Penicillin for Poland
23.11.2020
On November 19, 2020, at the Our Lady of the Airways Chapel of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Uplands, South of Ottawa, Polish Ambassador to Canada Andrzej Kurnicki, Deputy Head of Mission Krzysztof Lewandowski and Cmdr Krzysztof Książek, Defence Attaché, laid the wreath at a plaque marking what the Canadian Air Force did for Poland back in 1945 and remembering the Canadians that lost their lives doing it.
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At the end of the war, Poland was in economic ruins but it was not yet ruled by the Soviets, so Canada took the opportunity to deliver humanitarian help to the country in the form of penicillin-greatly helping the thousands of sick Poles in the country.
In October and November of 1945, the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) No. 168 Heavy Transport Squadron at Rockcliff (sic) base in Ottawa, was given the task of delivering the medicine. On its first mission, the RCAF's Flying Fortress No. 9202 flew nearly 2,500 kgs (5,500 lbs) of penicillin provided by the Canadian Red Cross to Scotland, where it waited for the green light to fly into Poland. When permission was obtained the RCAF flew the medicine into Warsaw, Poland's capital.
Regrettably, the second time No. 9202 flew the Poland-bound penicillin, the aircraft struck trees near Halle, Germany, crashing and killing all five RCAF members on board. But that didn't stop the RCAF's humanitarian mission to Poland. Flying Fortress 9205 took over the task and delivered more of the much-needed medication. Ultimately, the RCAF managed to deliver five tons of penicillin to Poland, received by the Polish Red Cross and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Organization. These were the only humanitarian flights the RCAF would be able to make into the Soviet Bloc until after the Cold War.
During the World War II the RCAF reached its peak strength of 215,000 in January 1944. By the end of the war the RCAF would be the fourth largest Allied air force. Approximately 13,000 RCAF personnel were killed while on operations or died as prisoners of war. Another 4000 died during training or from other causes.
A video about brave Canadian Airman who lost their lives delivering a life saving penicillin for Poland just after the WW2: