25 August 2025

To serve in foreign skies: Remembering the international pilots of the Battle of Britain

While we rightly remember the British pilots of the Battle of Britain, did you know nearly a sixth came from overseas? Here, we salute the international pilots of this important air war.

Non-Commonwealth pilots of the Battle of Britain

Airmen from around the world

Image: Polish pilots of 303 Squadron (IWM (CH 1535))

Around 2,900 airmen were awarded the Battle of Britain clasp for having flown at least one sortie for RAF Fighter Command during this most decisive of aerial campaigns.

While over 2,300 were British, 600 or so men came to serve from outside the UK – and not just from the British Empire.

Although hundreds of airmen came from British-held territories, like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe), those outside the Empire also heeded the call.

According to the Battle of Britain Monument, airmen came from the following countries:

Poland - 145
New Zealand – 127
Canada - 88
Czechoslovakia - 88
Australia – 32
Belgium – 28
South Africa – 25
France – 13
Ireland – 10
United States – 9
Rhodesia – 3
Barbados – 1
Jamaica – 1
Newfoundland - 1

To fly and die in foreign skies

Sergeant Bohumil Furst of No. 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron stands on the wing of his Hurricane with the squadron mascot, Duxford, 7 September 1940.

Image: Sergeant Bohumil Furst of No. 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron with the squadron mascot at Duxford, September 1940 (IWM (CH 1296))

Of the 2,900 or so airmen of the Battle of Britain, over 540 lost their lives during the battle itself, and a further 795 lost their lives before the end of the war.

So, what drove young men to give up their lives, sometimes thousands of miles away in then-peaceful environments, to risk it all in deadly plane-to-plane combat in the skies of southern England?

Motivation changes on a case-by-case basis, but some of the most common reasons for Battle of Britain service include:

To defeat Fascism
To continue the fight after their homelands’ occupation
Solidarity with Britain
Personal connections to Britain
A sense of adventure and opportunity

In the case of pilots from Czechoslovakia, Poland, France, and Belgium, they had been offered a new chance to fight.

By the summer of 1940, these countries had fallen under the Nazi military onslaught. Subsequently, hundreds of trained pilots fleeing their homelands volunteered for service in the Royal Air Force for another opportunity to combat the Nazi war machine, such as Plutonowy Josek Frantizek and Prucznik Boleslaw Wlasnowoski.

Otherwise, motivation could be much more personal. Take American Billy Fiske, for example.

Fiske, the son of a wealthy New York banker, studied at Cambridge University and married an Englishwoman, Rose Bingham, Countess of Warwick, in 1938, creating an enduring personal relationship with the UK.

Billy was the first American to volunteer in the RAF in the Second World War. He explained his motivation in a letter to his sister, Peggy, shortly after signing up in 1939:

“The English…have been damn good to me in good times, so naturally I feel I ought to try and help out in bad if I can. There are absolutely no heroics in my motives, I’m probably twice as scared as the next man, but if anything happens to me, I at least can feel I have done the right thing in spit of the worry to my family – which I certainly couldn’t feel if I was to sit in New York making dough.”

Indeed, the personal and the political merged when it came to motivation. The pilots from British territories and Dominions saw this very much as their fight; after all, if Nazi Germany were to prevail and take hold of Britain’s possessions, wouldn’t that include its Empire? Better to defeat Hitler in Europe.

Several international air training schools and programmes had been established in the early part of the war to train and supply air forces around the British Empire, regardless of country of origin. It’s likely some of these men served in the Battle of Britain.

Others feared Nazi expansion, such as Irish and American pilots. Who was to say Hitler would have ended his conquests in Britain?

Commemorating the Fallen of the Battle of Britain

Runnymede Air Forces Memorial

Image: Runnymede Air Forces Memorial

On a clear summer day, if you stand at the top of the tower at Runnymede Air Forces Memorial, on Coopers Hill in Surrey, you’ll have views stretching from the lush greenery and the river Thames, towards London and Heathrow airport.

The war memorial itself commemorates men and women who served in the RAF across the Second World War, bearing the names of those who went to war and never returned.

As well as the UK, airmen from across the Commonwealth are commemorated by name on Runnymede’s wall panels. Artwork representing each of the six Commonwealth nations adorns the memorial, reinforcing how crushing fascism was a huge, multinational undertaking.

Runnymede Air Forces Memorial

The war memorial itself commemorates men and women who served in the RAF across the Second World War, bearing the names of those who went to war and never returned.

As well as the UK, airmen from across the Commonwealth are commemorated by name on Runnymede’s wall panels. Artwork representing each of the six Commonwealth nations adorns the memorial, reinforcing how crushing fascism was a huge, multinational undertaking.

The Battle of Britain Memorial

The Battle of Britain Memorial can be found in Folkestone, Kent. Run by the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, the memorial rests atop a cliff edge overlooking the English Channel and with a panoramic view of the skies once filled with Spitfires and Hurricanes.

At the memorial is a wall that lists every airman to have flown at least one sortie during the Battle of Britain, as well as The Scramble Experience, which uses audio-visual effects to give a taste of what the pilots of the Battle of Britain would have experienced.

RAF Chapel at Westminster Abbey

At Westminster Abbey, you’ll find the RAF Chapel and stained-glass Battle of Britain Memorial Window. Unveiled in 1947, the memorial window is designed to pay tribute to those who flew in the Battle of Britain as well as the ground crew and other support staff who contributed to the victory.

It includes the flags of the nations represented during the battle, as well as the badge of the Fleet Air Arm and the RAF crest and motto: “Per Ardua ad Astra”.

Also situated in Westminster Abbey is the Battle of Britain Roll of Honour, which contains the names of 1,497 pilots and aircrew killed or mortally wounded during the Battle.

International Battle of Britain airmen stories

Pilot Officer William Lindsley Fiske

Image: Pilot Officer Billy Fiske

Mentioned earlier, William “Billy” Fiske was one of a small handful of Americans who defied their country’s neutral stance to fly in the Battle of Britain.

One of his friend’s nicknames for Billy was “The King of Speed”, and he certainly showed his affinity for all things fast in his pre-war life.

In 1928, a 16-year-old Billy led the US bobsleigh team to Gold at the 1928 Swiss Winter Olympics. He led his team again in 1932 but avoided the 1936 German games for his objections to the Nazi regime.

Billy had studied at Cambridge in his youth and had an affinity for England. Following his studies, Billy took up banking for Dillon, Reed and Co., transferring to their London office.

Fiske also learnt to fly in England, earning his pilot’s certificate from the Airwork School of Flying in August 1938.

Billy was recalled to New York in 1939 with tensions rising in Europe. One of Billy’s English friends, William Clyde, anticipated being called up and so returned to his homeland. Billy went with him.

Passing himself off as Canadian and risking severe penalties should the US government charge him with “fighting for a foreign power”, Billy enlisted in the RAF. Following a period of training, he was commissioned as Acting Pilot Officer on 12 April 1940.

Billy joined his William Clyde’s unit, 601 Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force, in July. 601 Squadron historically recruited from the young, affluent members of London’s Whites Club in St. James, of which Billy was a member, earning them the nickname “The Millionaires Squadron”.

601 Squadron was scrambled into action during the long summer days of the Battle of Britain. Billy had just eleven hours of flight time at the controls of the squadron’s Hurricane fighters before making his first operational sortie on 20 July 1940.

On 16 August, 601 Squadron was scrambled to intercept a formation of Ju87 Stukas heading for 601's base at Tangmere. Individual combats broke out as the Stukas dropped their bombs and headed out to sea over Pagham harbour.

During the engagement, Billy’s Hurricane P3358 was hit, and though its engine had stopped, he was able to glide over the airfield boundary and make a wheels-up landing. The aircraft immediately burst into flames.

Two ground crew, Corporal GW Jones and AC2 CG Faulkner, drove an ambulance over to the aircraft, unstrapped Billy and lifted him out, extinguishing a fire in his lower clothing before placing him on a stretcher and driving to the medical building, which had received a direct hit and was extensively damaged.

Billy was given morphine and taken to nearby Chichester Hospital, where he died of his injuries the next day, aged 29.

Billy’s funeral took place on 20 August 1940 at Boxgrove Priory Church, close to Tangmere, his coffin covered in a Union flag and the Stars and Stripes. He was the first American citizen pilot killed in action in World War Two.

Porucznik Boleslaw Andrzej Wlasnowolski

Image: Porucznik Boleslaw Wlasnowolski

Boleslaw Wlasnowolski was born on 29 November 1916 in Krakow, Poland. Destined for a military career, he joined the army as a cadet before being posted to the 82nd Infantry Regiment.

Seemingly searching for a career outside of the infantry and into the skies, Boleslaw transferred to the Reserve Air Force Cadet School in 1937. He completed basic training by September and then, after tackling more advanced flying, joined 122 Squadron, Polish Air Force, in June 1939.

A few short months later, in September, Poland was changed forever when the Nazi war machine crossed the border, kick-starting the largest conflict the world has ever seen.

The Luftwaffe was technologically and numerically superior to the Polish aircraft, but its pilots still fought valiantly in the skies to stem the Nazi onslaught.

On September 2, piloting an obsolete PZL P.11 fighter, Boleslaw engaged and shot down a Junkers Ju88. 122 Squadron saw further action, but Boleslaw claimed no more victories at this time, and the squadron was evacuated to Romania on 17 September.

Like many Poles, Boleslaw made his way to the UK and offered his services to the RAF. After training, he joined 32 Squadron at Biggin Hill in August 1940. It seems he had a busy Battle of Britain as Boleslaw shot down at least five confirmed enemy aircraft between August and September.

Boleslaw survived the Battle of Britain but sadly not the war. On 1st November, in the cockpit of Hurricane V7221, he was shot down by a Messerschmitt Me109. His aircraft crashed down at Liphook Game Farm, Stoughton and killed in the impact.

Today, Boleslaw rests far from his homeland in the country he chose to defend in Chichester Cemetery.

Sergeant Laurie Andrew Woodney Rasmussen

Image: Sergeant Laurie Rasmussen

Laurie Rasmussen was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 10 September 1921, to parents Frederick and Annie. He was educated at Auckland Grammar School.

Laurie’s military career began on terra firma when, in early 1939, he joined the 3rd Auckland Regiment as a territorial soldier.

Come the outbreak of the Second World War, Laurie swapped the parade ground for the clouds when he volunteered for aircrew duties, although it would be some time before he found himself actually airborne.

Laurie first took on aircrew training at the Ground Training School, Weraroa, in December 1939, moving to Air Observers’ School in mid-January 1940 for a Lewis gunner course.

Lawire sailed for the UK on 26 April aboard RMS Rangitiki. He arrived in mid-July when he was posted to 5 OUT Aston Down. After being awarded his air-gunner’s badge, he joined 264 Squadron on 29 August.

264 Squadron flew out of Kirton-in-Lindsey, northern Lincolnshire, operating Bolton Paul Defiant turret fighters.

On 4 September 1940, Laurie took off with pilot Flight Officer DKC O’Malley on an interception patrol. For unclear reasons, the aircraft remained at low altitude until striking the ground near Northrope, some three miles left of the airfield, killing both men.

Laurie was just 18 years old at the time of his death, making him the youngest Kiwi to participate in the Battle of Britain. He is buried in Kirton-in-Lindsey Burial Ground.

Pilot Officer Richard Alexander Howley

Image: Pilot Officer Richard Howley

Richard "Dick" Alexander Howley was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on 16 April 1920 to a long-established family in St. John's, Newfoundland (an independent country until becoming a Canadian province in 1949). His father was stationed at the local naval base on loan from the Royal Navy.

Known to all as Dick, was educated at St. Bonaventure's College in St. John's, Newfoundland and Colebrook School in the UK. He started flying lessons at 17 with the Sir Alan Cobham Flying School at Shoreham, Sussex, and joined the RAF on a six-year short-service commission once he gained his flying licence.

During his flying training, he converted to twin-engine aircraft, flying the Avro Anson and was awarded his wings.

Richard was posted to 141 Squadron on 6 October 1939 as one of its first pilots when it reformed at Turnhouse, Edinburgh. The squadron was equipped with twin-engine Blenheim light bombers and moved at the end of the month to Grangemouth.

His logbook shows an attachment to RAF Stanmore, Middlesex and ferry flights of new Blenheims to Grangemouth. On 10 November 1939 he escaped uninjured from a Blenheim accident at RAF Sealands.

In June 1940 141 Squadron re-equipped with the single-engine Bolton Paul Defiant turret fighter and moved to West Malling, Kent They operated on a daily basis from the forward airfield at Hawkinge.

On the morning of 19 July 1940 Richard was flying Defiant L6995, one of nine Defiants attacked by Me109's of III/JG51 off Dover. He was shot down into the Channel and he and his gunner, Sgt. A G Curley, were reported 'Missing'.

141 Squadron lost six aircraft with nine aircrew killed in this engagement and was withdrawn to Prestwick to regroup.

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