Mascot of the Month: Wilfred & Pipsqueak – 249 Squadron

Polish fighter ace Michał Maciejowski poses with one of 249 Squadron’s mascots: a goose. While dogs and cats were the most common mascots in military units, they were by no means the only animals adopted to help lighten and build morale amidst the strains of battle and the constant risk of death.

During the Battle of Britain, Maciejowski flew with 249 Squadron, which was a British squadron. More than 70 Polish fighter pilots took to the skies in British squadrons during that battle, in addition to those who flew with the all-Polish 302 or 303 Squadrons.

Overall, the Poles were the largest contingent of non-British Commonwealth pilots who flew in defense of Britain during that desperate summer of 1940. Polish pilots outnumbered French pilots by more than 10 to 1, and were almost twice as numerous as the next largest contingent, which were the Czechs.

The 249 Squadron mascots — a dog and the goose — were named after characters in a popular British comic strip “Pip, Squeak and Wilfred,” which chronicled the adventures of an orphaned family of animals. The 249 Squadron goose was named Wilfred, while the dog was named Pipsqueak.

Because their British colleagues often found Polish names unpronounceable, many Polish pilots who flew in British units were dubbed by their squadron mates with English “handles” — to his British mates, Maciejowski was variously known as Michael “Mickey” Manson and “Mickey Mouse.”

Maciejowski racked up a score of 9.5 enemy kills, 1 probable and 1 damaged during World War II. After the Battle of Britain, he was transferred to Polish squadrons and flew with 317, 316 and 309 Squadrons. In August 1943, Maciejowski ended up in a German POW camp after bailing out over France when his plane was damaged in a mid-air collision during a mission. After the war, he returned to Britain and eventually emigrated to Canada rather than repatriate to a postwar communist Poland.

Maciejowski was awarded the Polish Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari, the Polish Cross of Valor (three times), the British Distinguished Flying Medal and British Distinguished Flying Cross.