General Information

Author/Creator

Olson, Lynne, 1949-

Language

English.

Published

New York : Knopf, 2003.

Physical Description

xii, 495 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cm.

Contributors

Contributor

Cloud, Stanley, 1936-

Contents/Summary

Summary

Centering on five pilots of the renowned Kosciuszko Squadron, the authors show how the fliers, driven by their passionate desire to liberate their homeland, came to be counted among the most heroic and successful fighter pilots of World War II. Drawing on the Kosciuszko Squadron’s unofficial diary–filled with the fliers’ personal experiences in combat–and on letters, interviews, memoirs, histories, and photographs, the authors bring the men and battles of the squadron vividly to life. We follow the principal characters from their training before the war, through their hair-raising escape from Poland to France and then, after the fall of France, to Britain. We see how, first treated with disdain by the RAF, the Polish pilots played a crucial role during the Battle of Britain, where their daredevil skill in engaging German Messerschmitts in close and deadly combat while protecting the planes in their own groups soon made them legendary. And we learn what happened to them after the war, when their country was abandoned and handed over to the Soviet Union.

Subjects

Subject

Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Squadron (Polish), 303rd > History.

Air pilots, Military > Poland > History > 20th century.

World War, 1939-1945 > Regimental histories > Great Britain.

World War, 1939-1945 > Aerial operations, Polish.

World War, 1939-1945 > Aerial operations, British.

World War, 1939-1945 > Forced repatriation.

Bibliographic Information

Responsibility

Lynne Olson & Stanley Cloud.

ISBN

0375411976

Holdings

Item Type	Current Location	Collection	Call Number	Volume Info	Shelving Location	Public Note
Book	OSA Archivum Library	Reference collection	940.54/1241/0899185 OLS		Reference	Donation of School of Public Policy.

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