech in England, and now recent headlines show that freedom of thought is endangered, as well.

No way did they waste their time, they were tearing those Luftwaffe planes right out of the sky along with the female squadron called Nachthexen from the USSR, American Tuskeegee Red Tails, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Free French Air Forces (FAFL)...if they didn't join in the fight, we'd all be speaking German by now, and not by choice!!

@@videoluvver1 That's all true, but it is only the short term view. In the long term, socialists/communists are winning. More and more every day.

Who says "a lot went home", the vast majority of Polish ex-service personnel who fought alongside the British armed forces during WW2 wisely took advantage of the British govt's offer of full UK citizenship and residency rights as set out in the UK's "1947 Polish Resettlement Act". Of course some Poles made the understandable though ill-judeged choice of returning to their homelands (they were not prisoners of the British after all) but as you say many of those that did make that choice lived, and often died, regretting it.

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 The UK betrayed Poland in 1939, 1944 and 1945.

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, in the "great betrayal" that the Polish government-in-exile in London would never forgive, Churchill and Roosevelt recognized the Warsaw government, in exchange for Stalin's empty promise to expand it with other Polish elements - which created the justification for repatriating all Polish exiles.

In a bizarre twist of fate, the RAF Squadron Commander resigned his RAF commision and joined the Amsterdam police force !!!!

But don't forget Yalta and the Polish carve up. My boys' ancestral homes of Lwow and Vilnius are now in Ukraine (Lviv), and Lithuania. Both countries were part of the Soviet Union at the time. Also, Britain ignored the contributions of the Polish Government in Exile during the 1947 celebrations as it recognised the then Communist government running Poland at that time.

@@japethstevens8473 Churchill wanted to fight soviets right after ww2. He wanted to push them back from Poland and other countries but i guess noone wanted ww3

That is some BS. With friends like the UK one doesn't need enemies. As for the gratitude you can stick it you know where.

@@japethstevens8473 So what you're saying Japeth is that Britain, in line with the United Nations declaration that the Warsaw based "Polish provisional government of national unity" was the official Polish government, actually DID sent Poland an official invite?

@@birotariusintaberna818 I'm sorry you feel like that, but I don't blame you. Please just know that some English people are genuinely and sincerely grateful.

you can find the full movie on youtube too

Best bit. . .this actually happened🤣🤣🤣

@@jasoncornell1579 It did not!

@@jimwalsh8520 It did.

@@TheCrimsonFckr Alas no it did not. Ben Fisz the co producer was told to include. If you know history, you would know fact from hysterical fiction. 450 RAF fighters, Spitfires and Hurricanes were airborne on the 15th Septembr, 28 were poles. So obviously they were so bloody super, they saved the day! Grow up

Polish pilots had average flytime around 3k hours when usually british pilots had around 900h flytime, that affected alot, also the technic they used was different during the dogfight

What are you talking about ? A total of 145 Polish fighter pilots served in the RAF during the Battle of Britain so a lo moret of British pilot have already experience of fighting during the battle of Norway and France.

@@ChristopheA-dd5we Polish fighters were less numerous, but had longer battle experience than British - only a small fraction of RAF fought the battle of France.

@@ChristopheA-dd5we The Poles were already trained aviators when their country was invaded. They escaped to France, but the French were distrustful of aircrew who'd been shot out of the sky within days. The Poles were extensively retrained by the French, whose equipment was different from that of the Polish air force. France fell and the Poles escaped to Britain. The RAF didn't doubt the Polish spirit, but the Poles spoke no English and Fighter Command was the first in the world to be controlled and guided from the ground. The Poles were extensively retrained. Another problem was that the Poles were used to a/c with fixed undercarriages. The Poles kept forgetting to lower their wheels before landing, which made the RAF doubt their skills. Hence the Poles being given more time in the air before committing them to battle. By September 1940, the Poles were among the most highly-trained and experienced aircrew in the world. There is no substitute for time in cockpit for a combat aviator.

@@gengis737 The Poles were among the most highly-trained aviators in the world, having been trained and retrained by their own air force, the French and then the RAF. Other factors included being kept out of the early phase of the BoB, when Luftwaffe fighters were attacking from out of the sun as the RAF climbed from their bombed-out airfields. RAF losses were very heavy during that time, but the Poles were in reserve and were spared the slaughter.

Ronald Kellet Likes that

I've said for a few years now that if things go sideways here in the US then I'm moving to Poland, because at least those guys know who they are and won't go down without a fight. I'm so impressed by them.

@@gutsfinky I've been eyeing Switzerland. I like their policy of neutrality.

They don't want to go through any of that BS again...

@DAVID Dragonetti NATO joint flight operations are currently active and ongoing with many multinational units patrolling together.

@DAVID Dragonetti Hey David, you both right and wrong, depends on how you look at it (I'm talking about movie clip). Desperate times call for desperate measures. Yes, they broke direct order, but the same time they shoot down some bombers. Sometimes, you just cannot be that stiff. I see your point, though. On the other hand history is full of these examples. One thing though. In English, nationality of a person (or people) is written with capital letter like: English, Scottish, , Polish, American, Mexican etc.

@@bigdrift1 "NATO joint flight operations". Ah!!! The efforts of corporate globalism to effect "regime change" in Russia are carrying on unabated I see......

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 God forbid countries actually work together.

As a Pole I thank you!

Piotr Kuryłowicz ex 315 sqn. Polish Air Force, alive still, he has over 100 old.

@@barbarasteranka6001 really? Where does he live?

Except there are still some alive.

@@DotepenecPL Really- when the guy died, it was mentioned in the papers how he was the last one. I guess they were wrong.

@@lawrencelewis2592 Possibile. Maybe the information wasn't precise. Maybe he was the last one of one of the squadrons? Maybe the last one who took part in battle of Britain? Do you remember his name maybe?

Repeat Please..

​@KManXPressTheU Repeat please.....

@@davesy6969 Repeat, please

Top Scorers

Poles are the best

"served in iraq" "freedom loving" so you were serving for freedom in iraq, is that what that massacring was? interesting, by any real standards it was anything but that. and you wonder why the world hates you?

35 Australians flew combat missions in the Battle of Britain, 8 became aces, 10 were killed.

Some good American volunteers and Canadian ones. And many brave female pilots that had to ferry fighters across the Atlantic to help keep the number of working allied planes as high as it could be when the Germans were hammering them. When push comes to shove, the Allies backed each other up.

@@nickb- Thank them for their service, All gave some, But Some gave all.

South Africans, Australians, Newzealander, Indians , Rhodesians, British South West Africans

Yup basically the cream of the crop pilots from all over the world 👌🖖

by "ceded" to the Soviets you mean the Soviets reneged on their feb 1945 Yalta agreement, so when someone steals something, do you blame the police for not preventing it?

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 I do not disagree with your phrasing

@@trajan75 Agree or not, it is what happened. The Soviet Union signed the agreement at the Feb 1945 Yalta conference for the formation of the "Polish provisional government of national unity" comprised of both the Communist "Lublin Committee" and the nationalist Polish Government in exile then based in London...... and then at the August 1945 Potsdam conference they flatly refused to allow the nationalists to re-enter Poland, thereby subjecting Poland to over 40 years of communist rule.

@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 They didn't break anything, England and the USA agreed behind Poland's back that it should belong to the Soviet sphere of influence.

@@Litwinus What else could west have been able to do as whole east europe was occupied by russian forces? Stalin had the advantage and west did not want to continue ww2 against another terrorist and imperialistic country. Europe was already in ruins.

No, thats a myth. The Luftwaffe already failed to win the battle BEFORE the Poles even went into action. British pilots shot down 80% of Luftwaffe planes.

Sterling effort from the Poles but you are guilty of over egging the pudding there.

Bit of hyperbole there, Laurence, the Poles were a valuable addition to Fighter Command but no more than that.

Here are the reasons why the Poles did so well in the battle: Luck, training and tactics. LUCK - The earliest phase of the BoB saw the RAF being attacked out of the sun as they climbed from their bombed-out airfields. Hurricanes climbed more slowly than Spitfires and were more vulnerable. The RAF suffered very heavy casualties. The Poles were kept out of this early phase of the Battle. TRAINING - The Poles were among the most highly trained pilots on Earth. Many had previously been aircrew during the invasion of Poland. They escaped to France, but the French were uncertain of the abilities of the Poles, so they were retrained. Then the Poles escaped to the UK, and were again retrained because the RAF used control from the ground and couldn't speak any English. In air combat, there is no substitute for time spent in the cockpit and mastering your aircraft. TACTICS - The RAF had determined specific tactics for attacking bombers, which were ineffective. Instead, the Poles used the tactics they'd adopted in their obsolete PZL fighters a year later: Dive on the enemy, close to point-blank range and open fire with a zero-deflection shot. This was the perfect tactic. As Bader told his pilots, "Get as close as you can before opening fire. When you think you're far too close, get even closer". The highest-scoring BoB ace was a Czech, who'd been trained in his own air force, escaped and been retrained in the Polish Air Force, escaped and been retrained with the French, then escaped and retrained with the RAF.

Hmmmm not so much ol chap.

THEY FOUGHT BACK FOR SURE!

While the British are surrendering theirs by the hour!!

But this scene is based off a real incident that occurred during the battle so it’s not exactly unfair.

I can’t remember the British commanders name but I read his memoir a while ago. He said he punished the Polish pilot who led this attack in front of his men as he wasn’t following orders and didn’t want to cause a breakdown in discipline.. but privately commended him. The Polish pilot and I’m sorry for forgetting his name was shot down and killed a few months later.

@@elliott7531 Yes, he received a verbal reprimand from the british commander who led them to the exercise, Ronald Gustave Kellett. Immediately after this event, he also received congratulations from him. The pilot's name was Ludwik Paszkiewicz.

@@konradadamczyk5755Seriously sod off, I'm sick of you Poles always ridiculing anything British.

Repeat please