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Old 17th April 2008, 09:54
Ex Shack Ex Shack is offline
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Re: Polish Uniforms in WWII.

Hi Greg
The Polish Air Force awarded wings to it's pilots in the shape of a metal bird(probably an Eagle),I think in silver and worn on the L Breast slightly higher than the RAF cloth wings. When Poland fell and many of her Air Force came to UK the Polish Wings continued to be used by many, but if you can find a copy of "Poles in Defence of Britain" by Robert Gretzingier you will see that many wore the RAF wings,there is an example of a pilot wearing both. It is difficult to be sure but the difference could be that some retained Polish uniform which had a close resemblance to the RAF equivalent and some wore RAF uniform. The Polish Air Force in 1939 did not have the equivalent to some of the non-Pilot Aircrew functions but acquired the need once incorporated into the RAF organisation .They tended to wear RAF brevets( and possibly Raf uniform but with the shoulder flash "Poland").Look at http://www.geocities.com/skrzydla/index.html which is a photo gallery of 304 Sqn and there are illustrations of Polish Aircrew which seem to indicate the continued use of Polish Uniform by many. There is a picture of an Airman wearing what appear to be Polish Pilot's wings but he is identified as a Navigator. If you roam about this particular site there are other photo galleries of Polish Sqns
Hope This Helps
Regards
Dick
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