303 Squadron by Arkady Fiedler
The summer of 1940 and the Battle of Britain--the darkest days of World War I. France, Poland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Norway had all been crushed by the powerful Nazi German war machine. Great Britain stood alone, fighting for its life. 303 Squadron is the thrilling story of the celebrated squadron of Polish fighter pilots whose superb skill in the air helped save England during its most desperate hours. They were the highest-scoring Allied fighter squadron in the Battle of Britain, downing three times the average RAF score while incurring only one-third the average casualties. Dashing and gallant 303 Squadron was lionized by the British press, congratulated by the King, and adored by the British public. With an immediacy that vividly brings to life those harrowing days, Fiedler paints the bravery, the poignancy, the breathtaking gambles with death risked daily by this exceptional group of young men far from home, who fought to preserve freedom for all. Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of the battle would have been the same. -- British Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding Translated from the Polish; identifies the pilots by their real names for the first time in English. Nearly 200 black & white photos, maps and illustrations; contextualizing historical material; nine appendices. Selection of the History Book Club and the Military Book Club. Winner: GOLD Award for History, 2011 Benjamin Franklin Awards SILVER Award for Interior Design, 2011 Benjamin Franklin Awards Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE
Thrilling action story of the famous squadron of Polish fighter pilots whose superb aerial combat skills helped save Britain during the most desperate days of WWIIUnderdog heroes who rose to defend against the deadliest German Luftwaffe attacks, the pilots of 303 Squadron were lionized by the British press, congratulated by the King, and adored by the British public. Wonderful account. -- Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud, authors of A Question of Honor
Pilecki, Captain Witold (pronounced VEE-told pee-LETS-kee) Captain Witold Pilecki (1901-1948), a cavalry officer in the Polish Army, was one of the founders of a resistance organization in German-occupied Poland during World War II that quickly evolved into the Polish Underground Army. Pilecki is the only man known to have volunteered to get himself arrested and sent to Auschwitz as a prisoner. His secret undercover mission for the Polish Underground: smuggle out intelligence about this new German concentration camp, and build a resistance organization among the inmates with the ultimate goal of liberating the camp. Barely surviving nearly three years of starvation, disease and brutality, Pilecki accomplished his mission before escaping in April 1943. Soon after his escape, Pilecki wrote two relatively brief reports for his Polish Army superiors about his time in Auschwitz. In 1945 he wrote his most comprehensive report of more than one hundred single-spaced typed foolscap pages--it is this last, most comprehensive, report which Aquila Polonica is publishing in English for the first time. Pilecki continued his work in the High Command of the Polish Underground Army, fought in the Warsaw Uprising (August-October 1944), was taken prisoner by the Germans, and ended the war in a German POW camp. In late 1945, Pilecki, who was married and the father of two children, volunteered to return undercover to Poland where conditions were chaotic at war's end as the communists were asserting control. His mission this time: liaise with anti-communist resistance organizations and report back on conditions within the country. He was captured by the postwar Polish communist regime, tortured and executed in 1948 as a traitor and a Western spy. Pilecki's name was erased from Polish history until the collapse of communism in 1989. Pilecki was fully exonerated posthumously in the 1990s. Today he is regarded as one of Poland's heroes. Translator Bio Garlinski, Jarek Translator Jarek Garlinski was born in London, England, and grew up bilingual in English and Polish. His father was noted historian and author Jozef Garlinski, a former prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau. His mother Eileen Short-Garlinska was one of only a few Britons who spent World War II in Warsaw. Both parents served in the Polish Underground Army during the war. Educated at the University of Nottingham, the University of Grenoble, and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at the University of London, Garlinski is fluent in English, French, Polish and Russian, with a distinguished career in education. Garlinski is a member of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America and has been decorated by the Polish Ministry of Defense and the Knights of Malta for services to Polish culture. He has translated numerous books of Polish literature and history, specializing in the World War II era.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781607720058 |
| ISBN 10 | 1607720051 |
| Title | 303 Squadron |
| Author | Arkady Fiedler |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Aquila Polonica Publishing |
| Year published | 2010-11-16 |
| Number of pages | 304 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |