Key Facts
- Duration
- 4 August – 28 September 1944
- Total supplies dropped
- 370 tons
- Supplies lost to Germans
- At least 50% of dropped cargo
- Aircraft lost
- 41
- Airmen lost
- ~360
- US B-17s on single USAAF mission
- 107
Strategic Narrative Overview
Polish, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, and South African airmen flew dangerous night sorties from Celone and Brindisi in Italy at low altitude without fighter escort. On 18 September 1944, 107 USAAF B-17s conducted a single high-altitude daylight drop from Britain, landing afterward at Poltava in Soviet Ukraine. From 13 September, Soviet aircraft also flew limited supply drops, delivering roughly 130 tons, though initial loads were dropped without parachutes and largely destroyed on impact.
01 / The Origins
During the Second World War, the Polish Home Army (AK) launched the Warsaw Uprising on 1 August 1944 against Nazi German occupation, expecting support from advancing Soviet forces. When Soviet troops halted outside Warsaw and refused to aid the insurgents, the Western Allies organised an airlift from bases in Italy and Britain to resupply the besieged fighters, despite the Soviet Union denying flyover rights and firing on aircraft that entered Soviet airspace.
03 / The Outcome
The airlift failed to deliver adequate supplies; at least half the 370 tons dropped fell into German hands. Nazi forces crushed the uprising on 2 October 1944. The operation cost approximately 360 airmen and 41 aircraft. Soviet obstruction, which forced extended-range flights that reduced payload and sortie frequency, was a primary factor in the mission's inability to sustain the Polish resistance.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.