British National Party chairman Nick Griffin speaks at a fundraiser with thecampaign poster featuring the Polish squadron plane in the background
Its poster for the European elections, for which its manifesto includes a ban on Eastern European migrant workers, shows the Second World War plane above the slogan ‘Battle for Britain’. But Air Force history experts have identified that the aircraft was actually flown by the RAF’s 303 Squadron – made up of expatriate Poles rescued from France shortly before Nazi occupation.
BNP party chiefs defended their use of the image and insisted they knew all about
the background. But John Hemming, MP for Yardley, Birmingham, ridiculed this claim. He also condemned the far-Right party for using the image of Polish heroism in a campaign that includes stemming immigration from Poland.
He said: ‘The BNP often get confused and this happens because they haven’t done their research. This is just another example of them getting it wrong. They have a policy to send Polish people back to Poland – yet they are fronting their latest campaign using this plane. It is absurd to make claims about Englishness and Britishness fronted by this image. It’s obvious they just picked an image at random and they are really clutching at straws if they say this was deliberate.’
The 303 Squadron was the most effective Polish squadron during the Second World War. During the Battle of Britain Polish pilots shot down 203 Luftwaffe aircraft which stood for 12 per cent of total German losses in the battle.
A Royal Air Force museum spokesman said: ‘The Spitfire in the poster can be identified as belonging to 303 Squadron of the Polish Air Force by the code letters ‘RF’ painted in front of the RAF roundel. 303 Squadron operated Spitfires from Northolt, Kirton- in-Lindsey, Coltishall and other RAF stations in the UK between 1941 and 1945 after flying Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain.’
BNP spokesman Simon Darby said: ‘The 2009 election campaign poster features a spitfire plane and represents the Battle of Britain. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Polish squadron plane at all. It’s a symbol of Britain’s struggle at the moment. Using that plane doesn’t go against our policies. It’s not a question of disliking the Polish people – it’s just a question of economics.’
The poster is being used by the BNP to promote its election campaign in general and specifically a series of black tie dinner events with leader Nick Griffin as the speaker. In 1998 he was found guilty of inciting race hatred at Harrow Crown Court for denying that the Holocaust took place.
The campaign has already seen the threat of legal action from Dame Vera Lynn over their use of her song White Cliffs of Dover on a BNP album of Second World War songs.
Daily Mail
25 comments:
"BNP use POLISH plane in campaign poster despite plans to ban East European migrants"
The more I read about the BNP the more I wonder if it's just a huge joke that I just haven't got yet. Are they really that inept?
Are they really that inept?
Yes!
Oh dear. Poor old Porky Griffin just can't get anything right can he.
This story has also been picked up by the Mirror and the Daily Telegraph.
History is being rewritten as we speak. An item has appeared on the main BNP page thts suddenly a tribute to all Poles.
"BNP Loves Europe, Hates the EU, Says Nick Griffin in Tribute to Polish Spitfire Pilots
The British National Party loves Europe but hates the EU, said Nick Griffin in a special tribute message to the Polish Spitfire pilots who served in the Royal Air Force during World War II.
“We have deliberately used a Spitfire from the RAF No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron as our backdrop in the ‘Battle of Britain’ road show for the European elections,” Mr Griffin said..."
"History is being rewritten as we speak. "
Sure is cos 303 squadron did not fly Spits in the Battle of Britain, they piloted HURRICANES - as the RAF museum spokesperson makes abundantly clear in the Mail's article
Hang on though, that photo does make the BNP look very professional, certainly its a lot better than the usual motley gaggle of flag wavers mormally associated with that party, and its being splashed all over the papers and internet
"Hang on though, that photo does make the BNP look very professional"
Not a lot of point if the article is pointing out what a bunch of dicks they are. All surface, no depth.
hang about a sec, as many seem hung up on 100% accuracy and since the Mail article mentions Vera Lynnes song White Cliffs of Dover does anyone know what "Bluebirds" are? Apparently they are a species restricted to the Americas so the chances of them ever flying over the cliffs of Dover, as Dame Vera sings, are pretty remote.
"This story has also been picked up by the Mirror and the Daily Telegraph."
and the register
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/04/polish_spitfire/
"Hang on though, that photo does make the BNP look very professional"
Not a lot of point if the article is pointing out what a bunch of dicks they are. All surface, no depth."
C yr point but style over substance didnt do New Labour much harm. Appearnce sells
I see 95% of comments on the Mail article using the same argument.
Researchers identified this style of argument as a favourite of Griffin's.
He uses what the researchers describe as a "show concession" - making an apparent admission (e.g. "yes, we're politically-incorrect") before invoking a morally superior motive (e.g. "but at least we're telling the truth").
In this case the "show concession" strategy is
1. "Yes, we know the pilot of this type of Spitfire was Polish" (false concession)
2. "But the aircraft was British-made!" (triumphant 'morally superior' non sequitor)
The trouble is that too many of us see through these tired techniques now.
In the Indie too.
The BNP and their Polish Spitfire
Posted by Jerome Taylor
Wednesday, 4 March 2009 at 11:51 am
Tremendous and highly amusing bit of backpeddling from the BNP over their Polish Spitfire ad.
This week the BNP unveiled a new poster to front its upcoming campaign for the European elections.
Despite being bitterly opposed to the current EU, the BNP desperately wants to get an MEP elected this summer because it will unlock a shedload of funding and earn the far-right party a veneer of respectability.
The poster showed a nostalgic, sepia toned picture of a Spitfire - the small but nippy fighter that helped turn the tide against the German Luftwaffe during WW2 - above the headline "Battle for Britain".
The BNP's manifesto for the European elections favours banning Eastern European migrant workers and in recent local elections the party has campaigned from a strong anti-immigrant platform.
Yet a closer inspection of the poster reveals that the Spitfire was in fact flown by Polish pilots during Battle of Britain.
RAF historians have pointed out that the "RF" in front of the RAF roundel meant this particular Spitfire belonged to 303 Squadron - the astonishingly brave regiment of Polish fighter pilots who were rescued from France and battled the Nazis over the skies of England.
Polish fighter pilots were renowned for their bravery, suffering some of the heaviest casualties, but also shooting down scores of German planes. Poles accounted for just 5% of the 2,927 pilots involved in the Battle of Britain but were responsible for 12% of all the Luftwaffe's losses. 30 were killed in action.
An article on the BNP's own website - "BNP Loves Europe, Hates the EU" - claims that party chariman Nick Griffin(pictured above in a tux) knew all along that the plane was flown by Polish pilots.
"We have deliberately used a Spitfire from the RAF No. 303 Polish Fighter Squardon as our backdrop in the 'Battle of Britain' road show for the European elections," he said.
But John Hemming, MP for Yardley, Birmingham, ridiculed this claim. "The BNP often get confused and this happens because they haven't done thier research," he said. "This is just another example of them getting it wrong."
And another great article from the Torygraph
I'd back the Poles against the BNP every time
Posted By: George Pitcher at Mar 4, 2009 at 17:23:22 [General]
Posted in: UK Correspondents , Politics , Religion , Financial Crisis
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303 Squadron, Battle of Britain, BNP, ethnic cleansing, Muslims, poland
When it comes to the British National Party, you really couldn't make it up. I've been involved in sprightly online debate with its sympathisers for writing here that the economic crisis is in danger of turning the European Muslims of the Noughties into the Jews of the Thirties.
According to my detractors, that nice Mr Raja and his daughters at the newsagent are bent of the destruction of civilisation as we know it, all Muslims are plotting world takeover and we're blind if we don't see the dangers of immigration, la la la la la la....
One of the recurrent themes from these hysterics is that I haven't done my research. Now it transpires that the BNP has used a picture of a Battle of Britain pilot and his plane to evoke the great days of Great Britain that we have apparently squandered by allowing in foreigners.
Trouble is, the pilot is Polish and the markings are from the 303 Squadron of fighters which comprised emigre Poles who had retreated from the Nazi occupation of Poland and France.
While it is skin colour that principally occupies the restricted minds of the BNP, they do of course want Polish workers barred as part of their proposed ethnic cleansing of the UK. The Poles of WWII could tell them a thing or two about ethnic cleansing.
In the greatest fight for freedom of the 20th century, against the kind of dark doctrines that the BNP today espouses, the Poles not only distinguished themselves in the Battle of Britain, but rode mounted cavalry against Nazi tanks. Respect.
Hmm. Poles or BNP members? I know who I'd want in my trench.
NWN has this interesting little comment
"3 or 4 years back Griffin went to a Polish war cemetery, stood in front of a Hurricane and on a video constantly referred to it as a Spitfire. This was never corrected not even in the accompanying article to the video on the main web site.
Both griffin and Collett are prats."
Can't argue with that.
“We have deliberately used a Spitfire from the RAF No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron as our backdrop in the ‘Battle of Britain’ road show for the European elections,” Mr Griffin said..."
Of course.
Even 5imon Darby's Army Of Trolls can't hide the truth with his legion of BNP members posing as independent members of the public.
I hope Lancaster Unity can do a special article about internet newspaper website trolls in the run-up to the Euro elections, warning newspaper editors to be extremely cautious of newspaper comments sections regarding stories related to the BNP.
So many newspapers online don't check IP Addresses for multiple identities, meaning the likes of Collett can post using dozens of fake IDs (or sockpuppets) as they are known, to convince niave readers that the BNP has far more public support than they actually have!
Almost every UK online newspaper is plagued by dozens of trolling BNP sockpuppets, pretending to be ordinary members of the public, when in fact they are the fictional multiple personalities of the likes of Collette!
anonymous @ 12.30: It's an american song.
From wikipedia: The White Cliffs of Dover" is one of many popular songs that use a "Bluebird of Happiness" as a symbol of cheer.
It looks like a British plane to me lol.
Funny though, after the Polish fought for us, we shit all over them and handed them to the communist dictatorship. Out of the frying pan into the fire come to mind.
The funniest thing is that whoever made this poster used a 3d model of a plane made by a Pole, and used it without concession - in other words stole it.
Re: sockpuppets
Could any spikes in activity not be posted up somewhere and a similarly sized spike in reporting unsuitable comments be made?
"its an american song" Green Gordon....
Where are the white cliffs of dover?
Also in another Dame Vera song, There'll always be an England" she sings "the red, white and blue", those are not Englands colours they are the colours of Britain, so another mistake
Do you think the BNP may have a fetish for Poles?
They use a Spitfire from 303 Polish Squadron
They base their Solidarity logo on the old Solidarnosc one
Marl Collett, allegedly, likes clubs where dancing is done round Poles
And Richard Barnbrook just loves Poles
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