No.1586 (Special Duties) Flight

      At the end of 1943 the Polish OC1 Flight was withdrawn from No.138 Squadron RAF and reformed as an independent No. 1586 (Special Duties) Flight. As the allies advanced in the Mediterranean, it became possible to move the flight to that theatre, first for a short spell to Tunisia, and in December 1943 to Italy, to Campo Cassale aerodrome near brindisi. The route from there to Poland was shorter and it avoided overflying the heavily defended German territory. From the atumn 1943 until the end of July 1944 the Polish flight has flown 210 supply sorties for the Polish Home Army. The combined time of these missions was some 1,800 flying hours, or approximately 9,5 hours per one sortie. Only 125 sorties (less than 60%) ended with successful drops (similar factor for those British units that also flew to Poland was below 45%). Over 160 tonnes of supplies wer dropped and over 140

"silentdark" men parachuted.

Aiding the Warsaw Uprising

      From the viewpoint of aerial supplis, the Warsaw Uprising broke out in a very unfortunate moment. In July 1944 a number of No. 1596 Flight crews have completed their combat tours. On 1 August the unit had 6 full crews and 9 aircraft. According to military estimates, supply drops could affect the course of the Uprising if more than a dozen tonnes were dropped every day. This meant the veed to send at least 20 aircraft to Warsaw every night. The RAF HQ decided that such missions-easily predictable for the Germans-had no sence at all, due to excessive risks, and suspended them. The Poles protested, and the ban was lifted. This scenario was repeated more than once; the British banned the missions following rational analyses, but re-allowed them after Polish protests. Throughout the Uprising a total of 100 sorties werw flown to Warsaw (including about 30 by the Polish flight). Over 50 of these ended in successful drops. Apart from that, more than 70 sorties (including 50 Polish) were flown to environs of Warsaw. Less than 50 of these resulted in drops, but they had no significant effect on the situation in Warsaw, anyway. Losses amounted to 16 Polish crews and 18 aircraft, and 20 allied (British and South African) crews and at least 21 aircraft. Most sources suggest that by the time the Uprising surrendered on 2 October, the fighters actually received no more than 100 tonnes of supplies. 10 times less than the necessary minimum. Some 200 airmen of all nations were killed in supply drop missions to Warsaw during the Uprising. This does not sound much compared to the estimated number of neary 200,000 fighters and civilians killed in the city. However, has it been attempted to actually deliver the 1,000 tonnes of supplies to Warsaw, then with the same loss factors some 2,000 airmen would die-which is about the number lost by the entire Polish Atr Force throughout the war!