Under French Skies

Caudron Renault CR.714 "Cyclone" belonging to GC I/145, June 1940. Because of the position of the aircraft tail number, it is possible to identify this aircraft as being one of a number of training aicraft that were abandoned at Guyancourt. Photograph is courtesy of T.J. Kowalski, Godlo i Barwa w Lotnictwie Polskim, WKL 1987.

   After the "black" September of 1939 more than 80% of all the Polish airmen (about 12 thousand people) evacuated from Poland, the majority of these went to Romania. Upon their arrival in Romania the Polish airmen lived in the private houses opened to them by the local citizens. Because of the great numbers of these foreign military personnel living free and loose in Romania, and from the growing German and Russian pressures upon the Romanian government to round up these escapees, the Romanian authorities decided to open internment camps for the former Polish military personnel. A number of these internment camps were quickly set up in many places such as: Tuluca, Badabag, Kalafatu or Turnu Severin. There were many more camps than these.
   Faced with immediate internment by the Romanian government, and the distinct possibilty of being expatriated back to occupied Poland, the Polish military personnel did not want to stay in Romania any longer than possible. With only a very limited number of places to go to from Romania, many of these airmen decided to try and find a way to go to France, where the Polish General Wladyslaw Sikorski was attempting to organize a Free Polish Army.
   General Sikorski's order of evacuation from Romania, Hungary, Sweden and the Baltic countries was to evacuate all of the youngest of the Polish officers, airman and "technical" soldiers. The first transports with Polish airmen came to France at the end of October 1939. These Polish military personnel were given assignment stations at such palces as Le Bourget, Salon, Istries, Clermont-Ferrand and Steptfonds. There were many such sites as these, while the largest Polish garrison was at the Bron aerodrome in Lyon.
   When the Soviet-Finnish war started in December 1939, France and Great Britain decided to send help for Finland in the form of an "Expeditionary Corps." These last two named countries wanted to form these new Polish aviation units concurrently in both of their countries, as this would allow for the formation of Polish squadrons at a faster pace.
   Along with France and Great Britain, the exile Polish goverment in France decided to help Finland too. As part of this help the Polish government decided to send one of the newly forming Polish fighter squadrons.When the decision to help Finland was announced to the Polish pilots there were about 150 volunteers almost immediately. The final selection process decided on 35 pilots and 120 ground personnel. The leader of this new Polish "volunteer" fighter squadron was to be Major (Maj.) Jozef Kepinski. The unit's second in command was to be Captain (Capt.) Piotr Laguna.

   The author Grzegorz Slizewski can be reached at his e-mail address.