13. The British and eventually the Americans provided limited support via airdrops
Throughout the Second World War British and later American air forces supported the resistance groups throughout Europe with airdrops of supplies, weapons, and specially trained agents to work with the resistance to further the goals of the allies. As it became evident that the Red Army was not moving to the aid of the fighters in Warsaw, RAF aircraft were forced to drop supplies to the Polish fighters from long-range aircraft operating out of bases in Italy or Great Britain. The distances of the flights limited the amount of supplies which could be delivered, and the British government made a formal request to use Soviet held airbases to refuel flights bound for Warsaw, and other areas of Poland where the resistance was fighting the German Army. Stalin refused, citing the resistance fighters as enemies of the Soviet Union.
Stalin continued to deny the use of the Soviet bases throughout August and into late September. On several occasions when USAAF and RAF airplanes strayed into Soviet airspace, Red Army anti-aircraft guns fired upon them. Not until September 18 did the Soviets give permission for American B-17s to use bases in Soviet held territory to refuel while on missions to resupply the Poles. By then the areas where the supplies could be dropped were greatly reduced and most of the materiel, though well-intended, never reached the hands of the Poles, much of it going to the Red Army and the Polish units under the control of the Red Army instead. Much of it went to the Germans as well, according to frontline Soviet commanders.
