Author: Arkady Fiedler (1894–1985)

The book is dedicated to the first period of combat operations of the 303 Fighter Squadron, part of RAF Fighter Command, whose pilots and ground personnel were Polish airmen. It was written during the final weeks of the Battle of Britain in 1940 and in the weeks immediately afterward. The first edition of the book was published in 1942 in the United Kingdom.

Edition: “Pilot Memoirs”
Language: Serbian (Latin script)
Illustrations: 185 black-and-white photographs, 5 illustrations, 3 maps, 1 facsimile
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 367
Year of publication: 2025

During those famous days of the Polish airmen stationed at the RAF base RAF Northolt (in the western London suburb of the same name), there was a witness to their daily wartime actions: Polish journalist and writer Arkady Fiedler (1894–1985). Thanks to him—who gathered every piece of information, even the smallest details, about the combat missions of his compatriots in the skies over southern, eastern, and southeastern England; who had access to the squadron diary (kept daily by pilot Mirosław Ferić, born in Travnik in 1915); and who came to know each of these aerial heroes and their ground support crews intimately—we are today able to speak about this famous book, which was created during those very days and shaped into literary form by the end of 1940 in the Polish language.

Arkady Fiedler simply titled his book Dywizjon 303, preparing it for printing and distribution not only in the United Kingdom but also, during the war years, in his then-occupied homeland. In August 1942, an English-language version was published in the UK and sold over 1.5 million copies. A specific feature of the original text was that all Polish airmen were referred to by their nicknames rather than their real names and surnames, so that their families under German occupation would not be exposed to persecution or destruction.

The purpose of distributing the book (including copies dropped by parachute over occupied Polish territory in 1943) was to inform the Polish population about the feats of their compatriots, who continued the fight against fascism as part of the Free Government of the Republic of Poland in exile, based in Great Britain.