No. 305 Polish Bomber Squadron "Ziemia Wielkopolska" ("Land of

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed ...

") ( pl, 305 Dywizjon Bombowy "Ziemi Wielkopolskiej im. Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego") was a Polish World War II bomber unit. It fought alongside the Royal Air Force under their operational Command and operated from airbases in the United Kingdom.

History

The last of the Polish bomber squadrons under Royal Air Force command, 305 Squadron was formed at

RAF Bramcote Royal Air Force Bramcote or more simply RAF Bramcote is a former Royal Air Force station located south-east of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England used during the Second World War. It later became HMS Gamecock and then Gamecock Barracks. Royal Air ...

, Warwickshire on 29 August 1940. It was initially equipped with the somewhat obsolete Fairey Battle aircraft, but was reequipped in November 1940 with twin-engine Vickers Wellington heavy bombers. The unit began operational flying in April 1941. Its first mission was bombing of petrol and fuel storage tanks at Rotterdam in the night from 25 to 26 April 1941.Moyes 1976, p. 227. Between June 1941 and August 1943 the Squadron was based at

RAF Ingham The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. In August 1943, the Squadron was moved to RAF Swanton Morley and thereafter ceased its affiliation with

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...

; instead, it was absorbed into the freshly formed

Second Tactical Air Force The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, ...

, a specialized arm of the RAF that was centered on tactical air strikes on vital enemy targets (such as bridges, supply trains, etc.) in the European Continent. During this period, 305 Squadron was transferred to No. 2 Group RAFHalley 1988, p. 358. and converted briefly to

North American Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

medium bombers before adopting the De Havilland Mosquito FB.VI, the aircraft that the Squadron operated for the remainder of the European campaign. Through 1944, the 305 was stationed at

RAF Lasham Lasham is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is northwest of Alton and north of Bentworth, just off the A339 road. The parish covers an area of and has an average elevation of above sea level. ...

in England and then briefly at

RAF Hartford Bridge Royal Air Force Blackbushe or more simply RAF Blackbushe is a former Royal Air Force station in Hampshire, England, during the Second World War. It is now Blackbushe Airport. History The station was opened on 1 November 1942 as RAF Hartford Bri ...

before moving to the Epinoy airfield in France in November 1944. During the Normandy Landings, the squadron destroyed 13,000,000 liters of the German fuel stored near

Nancy, France Nancy ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Nanzisch'' is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the northeastern Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was Lorraine and Barrois, an ...

. The squadron performed its last mission exactly four years after their first, in the night of 25 to 26 April 1945.Moyes 1976, p. 227. After the hostilities ended, the Squadron continued to operate in Germany as part of the occupation forces and, after a brief return to Britain, was finally disbanded formally on 6 January 1947 at

RAF Faldingworth Royal Air Force Faldingworth or more simply RAF Faldingworth is a former Royal Air Force station used during and after the Second World War. It was located close to the village of Faldingworth in Lincolnshire, England. Development By 1936 the ...

, having already given up its aircraft on 25 November 1946.Moyes 1976, p. 227.

Aircraft operated

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Halley, James J. ''The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988. . * Jefford, C.G. ''RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912''. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing, 2001. . * Moyes, Philip J.R. ''Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''. London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers) Ltd., 1964 (new edition 1974). . * Zieliński, Józef. ''305 Dywizjon Bombowy Ziemi Wielkopolskiej I Lidzkiej''.

Dom Wydawniczy Bellona Bellona Publishing House ( pl, Wydawnictwo Bellona, formerly also ''Dom Wydawniczy Bellona'') is a private publishing house based in Warsaw, Poland. It was created in 1990 from restructuring of the state-run Wydawnictwo MON. It specialises in book ...

. . (In Polish)

External links

305 Squadron ''Living History Group''

Personnel of the Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1940-1947
{{Authority control

305 Year 305 ( CCCV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1058 '' Ab urbe c ...