the Mk V, and sorties were considerably longer, as the fighter could now reached far into France.

The conversion was done very quickly, and in the middle of the month the 303 resumed operations. On 9 June, shooting down a FW190, F/O Sliwinski scored the unit's 200th victory. Toward the end of June, the unit flew many sorties, often two, three times a day. Scraps with German fighters were sporadic. On the 24th, in a dogfight over Flashing, F/O Kolubinski damaged one FW190, but two Poles were shot down: P/O Karczmarz and P/O Kobylinski became POWs.

July was marked by the change of the command. S/Ldr Falkowski, a BoB veteran, replaced Zygmunt Bienkowski on July 4. Two days later, the squadron led by the Flight "A" CO, F/Lt Majewski andsweeping together with No. 316 Squadron over Amiens, fought a prolonged and interrupted battles with groups of FW190s. The 303 claimed four German fighters without losses. Altogether, in July the unit made 21 operational sorties. August 1943 was even busier. Many "Ramrod" missions were flown. On several occasions, Poles also escorted American B-17s. On August 17, while escorting some 60 B-17s, the 303 led by F/Lt Arct surprised a group of FW190s sending down four of them without losses, with F/Sgt Chudek scoring twice.

Escorting the Fortresses sometimes meant air-sea rescue. John Keema recalls: "On August 24, 1943 a flight of fighters from the 303 and 316 squadrons came to our assistance as we were trying to return to base from a bombing mission over France. Our B-17 had