British military parade on 80th anniversary of VE Day
- Thread starter Blackleaf
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That's because the Polish pilots, bordering Germany and feeling threatened by the Nazis for several years in the 1930s, had several years of extensive military training in case they should go to war with their German neighbours.
Poland's British allies, however, who were bound by law to come to Poland's aid if Germany invaded it, spent the 1930s and the rise of the Nazis downsizing and degrading their military and so most RAF pilots were inexperienced when Britain then declared war on Germany because Germany invaded Poland.
If I remember correctly they got stuck in France somehow or something and got to Britain.
Poland didn't have an airforce at the outset of World War II because the Germans destroyed it when they invaded in 1939. The Germans destroyed 70% of Polish aircraft. Also, when Germany invaded Poland, causing the outbreak of the war because Britain had to declare war on Geemany, the Polish Government took refuge in Britain. The Polish Government in Exile decided they wanted to have their own independent air force and so the British set up a Polish RAF squadron to set the Poles on their journey to establishing a Polish air force.
In the Lancashire seaside resort of Blackpool in July 1940, the 303 Kosciuszko Squadron of the RAF was announced. The squadron got its name from Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who led the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Prussians and Russians in the 1794 Kosciuszko Uprising.
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I said that Britain "had", by law, to declare war on Germany when she invaded Poland in September 1939.
That's not actually true.
But had Britain NOT declared war on Germany two days after Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II, then Europe may well be living under Nazi tyranny to this day. The Nazis would have got what they wanted otherwise. They would have had free reign, unless some other country subsequently declared war on them. It had to be done.
We did the right thing.
That's not actually true.
But had Britain NOT declared war on Germany two days after Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II, then Europe may well be living under Nazi tyranny to this day. The Nazis would have got what they wanted otherwise. They would have had free reign, unless some other country subsequently declared war on them. It had to be done.
We did the right thing.
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The King and Churchill's great-great-grandson Alexander Churchill light candles for peace at Westminster Abbey.
At noon, the country fell silent to pay its respects to the fallen of World War II.
The Archbishop of Canterbury did not attend the service as the Church of England is currently choosing a new one...
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King addresses nation as four days of national VE Day commemorations and celebrations draw to a close
Speaking at celebrations in central London, the King called on Britain to "rededicate ourselves" to the "prevention of conflict".
The King addressed the nation live from Horse Guards Parade in front of a crowd of thousands in central London tonight - a crowd that included Queen Camilla and veterans of the war.
It is 80 years since King Charles III's grandfather King George VI announced to the nation that Germany had surrendered and that Britain had won the war in Europe...
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