RAF 80 Poland's War Memorial ~ Standing Sentinel
Royal Air Force
RAF 80 Poland's War Memorial ~ Standing Sentinel
I
AS I TRAVEL into London from Gloucestershire, I pass Royal Air Force Northolt on the M40.
In my service days, I had a couple of short stays there. This was especially important for me, as it was one of the main fighter stations in No.11 Group, RAF Fighter Command in 1940, and just one of the major airfields from which the Battle of Britain was engaged, and the Battle for Britain was fought.
In the 1960s, the entrance to the base took second place to a very imposing memorial that had been erected on the corner of the station entrance, but seemingly ever-present; a constant reminder of the dense traffic into and out of London.
From here, the battle was waged, lives were committed, lives were lost, and lives were saved, and all with the sole intent. To deny a vicious and evil enemy the chance to launch an invasion of these islands.
The Memorial was so impressive to me, a fifteen-year-old newly enrolled cadet in the Air Training Corps in 1968, seeing this column towering above me, upon which rested, ever watchful, the Eagle. For me, this was obviously the Eagle of the Royal Air Force, which I proudly wore on my beret. I still sense that excitement fifty-two years on.
RAF Northolt is still a vitally important base. Indeed, many readers will recall that it was where Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was brought from Scotland last month, September 2022.
II
In the 1980s our road infrastructure required substantial improvement on the M40 into London, widening the road running past RAF Northolt and thus repositioning the world-famous Memorial.
No longer did the Memorial stand sentinel on the road’s edge.
The Memorial is, however, even more, impressive today, beautifully attended and maintained, and a tribute to all who fought in the Battle of Britain, and then throughout the whole war, 1939-1945. Agreed, I miss seeing its Column and Eagle as I approach London on the horizon but the joy of seeing this Sentinel as I pass by is just as thrilling.
The Sentinel is, though, even more important for me.
“Oh? Why’s that? I’m asked.
It is the Polish War Memorial, I quietly reply.”
I do not intend to discuss RAF Northolt’s esteemed history in this Paper, nor its current role in our Royal Air Force. This information can be found here, and Wikipedia is to be congratulated.
Rather, I wish to write about the Polish airmen of 302 and 303 Polish Fighter Squadrons in the Battle of Britain. These were, without doubt, Fighter Command’s top squadrons in that vicious order of battle that waged above the skies of England and indeed Britain in that long hot summer and autumn of 1940.
Nor do I wish to write at this stage about scores, aces, and so forth because we are now (in 2020) eighty years on.
“Why are you writing at all then?”
III
Being aware that my parents both lost brothers serving with RAF Bomber Command ~ from 76 Squadron (1943) and 405 (City of Vancouver) Squadron RCAF (1945) ~ I grew up very aware of these two absent close relatives, absent and yet very much present to my parents and four grandparents. And all six quietly made sure that I knew of the sacrifices made, and more importantly, how it all started with the invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939.
As an Air Training Corps cadet, I used to marvel at how the Polish airmen had managed to make their way to Britain. Even though I now think that mum and dad might have held back a bit on some of the details of that horrific time for Poland for the ears of one so young ~ even now, those recollections trouble me, the inhumanity of people to others, and with such deliberate viciousness, when I read the historical accounts by the historians, Sir Antony Beevor and Sir Max Hastings.
IV
No. My reason for writing is to set the record straight when I observe antics of politicians of every age, even our great Statesmen. During my commissioned service in the RAF VR (1974-1991), I marched many times both on Remembrance Sundays each November ~ The Armistice ~ and on many Sundays closest to 15 September 1940 and which had been officially designated Battle of Britain Day.
And no matter how I approach the decision by the wartime prime minister to disallow the Polish squadrons to march in the 1945 Victory Parade in London Whitehall, I will not condone the decision made by Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee, two for whom I have the greatest respect; a decision made solely on the basis that Stalin, that other tyrant and bully, would be offended if they allowed the Polish and Czech squadrons to march.
“Learning this history has, of course, given me a fresh beam of light on the magnificent Polish War Memorial at Northolt and on the corner of Western Avenue, now dedicated to the Poles. It is as if events overtook the political machinations of the hour.”
V
As a young man, I used to gaze up at the eagle. It meant freedom. A price had been paid, millions had perished in that price waged over six years from 1939-1945, and a signal went out loud and strong from my family and which I have carried with me and guarded.
“Let us not judge. Rather, build bridges. But let us also not forget our history. ”
A Message of Greeting to the Polish Nation
To unknown friends who kindly follow this website in Poland, in Chybie, Silesian, Alwernia, and also Krakow, Lesser Poland, Posnan, Greater Poland, I send you Greetings from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and from my own homes of Gloucestershire and Liverpool.
I send my heartfelt thanks that, when freedom fled, you held on, you resisted, you counter-attacked and eventually, decades on, secured that which we have now.
I admit that there are times when I do not feel good being British. The world sees populism and fascism rushing headlong to the finishing line again. We have a vicious war in Ukraine with Russia’s premeditated and deliberate invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. We see the atrocities committed. We see, once again, the cynical Hitlerian annexation of independent territories based on rigged referendums and plebiscites. We learn of what Russia is doing in the occupied territories, a fifth of Ukraine in 2025, in stamping out the Ukrainian language, the destruction of all Ukrainian books, literature and art in schools, the removal of all Ukrainian signage, the destruction of Ukrainian passports, and the sinister Hitlerian demand that Ukrainians within these occupied territories must accept Russian passports, and that the deadline has been set at 1 September. Once again we see that ominous date - in my mind I regard that as the date of filth of history - whereupon those who refuse will be sent away. Where to? How can they leave if they have no passports? This is exactly what Adolf Hitler did. And what of the Ukrainians who are summonsed and never seen again?
In Britain, we have our own far-right nationalists. They, of course, love to reflect upon the glories of the Battle of Britain, when Britain was white, British, and independent. They display their poster of a Supermarine Spitfire to reflect their pride.
I thus leave the final word with our great British historian, Professor David Olusoga in his Address to the 2022 Historical Association, in quietly pointing out that these white nationalists made a mistake…
Professor David Olusoga OBE addressing Students in 2018
“The image of the Spitfires they used to promote their agenda, was from 302 and 303 Polish Air Force Squadrons.”
“Oh yes!! Game, set, and match.
To such people, I say this. Do not allow your shadow to cross our paths.”
Niech żyje Polska
8 July 2025
All Rights Reserved
Gloucestershire and Liverpool
© 2025 Kenneth Thomas Webb
The original paper was first published on 4 October 2022 and has been extended in light of the BBC Ukrainecast Report broadcast on Sunday 6 July 2025
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
