Squadron 303 Signed in Polish Can anyone translate?

[Mary Marchione]

I have this book, and it is signed, but I do not know Polish. Can you tell me what it says, and who is it signed by? Thank you!

[cichociemny]

'Milosc zada ofiary' Wilno 1940, those words are embroided on the Polish Air Force colour which were made in occupied Poland in 1940.
It means 'Love demands Sacrifice'.

Cant tell out the surname...

[StefanM]

'Milosc zada ofiary' Wilno 1940, those words are embroided on the Polish Air Force colours which were made in occupied Poland in 1940.
It means 'Love demands victim'.

Cant tell out the surname...

Hi cichociemny, forgive me but I think it is better translated as " Love demands Sacrifice"



The Polish Air Force colour

Technically this type of forces regimental flag is referred to as a "colour" rather than "colours".

‘Colour’ is the military term for an identifying flag or pennant and is the emblem that represents the ‘soul’ of a unit, especially its battle honours. The pride in the unit Colour was such that, if it was captured by the enemy, the unit would often be disbanded. For example, in order to prevent the Colour of the Polish 4th Armoured Battalion (4 Batalionu Pancernego) from falling into German hands following the surrender of Warsaw in September 1939, the unit’s Colour was ceremoniously burned at Mokotów Field. The battalion’s Colour was not officially reinstated until October 1967 by veterans of its successor regiment, which remained in Great Britain after World War II.

Because the PAF Colour was originally intended to fly in France, on its reverse the medallion features St. Theresa of Lisieux. In the upper right-hand corner appears the red and white chessboard of the Polish Air Force; the other corners display flying badges and the crest of the Polish Air Force College at Dęblin. The choice of a French saint for the reverse of the medallion proved premature because by the time the Colour was finished in June 1940, France had fallen to the Germans, and the Polish Air Force was forced into trying to escape the Germans once again, this time their flight was to Great Britain.

Getting the Colour to the Polish Air Force that had reformed in Great Britain was made possible only because the Japanese consul in Lithuania arranged to smuggle the PAF Colour out of Wilno, via Berlin, to neutral Stockholm in the diplomatic luggage of one of his couriers. From Stockholm, the Colour eventually reached London in March 1941.

The contacts between Polish military intelligence and the Japanese in WWII is a very interesting and little known aspect of WWII