No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron

No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron
303 Squadron Honour Badge Design
Active	2 August 1940 – 11 December 1946
Country	Poland
Allegiance	Polish government in exile  United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force
Role	Fighter Squadron
Part of	RAF Fighter Command
Nickname(s)	"Rafałki"
Scarf colour	Scarlet
Anniversaries	1 September Squadron holiday
Battle honours	Battle of Britain 1940, Fortress Europe 1941-1944, France and Germany 1944-1945
Commanders
Notable commanders	R. G. Kellett Zdzisław Krasnodębski Witold Urbanowicz Jan Zumbach Witold Łokuciewski
Insignia
Squadron Codes	RF (Aug 1940 – Apr 1945) PD (Apr 1945 – Dec 1946)
Aircraft flown
Fighter	Hawker Hurricane Supermarine Spitfire Mustang IV

No. 303 ("Kościuszko") Polish Fighter Squadron (Polish: 303 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki") was one of 16 Polish squadrons in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. It was not just the highest scoring of the Hurricane squadrons during the Battle of Britain, but it had the highest ratio of enemy aircraft destroyed to their own lost (safest).

The squadron was named after the Polish and United States hero General Tadeusz Kościuszko, and the eponymous Polish 7th Air Escadrille founded by Merian C. Cooper, that served Poland in the 1919–1921 Polish-Soviet War. No. 303 was formed in July 1940 in Blackpool, England before deployment to RAF Northolt on 2 August as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom. It had a distinguished combat record and was disbanded in December 1946.

No. 303 (Polish) Squadron was from 2 August 1940 based at RAF Northolt, and became operational on 31 August. Its initial cadre was 13 Officer and 8 NCO pilots and 135 Polish ground staff. At the outset, serving RAF officers were appointed to serve as CO (S/L RG Kellett) and Flight Commanders (F/L JA Kent and F/L AS Forbes) alongside the Poles, as the Polish pilots were unfamiliar with RAF Fighter Command language, procedures and training.