Polish discipline
Sir: In his review of my book The Forgotten Few (13 May), George Pownall states that I fail to support my dismissal of the 'dash and indiscipline' view of the Polish airmen with any figures. On page 92 he can read that 303 Polish squadron, which achieved the highest daily and monthly scores of any in the Battle of Britain, downed three times the average RAF score and incurred one- third the average casualties. On page 122, he can read that the five Polish squadrons taking part in the Dieppe raid represented less than 5 per cent of the Allied air contin- gent, but accounted for 18 per cent of the German planes downed, and suffered only 4 per cent of the Allied casualties. There is plenty more in similar vein to support the view, held by most RAF personnel with any first-hand experience, that the Poles were extremely disciplined in the air and very careful of lives and equipment. It was these qualities that made the far from effusive Dowding assert that without the presence of the Poles the outcome of the battle might have been very different.
It is surely a touch churlish of Mr Pow- nall to accuse the Polish airmen of 'ingrati- tude' — it was his country they helped to save, not he theirs.
Adam Zamoyski
33 Enismore Gardens, London SW7
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