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

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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.

Standard histories of World War II generally minimize, distort or simply ignore Poland's role in defeating Hitler. This book performs an invaluable service to the truth.

While the pilots of the Kosciuszko Squadron are its chief protagonists, this book has a much larger scope. More than half its pages are devoted to other aspects of Poland's fight in World War II and to that country's betrayal by its supposed allies, the British and the Americans.

The Poles fiercely resisted the German invasion, killing over 16,000 German soldiers, destroying more than 25% of their tanks and shooting down over 20% of their aircraft. Later, over 200,000 Polish soldiers, airmen and sailors made their way to Western Europe and North Africa, the 3rd largest allied force in those theaters behind the Americans and British. Back at home, over 350,000 underground fighters continued to resist the Germans. In both cases, the Poles vastly outnumbered their counterparts from all other occupied nations combined. Moreover, Poland was the only occupied nation that would not form a collaborationist, puppet regime under the Nazis.

Other vignettes in the book include the key role of Polish cryptographers in cracking Germany's Enigma codes and the Polish underground's critical contributions to spreading disinformation about allied war plans, including the invasion of Normandy.

When Britain "stood alone" against Hitler, it actually depended greatly on the Poles, who constituted over 20% of the RAF's pilots. During the Battle of Britain, they not only contributed an even greater percentage of RAF "kills," but also taught the British superior aerial combat tactics. Without the Poles, it is likely that Germany would have won air superiority over Britain and launched an invasion.

Instead, Hitler put the conquest of Britain on hold, redeployed his forces to the east and invaded the USSR in violation of his pact with Stalin. At this point, Churchill and his government quickly forgot their debt to the Poles, and began to worry more about ensuring that Stalin would not sign a separate peace with Hitler. Soon, in a striking emulation of Neville Chamberlain's attempt to appease Hitler by inviting him to take Czechoslovakia, Churchill and FDR offered the eastern half of Poland to Stalin. Meanwhile, they assured the Poles that the territorial integrity of their nation was inviolable. This secret deal was made long before the Red Army had re-entered Poland on its drive into Germany.

In the cruelest irony, the Poles' success in defending Britain made their own country expendable. Just as ironically, the British and the Americans effectively decided to enforce the terms of the Hitler-Stalin pact, which granted the eastern half of Poland to the USSR. When word of this dirty deal finally leaked to the Poles fighting in the west, many wanted to lay down their arms, but eventually did not. In yet another irony, a year after the war Churchill was concerned about "an iron curtain," yet much culpability for it lay with him.

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.

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.

If you have already read the book you might recognize my last name. I am the Grandson of the late Brigadier General Witold Urbanowicz: Kosciuszko Squadron pilot, RAF pilot, Chenault's Flying Tiger pilot, and USAF pilot. This book shines quite a lot of light on some of the stories I was told as a child by my Grandfather. I feel that anyone would benefit from reading this book. Without ruining the book, this book shows what these honorable men, most of whom I have met, had to deal with during WW II. Although the picture painted is not always a bright one for the Polish during WW II this book shows that the Polish are a proud people and are willing to do what it takes to preserve their culture. Lynne and Stan tell these stories in such a manner that you will not be able to put the book down. This is an inspirational book that will lift your soul and make you never tell another Polish joke for the rest of your life.

Having grown up in England (30 miles from RAF Elvington, where a Polish RAF bomber squadron operated during WW II) and studied a great deal about the Battle of Britain, let me say one thing...

There cannot possibly be any doubt whatsoever that the courage and combat experience of the two Polish RAF fighter squadrons who joined in the Battle of Britain, turned the tide at a critical moment.

At a time when the RAF was barely able to train pilots fast enough to replace combat losses, to have highly trained combat experienced pilots like the Poles come on board was a much needed shot in the arm.

While the Polish airmen had struggled against the Me109s in their own Polish Air Force fighters (even then they inflicted disproportionate losses on the enemy), in the state-of-the-art RAF fighters they were unbeatable.

As the book indicates, they were so popular and successful in downing record numbers of enemy planes, that Churchill and the King visited the squadron to show their appreciation.

During the War many Polish airmen served in fighter command (in RAF squadrons as well as Polish RAF squadrons) and in bomber command. Let us not forget also, that it was Polish troops who finally stormed Monte Cassino in the Italian campaign, and took the German surrender.

Sadly, the book also details how the unforgivable betrayal of Poland and its wonderful, courageous people, was arranged by the western allies, who agreed to the demands of that filthy butcher Stalin.

Hard to believe that the British, who actually went to war over the Nazi invasion of Poland, would give her up to a moron and a tyrant who was provably even worse than Hitler.

Sorry for the strong words, but they are appropriate in this case. Ask any Pole with a sense of history.

I was curious to read that in a poll at the end of the War, a majority of Brits thought the Poles should return 'home'. Not that their home existed anymore.

I had about five Polish-English kids in my class as I was growing up in England, and my sense was that their families were very respected, not only because their dads had served with honor in the RAF or the Polish regiments of the British Army, but also because they hated the Russians even more than we did (this was Cold War England), so they could do no wrong in a climate of Commie hating.

Poland is now a NATO country, resting under the Alliance nuclear umbrella. It is no longer possible to invade Poland without risking annihilation.

It's about time.

What a terrific book. It begins with the terribly dramatic and heroic saga of the men of the Kosciuszko Squadron and builds from that to the parallel saga of Polish history - especially its history in the Twentieth Century. I knew that the men of the Kosciuszko Squadron had been the most successful squadron in the RAF during the Battle of Britain. I knew something about the terrible tragedy of the Warsaw rising. I even remember visiting Warsaw, seeing photographs of the old city as it had been before WWII followed by photographs of the flattened ruin it was at the end of the war - and then walking out into a restored old city that looked absolutely like the old photographs and bespoke the indomitable spirit of the Polish nation. I did not know the extent of our responsibility for masking what happened to Poland after the War. That was sobering. Olson and Cloud's book affirms the very impressive heroics without resorting to hyperbole. It is a well told tale. It manages to be passionate about the commitment of these men without letting passion distort the telling of a complex historical tale. Absolutely first rate.

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 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.

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.

Hitler did not loose the war because he failed to beat the Brits at the Battle of Britain. But even if he had won, he would still have to succeed in invading England to be able to claim final victory. In that sense the famous battle was indecisive either way. But it was indeed, even if somewhat symbolically, a turning point in the war for the British inflicted on Germans the first significant defeat and Hitler did not achieve his major goal. When he later attacked the Soviet Union he had than to fight the war on two fronts.

Contrary to some mumbling-bumbling reminiscent of a lonely lunatic psychotically full of hatred against anything Polish, the Polish pilots in RAF did make a difference. No need to further debate this issue, it's been well researched and proven beyond any doubt and only completely blind and deaf boor can claim otherwise (incidentally, Polish pilots constituted close to 10% of the total RAF pilots number, certainly considerably more than a dozen).

The book is a popular history account of one relatively little known event (not the battle itself but the role of Polish pilots in it, of course). True, the authors seemingly became infatuated with the heroes of the story. It might be possibly explained by the surprise at the discovery of how significant their role was and how passionate they were in their endeavor and how little the general public has known about it. But this only makes for a better reading. History books are often dull, like accounting books, and if someone writes with great emotional involvement that tends to attract a reader into the story still more.

One of the points, in fact a major one underscored even by the title of the book, the authors make is that of the betrayal by the Allies of the Polish cause. This brings the question of honor vs. cynicism in politics. The sad truth is that the main determinant in making political (and not only political) decisions is self-interest. For Churchill the single most important issue was - to defeat Hitler. For that purpose, as be bluntly put it himself, he was willing to sign the pact even with Devil himself. This Devil turned out to be none other than Stalin. The consequences were obvious - whatever conditions Stalin put, his demands had to be satisfied. And Stalin wanted Poland under his control. That's precisely why all talk of the Katyn massacre had to be subdued at the time and official Soviet version be adopted; that's why none of Polish troops were allowed to participate in Victory Parade and why in the end Poland found itself on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Was that right? No! But that's life: nothing personal, just business. Self-interest and even cynicism usually prevails over truth and honor.

But historical truth still deserves to be heard, even if way after the fact. And this book serves the purpose of doing justice to historical truth very well.