Witamy! Welcome to the 305 Squadron Living History Group website. We are a member unit of the WWII Polish Living History Group which is dedicated to educating the public about the deeds of the armed forces of Poland during the Second World War. Our goal in 305 Sqaudron is to honor and preserve the history of the PAF (Polish Air Force) that served in exile from 1939-1945. We attend various living history events and air shows throughout the course of each year. We focus on portraying 305 Polish Bomber Squadron, but, depending on the event, we can represent any of the other 14 PAF Squadrons (15 squadrons total) that served in exile.

“A Crew from 305 SQUADRON being briefed before a mission” Pictured from L. to R. are C. Moore, C. Petronis, and J. Duda

Orchestral Instrumental of the Polish National Anthem

Why 305 Squadron?

Why 305 Squadron?  First 305 Squadron, as with all the other Polish Squadrons in England, had a superb service record.  Also, a bomber squadron can make for a more interesting living history impression.  Re-enacting pre-mission briefings and post mission debriefings allows us to draw the public in and convey a tiny bit of what the Polish Airmen went through.  But just as a real bomber squadron required more personnel to operate the large aircraft, a bomber squadron needs more people to make it believable.  305 Squadron, however, transitioned to Mosquito fighter-bombers in 1944.  The “Mossie” required only a two-man crew (a Pilot and Navigator), which means we can do a more realistic impression with less people.  305 was also a unit of the 2nd Tactical Air Force (TAF) which operated from bases in France after D-Day.  Since most of our living history events involve living out of tents, we can incorporate this in to a realistic portrayal of a squadron in the field.  There is even the benefit of a “late-war” impression, where the uniform and equipment are a little easier to acquire.

Even though we will concentrate on 305 Squadron for our main impression, we can also portray other Polish Squadrons as the need arises.  We might have access to a certain aircraft flown only by a certain squadron, or weather conditions might dictate we portray a squadron which operated in those conditions.  The wide variety of Polish Squadrons which operated in many of the theaters of war, allows us this flexibility.

This is an original 305 Unit Badge courtesy of W.Zmyslony

Click on the 305 Unit Badge to view Squadron History