Eskadra Lotnicza) or "Kościuszko Squadron", as it was better known, which was one of the most active units of the Polish Air Force during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921.

Author Arkady Fiedler was a bestselling travel writer researching in Tahiti when World War II began.

Arkady Fiedler began writing 303 Squadron “live” during the Battle of Britain, spending time with the Polish pilots and ground crew of No.

The account of the successes of their fighter pilots, fighting in distant lands for freedom, boosted morale in the beleaguered country.

The book inspired soldier-poet Czesław ‘Czechura’ Kałkusiński, serving with a forest partisan unit of the AK (Armia Krajowa) in the Częstochowa region, to write a poem entitled “303 Squadron” which was set to music by his fellow soldier Henryk ‘Garda’ Fajt, and soon found its way to London via the Polish Underground where it was played over the BBC and heard by Polish airmen serving in Great Britain.

In connection with the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in 2010, a new English translation was commissioned by publisher Aquila Polonica at the request of Fiedler's son.

[6] Writing in The Atlantic about forgotten pieces of World War II history, such as the story of 303 Squadron, Sanjay Saigal asked, "shouldn't cultural literacy include knowing about Polish heroism in the defense of Britain?