Customer Reviews

A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The heroic exploits of Polish airmen, sailors and soldiers during WWII are a matter of historical record. All those still believing in the Nazi-inspired myth of the Polish Air Force being destroyed by the Germans on the ground within a few days, should read this.

The Polish fighter pilots not only fought bravely for weeks against overwhelming numbers of superior German aircraft, but shot down some 150 Nazi planes in September of 1939 and after the fall of Poland took the fight to a recalcitrant, cowardly France, then to Great Britain, where they accumulated the highest shoot-down record in the RAF.

The book also addresses (maybe in a bit too much detail) the shameful and disgraceful treatment of Poles and Poland by both Great Britain and the US during WWII and after the war.

The ignorant, scheming attitude and actions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and to a slightly lesser degree Winston Churchill are amply and ably documented. The misguided adoration of Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union, by both of these revered "statesmen", should be known by everyone, who for some reason still retains any respect for these men without honor. Both were creators and signatories of the Atlantic Charter, which later became the basis for the U.N. Charter.

The third point of the Atlantic Charter reads:"...they [signatories] respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them".

This and other points of the Charter have been broken consistently by both Churchill and Roosevelt in regard to Poland.

Polish fliers were idolized by both the British and US media, when their contribution was vital to the survival of Great Britain. The king and Winston Churchill visited the Polish squadrons on a regular basis during the Battle of Britain. Books, articles and even movies about them appeared all over Britain and the US. Unfortunately, as soon as the immediate danger to Great Britain has passed, Poland, Poles and their legitimate (i.e. London-based) government were relegated to the role of impediment to British and U.S. relations with "Uncle Joe" Stalin.

Highly recommended for all students of history and to everyone, who values the truth.

Olson and Cloud provide a broad overview of Polish history. As if to prove that Polish heroism is not the product of Polish self-flattery, the authors cite numerous prominent non-Polish personages to support their contentions. The progressive aspects of Polish society are attested by the democratic May 3, 1791 Constitution, the freeing of slaves by Kosciuszko but not Thomas Jefferson (p. 23), and the granting of women's suffrage in Poland before the USA (pp. 39-40).

Gordon Welchman, one of Ultra's top cryptographers, acknowledges that, without the Poles' breaking of the "invincible" German Enigma code, British efforts would never have gotten off the ground (p. 39). Numerous British military and political figures are cited who recognized the skill and effectiveness of Polish pilots. Pointedly, Ronald Kellett, Air Chief Marshall Frederick Rosier, British air minister Sir Archibald Sinclair, and Sir Hugh Dowding all state that (p. 163), without Polish help, the RAF would have lost the Battle of Britain! British parliamentarian Sir Douglas Savory is quoted as saying that Polish sabotage of German transports to the eastern front had contributed greatly to the collapse of the German offensive (p. 278). Field Marshall Viscount Alanbrooke (p. 374) asserted the indispensability of Anders' army in the Allied advance through Italy.

Several anti-Polish myths are refuted, including the tale of Polish cavalry charging German tanks and the Polish Air Force being promptly destroyed (p. 71). The long-lived caricature of Poles as an emotional and ungovernable people is shown to have originated from Poland's conquerors two centuries ago (p. 24). One hears frequent accusations of the Polish underground having been motivated by anti-Semitism for not supplying the Jewish Warsaw ghetto fighters (April 1943) with more than a few tens of guns. The authors implicitly demolish this charge by demonstrating the desperate shortage of arms that beset Polish guerillas as late as the ill-fated Warsaw Uprising (August-October 1944). Specifically, only 28 of the promised 301 Allied supply airdrops (October 1943-March 1944) were ever made (p. 285), largely to avoid offending Stalin. The underground forces of Greece, Yugoslavia, and France each received 10-20 times the arms airdropped on Poland (p. 283).

Stereotyped comments about prewar Polish anti-Semitism are made (p. 41) without adequate historical context. Reference to prewar Polish discriminatory policies against Jews neglects the magnitude of Jewish economic dominance. At 10% of the prewar Polish population, Jews owned over 40% of Poland's wealth, and were comparably over-represented at universities. The prewar economic boycotts and numerus clausus at universities were, using modern parlance, a form of affirmative action designed to get more Polish gentiles, recently emergent from peasant backwardness aggravated by 123 years of foreign rule, into Jewish-dominated institutions. Olson and Cloud recognize (p. 41) that Poland's Jews were disproportionately leftist and pro-Soviet. Unfortunately, the accusation of Poles killing hundreds of Jews at Jedwabne (p. 204) is uncritically accepted. The weight of evidence implicates the Germans as the perpetrators of this atrocity. The Poles were actually relegated to a compelled subsidiary role (perhaps 40 Poles, certainly not "half the town"). The Poles were forced to round up and guard the Jews. Whether the Poles were involved in the actual torching of the Jew-filled barn, consensually or not, has not been established by convincing evidence.

Although almost every non-Pole knows about the 6 million Jews, very few know about the 3 million Poles, including upwards of half of educated Poles, who were murdered by the Germans and Soviets during the war. These losses took three decades to heal (p. 408). The Katyn massacre of tens of thousands of Polish officer POWS is highlighted. Sir Owen O'Malley, having comprehended the Soviet murderous action, was very critical of the ensuing British whitewash (pp. 268-269). Even Joseph Goebbels recognized the fact that the Poles had received a brushoff, by the British and Americans, as if the Poles were the enemies (p. 271). Roosevelt displayed a callous disinterest in Soviet crimes. Air Marshall John Slessor, indignant over the cold-blooded Soviet betrayal of the Warsaw Uprising that alone had cost over 200,000 Polish lives, chided anyone who still trusted Stalin (p. 347). Lord Vansittart and George Orwell also supported Poland's cause (p. 341).

The authors spend much time discussing the dirty stinking doublecross at Yalta. George Kennan (p. 369) called the Yalta communique "the shabbiest sort of equivocation..." To add insult to injury, far too many Britons and Americans adopted a "blame the victim" mentality in accusing the Poles of being chauvinistic and otherwise spoilers of the Soviet-western alliance. However, US ambassador Arthur Bliss Lane resigned to protest the Truman administration's lukewarm reaction to the farcical postwar "free election" in Soviet-occupied Poland (p. 405). The Poles were not even allowed to participate in the postwar victory parade in London. Ten members of the British Parliament protested this gross indignity (p. 5), as did Air Marshall Philip Joubert de Ferte (p. 398.

Poles can learn several lessons from their bitter experiences. One is to be leery of allies' loyalty. Another is to never agree to anything without a specific, ironclad commitment to reciprocity. [One thinks of Sikorski allowing himself to be pressured into signing (p. 222) a pact with the Soviets on July 30, 1941, scarcely a month after the German attack on the USSR, without Stalin being required to recognize Poland's prewar eastern border. This was the beginning of the end of Polish postwar sovereignty that eventually ended at Yalta]. Never again should Poles be fooled or badgered into silence, as they notably had been by Roosevelt (pp. 261-262). A major factor in the shabby treatment of Poland has always been the almost universal ignorance of Poland by British and American politicians, and the general public. Though much easier said than done, Poles must do a much better job of "selling themselves" to non-Poles, especially to those in influential positions. For example, the Scot Lord Dunglass (pp. 379-380) fiercely defended Poland before the Parliament, thanks to earlier Polish friendship.

I usually find history books dull, but this one is well written and surprisingly readable. The title implies that this book is about the Kosciuszko Squadron, but it also covers Polish history from World War I until their freedom from Soviet rule. Kosciuszko Squadron was 303 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, which with 126 kills was the highest scoring squadron of the battle. After the fall of Poland, many of its soldiers, sailors, and airmen made it to Britain where they begged to get into the fight. At first the Polish fliers were shown little regard, but when the British were in trouble, they finally let the Poles fly. 303 Squadron (and 302) in Hurricane fighters accounted for over 150 German planes shot down. The Poles also filled out squadrons of RAF Bomber Command, and along with their fellow fighter pilots, fought with distinction and high casualties until the end of the war. Poland also fielded an airborne brigade that fought in Holland, and armored division that fought in France, and several infantry divisions that fought in Italy.
Poland fought a little known war with the Soviet Union in 1919-1920 in which they embarrassed the Soviets and in particular Stalin, who would later get his revenge. When the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, Nazi propaganda portrayed them as easy prey, using cavalry against tanks and running from battle. To some extent, this vision of the Poles still is believed to this day. This book goes a long way to dispel that misinformation. Although greatly out-gunned, the Poles put up a valiant fight with antiquated equipment, killing over 16,000 German soldiers, destroying 1/4 of their tanks, and shooting down 1/5 of their planes. The Poles were still fighting hard when Stalin stabbed them in the back when he signed a pact with Hitler and invaded Eastern Poland. The Russians murdered thousands of Polish officers and soldiers in one of the most despicable acts of World War II that they never admitted until long after the war. Throughout their occupation during the war, the Poles had a large underground army (which the Allies did little to help) that continued to defy the Germans and were prepared to fight when the allies came to liberate Poland. The Poles actually helped the Soviet cause by subtle sabotage of the rail systems that impeded German troop and supply movements to the Russian front. Unfortunately, the only Allied army to arrive was the Soviet Army, and we all know what followed for decades. Even under the Soviet thumb, the Poles refused to give up their religion and national pride and shunned Marxism. Today, Poland is again a free country thanks to the Solidarity Movement and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
I was outraged to learn the details of the disgraceful treatment of the Polish Nation by Roosevelt and Churchill. We sold them out at Yalta along with millions of refugees to please Stalin. After fighting and dying to preserve freedom, they had no free home to return to. Some returned to Poland where they were not well received by the Soviet's puppet government and others scattered around the world. The final insult after the war was the British victory parade in London. Not a single Pole was allowed to march for fear of offending Stalin. When the Poles arrived in Britain, they started out as distrusted, then they became heroes due to their air exploits, and finally they sank to outcast status. They deserved better treatment than they received, certainly more than our illustrious French allies.

Feliks Szyszka was shot down over Warsaw on the
first day of the war, and as he hung on his parachute,
his face and body badly burned, a German fighter
flew back and forth shooting at him. He had seventeen
bullet wounds on his legs alone when he landed, and
spent four months in the hospital....In Britain he joined
one of the Polish fighter squadrons, and in 1941, over
France, bagged his first Messerschmitt. The German
baled out, and Szyszka found himself tearing down on
the parachuting pilot. `I really don't know what was
happening with me, but my finger was poised on the
machine-gun button,' he recalls. `I only needed to
press it. But I had to see his face. So I bore down on
him and held my fire. The German grew in my sights,
twisting on the cords and waving his arms fanatically.
In the end I saw his face clearly. It was terrible, but
different, oh how different, from the face I had seen
over Warsaw. It was crazed with fear. The German
dropped his arms and hung there like a rag doll. But
I could not shoot. I just couldn't. I banked my Spitfire
and passed a few meters from his face. For awhile I
watched as the parachute drifted groundwards. Then
I rejoined the squadron, and when I landed - I
suddenly felt deep happiness.'
Polish American Congress Washington DC polonia@raqport.com

The first section of the book--just about the first half--presents a now largely-story, about the Polish airmen's huge contribution to the World War Two effort, including their important role in the Battle of Britain which many to this day believe to be a decisive turning-point for the Allies against the Germans. This story provides both histories of some of the airmen involved and a sense of Polish history and its tragedies up to that time. This information is presented in such a thrilling narrative that I couldn't stop reading.
Sadly, once the second half starts, you feel as if you're reading a different book. I don't know if one author wrote one half and the other wrote the latter; perhaps it wasn't as simple as that. At any rate, the latter half is largely given over to the emergent geopolitical situation vis-vis the United States and Britain trying to appease Stalin. This information is presented so drily, you think you landed in the middle of a rather fusty history book, totally not suited to the beginning of the book. I think the publisher could have benefited by editing this material down to one concise chapter. By using that method, the shamefully craven behavior of the biggest Allied countries would have been covered, because it's important for folks nowadays to know exactly how Poland was betrayed, but the editing would have made this information conform more to the narrative brio of the first half. As it is, the two halves of the work do not coalesce.

Being of Polish Parents and born at the end of WW2 I found this book extremely informative, but unlike many books of this nature, written in a very interesting and easy to read style. My Cousin in Poland has also read this book in both English and the Polish translation and was likewise impressed. My Husband's Cousin in Arizona - who is American born and raised and now approaching his 89th year - a retired Pilot, also enjoyed it and talked about it after he had read it, confirming the facts in the book as true, since he had flown with the US Air Force in WW2, so was aware of the facts at the time. Congratulations to the Authors - K.

The authors have done a wonderful job with this book.I found this book to be hard to put down. They tell an important, over-looked story--the tremendous Polish contribution to the Allied cause in World War II-- in an accessible manner. Using the stories of the Kosciuszko Squadron (from its initial founding by American pilots after World War I to help win the Polish-Soviet War in the 1920's, to the disgraceful betrayal of them and the Polish nation by their fellow "allies") and many of its pilots, the authors manage to tell the much broader history of Poland, putting everything in an historical context. Every detail is very thoroughly researched and documented. I highly recommend it!

While not agreeimg with every point the book makes, I still have to give it 5 stars for its readability which will make Poland's WWII story more widely known...and dampen the enthusiasm usually accorded FDR and Churchill.

This book retells, in all its grim truth, the story of how the Polish armed forces, particularly its Air Force, fought bravely for the Western Allies in WWII against the Nazis. That account takes up the first third of the book or so, and then the story begins to unfold about how Churchill and FDR, in order to placate Stalin and the Russians, slowly but surely went back on their promises to the Polish people, and in the end betrayed them into captivity by another totalitarian state, which captivity lasted almost 45 more years. It's a heartbreaking tale, extremely well told and documented, and shows the political saints of the Western Allies to have had feet of clay as regards Eastern Europe. Churchill at least suffered qualms of conscience occasionally about what he was doing to the Poles, but FDR didn't seem to give a damn! Read this book and you will be filled with the same righteous indignation I felt when going through it. Being Polish, of course, I have a vested interest in the country and the people, but it still is a book well worth reading for the other side to the story of the "peace" settlement concerning Eastern Europe.

The great achievement of this book is that it is very accessible to the non-professional historian while it presents a solid body of historical facts and figures. It is a quick and easy read and, more importantly, a very enjoyable read. I found it hard to put down at times. The snippets of biographical information about the Kosciuszko squadron pilots interspersed throughout the book give it a human dimension which captures the reader's attention. The authors' commentary on the political developments and what they reveal about the political leaders' personalities and character strengths and weaknesses is equally interesting.

Having read some of the other reviews and as a Polish-American, I have to say that I am in complete agreement with the reviewer who said, "Poles will read this book with a melancholy mixture of pride and anger, Britons and Americans with an uneasy combination of admiration for the Poles and shame at their own nations' conduct." What is presented in this book underscores the fact that the motivations behind human actions, particularly in the political sphere, are never pure (despite the rhetoric) and always very complicated. Yet, if one digs deeply enough to the basic essence of one's values, one's actions will either uphold or betray those values.