,t

t{

With this latest boolt Laura Hillen

brand has proven that her number
New York Ttmes bestseller, Seabiscuit,

survived this inhuman treatment and

lived to see the end of the war and repakiation to the United States.
the booh concludes in two tracks: one,
Zarnperini's reaffustment that included
alcoholism, fame, fanily distrei3, eientual.
reconciliafion with Crod th*"Ch
throufr the-vehf
the veM

I aii'iffiifhffii'il

most amazing characters of World War II.

Hillenbrand presents to her readers the
[re srorv
wrrn no
puncnes
r-o*=
ivas a \rild child" ry'ryld !e.e-g9Cp-u9de-r:ffi;
statedffi ff t[ffi ffi fi :fr

or.;.ffifur.
p.rr"otfr-affirng
*
iiffi ffi

Iflfl$.life around was running. HS-broke

many _l!g[rcfSg], and. college running
reciFtls in the llXl0s,
personal9{10s, met Hitler pe,rsonalty-sa:norn'beCioffte
of ft e 19,fl6US
19rf6.US, Olfmpic
Olvmpic
and was felt bv manv to be

and twq the hunt forThe Bird in Japan. I

found all ofthis as dppingas the war stones.
There is supposed to be a movie in

ingfought in Poland and again in Flance.

fm

going to buy my owrr mpy fon

otat(}t

3m (Folish) Squedroru Battle of Britain Diary. By Richard King. Walton-onThames, UIL Red Kite, 2010. Photographs.

dl--of the distant targets for Bibliography. Inde:r, Appendices. Pp.354.

. Admiml Nimfi/s th?uSt-in the Central $46.57 ISBN: 97& l-906592-03-5
faciti. Just to hand tTiiS poitiayai of vihat
I-iiie-*iha
operations wire lile in the
It is timely that the seventieth
seven*r in the early stages of the war anniverrar5r of the Battle of Britain saw
makes this book worthwhile.rQn a search the publication of a history dedicated to
\ mission for another B-24 thaf had gone the most successful squadron in the
of the hcific, Battle. King gives a clronolory of BOs
$ ffi
\ zamperini's airplane was lost with only (Polish) Squadron's combat operations but
bombed

also the complex saga. of how the Poles

ItrlldnbraiA6-frec6ffi@:oTffid-ffiff of a:rrived in the Unitd-Kingdom.

what is still a record-fortv-seven davs at
As a result of the Gercran and Soviet
sea in what was left offfiilEffiffi life
life " invasions of Foland in September 1939,

FolishAir Fiorte
Fiorce combat and support
suomrt facil-

ities close to Romania were ordered to

cross the border. Initially intemed by the
Romanians, a very efficient clandestine
escape was implemented; and the Polish
Air Force began to be reformed in Flance

iS_g

rost

under the Japanese in their prison camps

and was quite familiar with what men
have been able to figure out to do to their
fellow men. But Eillenbrand's word picby

ern FowER,

t{istory /

sur,nmn zon

the

UIi

in June
1940 led to evacuation of all Poles in
Flance. Polish fighter pilots who had
and the

tL

during the Battle.In six weeks, Kosciuszko

Squadron was crdited with 126 enemy
planes destuyed for the loss of only six
pilots. After the Battle was $ron, the RAF
instituted adminishative changes and
formed eight Polish fighter squadrons by
spring 1941 as Polish pilots transferred
ftom RAF units to Polish squadrons.

a friend;

my library. You will want to have one as

well.

Ud.uar-Hazy Center

ifrtr

King tells the story of their first air

engagement on August 31, 1940, and the

unbelievable air successes they achievd

for the Polish success, but these facts are

beyond dispute: the Poles were better
kained, older, and more experienced,hav-

Wihet, USAF (Ret.), Booh

Reui.ew Editotl and, Docent, NA,SM's

thred*of-ths@--

I(osciuszko fuuadron.

production on Zamperini that will star

Nicolas Cage. If he does half the job
Hillenbrand has done, itwill be a fantastic
movie. I borrowed a opy of the book from

Col. Scott

USAAF command, but it was the one that

that mitigated atbitudes and prejudices

but the outstanding performance of the
trno Folish fighter squadrons and their
nearly eighty pilots, in particular the 303

trhench capitulation

fought in the Flendr Campaigr were ooogregated in trno all-Polish squadrons. This
influx of foreign, non-English-speaking
personnel, presented the British with a
major drallenge, to say nothing about
endemic British xenophobic diskust of
cenhal Eumpeans.
Ttre situation was normalized by the
Polish-British Agreement of August 1940,
rng the Polish Forces in the UIC
However, it was not lqalistic agreements

Many explanations have been otrerd

King also credibly posits that establish-

meat of the 303 Squadron with just over

thirty pilots-much larger than

the

depleted RAF squadrons-allowed a better mtation and more rest between combat operations. It is also worth notingthat
well over L00 Polish pilots who fought in
the Battle were graduates of tlre Polish

Air

Force

in D6blia, and many

had gone through the fighter training center at UIez. To clinch the issue, in April
I.942, RAF Fighter Group 11 organized an
aerial gunnery contest. The winners were
3Ol Kosciusz&o Squadron, with 316
(Warszawski) and 315 (Dblizsfti) Squadmns coming in second and third nespeetively.
Aviation aficionadm will find comprehensive inforrnation about the specific
planes which came on line and what hap.
pened to them. the only regret I have is
omission of the American origins of the
squadron. It ha*s back to the American
volunteers who came to help hland in
1919 in its fight against the Russians.
Ttrey gave it the name and the cret with
the American Red, white and blue mlors.
The current Kosrliuszka Squadron is part
of NATO and continues the legacy.
King gives due attention to the many

hundreds of excellently

traind

pre.war

Polish ground crrews wholooked after their

pilots and without whom no operation

could be successful-

This is a very well pmduced and ele.

gant book.

MichaelMfudtusztu,MDMA

ttilaa

Predaton the Remote-Control Air

War Over Iraq and Afghanicfran: A
Pilof,s Story. By Matt J Martin and
Charles W. Sasser. Minneapolis, Minn.:

51