The Kościuszko Squadron (officially: Polish 7th Air Escadrille) was a

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force () is the aerial warfare Military branch, branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 26,000 military personnel an ...

fighter squadron established in late 1919 by

Merian C. Cooper Merian Caldwell Cooper (October 24, 1893 – April 21, 1973) was an American filmmaker, actor, producer and air officer. In film, his most famous work was the 1933 movie ''King Kong (1933 film), King Kong'', and he is credited as co-inventor of ...

, an American aviator who would go on to direct the film ''King Kong'' in 1933, then to advocate for

McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...

in 1950s. The unit was named after

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko (; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, and military leader who then became a national hero in Poland, the United States, Lithuania, and ...

, and Major Cedric Fauntleroy became its commander. The squadron's insignia was designed by Elliot William Chess (1899–1962), an American pilot serving with the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

during the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

. To encourage the recruitment of Americans of Polish descent, the Polish military set up a unit called the Polish–American Air Group. The most famous successor to this original Kościuszko Squadron was the World War II No. 303 "Kościuszko" Polish Fighter Squadron (''Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki''), the most successful fighter squadron in the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

Formation

First formed after Poland regained independence following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, it consisted of a small group of American volunteers independent of the United States State Department or the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

. The fliers came from a number of militaries. Members included

Ludomił Rayski Ludomił Antoni Rayski (29 December 1892 – 11 April 1977) was a Polish engineer, pilot, military officer and aviator. He served as the commander of the Polish Air Force between 1926 and 1939, being responsible for modernization of Polish mili ...

(commander and of the Turkish Air Force), Jerzy Weber (of the Imperial Russian Air Service), Władysław Konopka , Aleksander Seńkowski (of the Austrian Air Service), and Ludwik Idzikowski (of the Imperial Russian Air Service). One of the most famous pilots was

, producer of the 1933 movie ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

'', who was decorated for valor by Polish commander-in-chief

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

with the highest Polish military decoration, the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the Kościuszko Squadron was formed by refugee Polish pilots who joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

and played an essential role during the

. The Kościuszko Squadron emblem depicts the distinctive four-cornered Polish peasant cap characteristic to the

Małopolska Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

region with a peacock feather inside, set against a field of seven red vertical stripes on a white background (forming six white stripes as a result) from the

flag of the United States The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...

, red and white also being two colors contained in both the Polish and American flags as well as representing the striped trousers of traditional małopolska men's folk dress. Behind the red cap is a pair of crossed

war scythes A war scythe or military scythe is a form of polearm with a curving single-edged blade with the cutting edge on the concave side of the blade. Its blade bears a superficial resemblance to that of an agricultural scythe from which it is likely ...

. Thirteen blue stars encircle the badge, representing the thirteen original American states. The rogatywka cap and scythes commemorate the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794, Second Polish War, Polish Campaign of 1794, and the Polish Revolution of 1794, was an uprising against the Russian and Prussian influence on the Polish–Lithuanian Common ...

of 1794: ten years after General Tadeusz Kościuszko returned to Poland from America, and led a Polish insurgency marked by peasant participation (himself donning the traditional folk dress of the peasants in the region of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, where the uprising was proclaimed) in an attempt to liberate Poland from Russia and Prussia. This later led to a mistaken belief that the simple to make polearms used by many footmen in the uprising were in fact actual scythes used for shearing wheat.

Formation

See also

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links