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• SAMI 11/2014 • 2015-02-26
• Cybermodeler.com • 2015-02-26
• Air Modeller No. 57 • 2015-02-26
• Model Airplane International 12/2014 • 2015-02-26
• Airfix Model World 2015-01 • 2015-02-26
• ModelingMadness.com • 2015-02-26
• InternetModeler.com • 2015-02-26
• Scale Aircraft Modelling 2015-03 • 2015-02-26
• MiniReplika • 2014-12-19

• SAMI 11/2014 • 2015-02-26
  
• Cybermodeler.com • 2015-02-26

  By David L. Veres

  Escaping the tyranny of Nazi occupation, thousands of expatriate airmen fought for the Allies during World War II. And among these were personnel of Royal Air Force 305 Squadron – the fourth and last of Poland's exile bomber units.

  Now it's the subject of a superb study from MMP Books.

  MMP's fitting tribute – available in North America from Casemate – begins an accolade of its own: "Instead of a dedication". "This book would not have been written," author Lechoslaw Musialkowski notes, "if not for my fascination with the work of Gabriel Milosz."

  That's why introductory notes commemorate Milosz, "the photographer, photo lab assistant, and then head of the photographic section in 305 Squadron from its formation until its disbandment" – and person most responsible for the photo content of MMP's lavishly illustrated book.

  Contents then course chronologically through operations by aircraft type:

  Fairey Battle

  Wellington IA & IC

  Wellington II

  Wellington IV

  Wellington X

  NA Mitchell MkII

  D.H.98 Mosquito FB.VI

  Mission descriptions include, where available, participating personnel, aircraft, codes and serial numbers, and results – including equipment and aircrew losses. Absorbing anecdotes season the account. And statistics summarize combat sorties and hours flown – as well as bomb tonnage dropped on enemy targets. vCoverage sports dozens of hitherto unpublished 305 Squadron aircraft photos with extended captions. Marek Radomski's color profiles are simply superb. And extended, detailed comments and reference shots accompany all artwork. vIn the end, of all exiled Allied air forces, only the Poles never "adorned" their British aircraft with "full Polish national markings". "The French, Belgians, Norwegians and Czechs would have the satisfaction of seeing their own national insignia on their aircraft in 1945", Musialkowski notes. But the Polish Air Force, he laments, "despite their great share in the Allied war effort, out of all proportion compared to the others, would not!"

  305 Squadron finally disbanded 6 Jan 1947. But its accomplishments live on. And MMP's terrific tome pays apt homage to the Poles who never bore Hitler's yoke.

  Roundly recommended!

• Air Modeller No. 57 • 2015-02-26
  
• Model Airplane International 12/2014 • 2015-02-26
  
• Airfix Model World 2015-01 • 2015-02-26
  
• ModelingMadness.com • 2015-02-26

  Reviewer: Scott Van Aken

  What few people realize is that the largest number of non-Commonwealth aircrew serving in the RAF during WWI came from Poland. Several squadrons of all types were formed with Poles as their pilots and ground crew. Certainly not everyone in the units were Polish, as there were often a lack of ground crew, but most pilots were.

  This is the story of 305 Squadron, one of the bomber units that were part of the Polish Air Force in exile. Thanks to the prolific photographs of F/Sgt Gabriel Miłosz, we have a very complete look at the men and aircraft of 305 Squadron; enough to fill a book and that is only with a percentage of the photographs taken.

  Formed in August of 1940 it was the fourth and final Polish bomber squadron. It used as its initial aircraft the Fairey Battle, which fortunately, they used only for training and never had to take into battle. This was followed by a series of Wellingtons, starting with the IA and IC then moving on to the Merlin powered II and eventually the IV and the X. While they started on some daylight ops, soon they switched to night work as the Wellington proved to be too vulnerable to German defenses during the day.

  After a couple of years on bombing and mine-laying missions, the unit was moved to the 2nd TAF and they began flying the Mitchell. This was a major improvement over the Wellington in both speed, bomb load and crew comfort. However, it was not to last as only a few months later they started getting the Mosquito FB.VI.

  This aircraft was considerably faster than the Mitchell and carried a smaller bomb load. It also carried a lot fewer crew members leaving a bit of an 'excess' of personnel who were then sent off to other bomber units. The Mossie was kept until the end of the war and participated in a number of interesting special missions.

  When the war was over, unlike other nations who still flew with the RAF, Polish units were not allowed to paint on large national insignia. This was all part of the deal that Churchill made with Stalin to allowe the Soviets free reign to subjugate Poland after the war. 305 Squadron stayed with the RAF until disbanded in December 1946. I doubt that many went back to Poland, preferring the freedom of the west with the continued oppression back in home, trading in the Nazis for the Soviets.

  The book covers the complete operational history of this unit from formation to disbandment, with a great deal of information on missions and sorties. While not every mission is covered in detail, some of them are and give the reader a taste of the unit's contribution to the war effort, which was considerable. This is all superbly illustrated by all those great period photos I mentioned at the beginning as well as the usual profiles one gets with this line of books. It is not only great eye candy, but makes for a superb read as well. A book that I very much enjoyed reading and can highly recommend to you.

  December 2014

• InternetModeler.com • 2015-02-26

  By Chris Banyai-Riepl

  The RAF had several units during the Second World War that were operated by foreign nationals from countries occupied by Germany. These included several Czech and Polish fighter squadrons, which have been well documented in literature. Lesser well known are the bomber squadrons, and this title in the Mushroom Model Publications' White Series helps shed some light on one of those bomber units. The Polish 305 Squadron started out as a night bomber unit, then transitioned into daylight operations before ending as a low-level bomber unit at the end of the war.

  The Mushroom White Series provides an illustrated history of the subject, and for this book that means a great combination of text, photos, and color profile illustrations. As you'll note in the title, this book is not a history of the squadron, but rather a history of the aircraft themselves. Thus the book is broken up into specific section on each aircraft, following a chronological approach. The aircraft covered include the Fairey Battle, the Vickers Wellington, the North American Mitchell, and the de Havilland Mosquito. While this seems like a short list for such a large book, take note that the Wellington is actually broken up into multiple variants: IA/IC, II, IV, and X.

  The vast majority of this book is in photographs, and these do an amazing job of illustrating the aircraft, standard markings, and the interesting personalization that went on in 305 Squadron. Artwork ranging from simple line drawings to more detailed nose art can be found across many of these aircraft types, with many further illustrated in the color profiles. An interesting side point, the profile artist provided a useful portrayal of the Fairey Battle. As photos of 305 Squadron Battles are few, his illustrations show both what can be seen in photos, and a full reconstruction based on common camouflage practices.

  This is a nice collection of RAF bomber aircraft photos, and having them all tied to a specific unit opens up some great modeling collection potential. My thanks to Mushroom Model Publications for the review copy.

• Scale Aircraft Modelling 2015-03 • 2015-02-26
  
• MiniReplika • 2014-12-19