The Polish government-in-exile carried out frantic diplomatic efforts to gain support from the Western Allies prior to the start of battle but the allies would not act without Soviet approval. The Polish government in London asked the British several times to send an allied mission to Poland.
[16] However, the British mission did not arrive until December 1944.
[95] Shortly after their arrival, they met up with Soviet authorities, who arrested and imprisoned them.
[96] In the words of the mission's deputy commander, it was "a complete failure".
[97] Nevertheless, from August 1943 to July 1944, over 200 British
Royal Air Force (RAF) flights dropped an estimated 146 Polish personnel trained in Great Britain, over 4000 containers of supplies, and $16 million in banknotes and gold to the Home Army.
[98]
The Soviet Union did not allow the Western Allies to use its airports for the airdrops[7] for several weeks,[103] so the planes had to use bases in the United Kingdom and Italy which reduced their carrying weight and number of sorties. The Allies' specific request for the use of landing strips made on 20 August was denied by Stalin on 22 August.[99] Stalin referred to the Polish resistance as "a handful of criminals"
[104] and stated that the Uprising was inspired by "enemies of the Soviet Union".
[105] Thus, by denying landing rights to Allied aircraft on Soviet-controlled territory the Soviets vastly limited effectiveness of Allied assistance to the Uprising, and even fired at Allied airplanes which carried supplies from Italy and strayed into Soviet-controlled airspace.[99]