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The Forgotten Few: The Polish Air Force in the Second World War
The crucial role played by Polish airmen during the Second World War and the colourful stories of their adventures have become part of British folklore.
But very few people have any idea of the extent of their involvement, or how they came to be in Britain.
In this brilliant history, Adam Zamoyski explores the unwavering courage of Polish fighters and how they helped to defeat the Nazis.
By the beginning of 1941, there was a fully fledged Polish Air Force operating alongside the RAF.
With 14 squadrons and support services, it was larger than the air forces of the Free French, Dutch, Belgians and all the other European Allies operating from Britain put together.
Some 17,000 men and women passed through its ranks while it was stationed on British soil. They not only played a crucial part in the Battle of Britain, they also contributed significantly to the Allied war effort in the air and took part in virtually every type of RAF operation, including the bombing of Germany, the Battle of the Atlantic and Special Operations.
This book is not intended as a full history of the Polish Air Force. Nor does it pretend to assess the exact contribution of these men and women to the Allied cause. The intention is to give a picture of who they were, where they came from, how they got here and what they did. It also looks at their, at times, strained but ultimately successful collaboration with the RAF and their sometimes difficult, often notorious, but ultimately happy relationship with the British people.
Count Adam Stefan Zamoyski is a historian and a member of the ancient Zamoyski family of Polish nobility. His books include ‘The Last King of Poland’, ‘Holy Madness: Romantics, Patriots and Revolutionaries’, and ‘Paderewski’.
Praise for Adam Zamoyski:
‘So brilliant that it is impossible to put the book aside … A master craftsman at work.’ Sunday Times.
‘Zamoyski’s book is a brilliant piece of narrative history, full of sparkling set-pieces, a wholly fascinating account of what must be reckoned one of the greatest military disasters of all time.’ Sunday Telegraph.
‘An utterly admirable book. It combines clarity of thought and prose with a strong narrative drive.’ Daily Telegraph
‘A gripping tale.’ Economist
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.
But very few people have any idea of the extent of their involvement, or how they came to be in Britain.
In this brilliant history, Adam Zamoyski explores the unwavering courage of Polish fighters and how they helped to defeat the Nazis.
By the beginning of 1941, there was a fully fledged Polish Air Force operating alongside the RAF.
With 14 squadrons and support services, it was larger than the air forces of the Free French, Dutch, Belgians and all the other European Allies operating from Britain put together.
Some 17,000 men and women passed through its ranks while it was stationed on British soil. They not only played a crucial part in the Battle of Britain, they also contributed significantly to the Allied war effort in the air and took part in virtually every type of RAF operation, including the bombing of Germany, the Battle of the Atlantic and Special Operations.
This book is not intended as a full history of the Polish Air Force. Nor does it pretend to assess the exact contribution of these men and women to the Allied cause. The intention is to give a picture of who they were, where they came from, how they got here and what they did. It also looks at their, at times, strained but ultimately successful collaboration with the RAF and their sometimes difficult, often notorious, but ultimately happy relationship with the British people.
Count Adam Stefan Zamoyski is a historian and a member of the ancient Zamoyski family of Polish nobility. His books include ‘The Last King of Poland’, ‘Holy Madness: Romantics, Patriots and Revolutionaries’, and ‘Paderewski’.
Praise for Adam Zamoyski:
‘So brilliant that it is impossible to put the book aside … A master craftsman at work.’ Sunday Times.
‘Zamoyski’s book is a brilliant piece of narrative history, full of sparkling set-pieces, a wholly fascinating account of what must be reckoned one of the greatest military disasters of all time.’ Sunday Telegraph.
‘An utterly admirable book. It combines clarity of thought and prose with a strong narrative drive.’ Daily Telegraph
‘A gripping tale.’ Economist
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1995
84 people are currently reading
296 people want to read
About the author
Adam Zamoyski
27 books309 followersA historian and a member of the ancient Zamoyski family of Polish nobility. Born in New York City and raised in England. He is Chairman of the Board of the Princes Czartoryski Foundation. On June 16, 2001, in London, England, he married the artist Emma Sergeant.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 17, 2016
I enjoyed this book. It covers in broad strokes the experiences of the men in the Polish Air Force during WWII (and a few of the women too). Some of them escaped from Poland in the fall of 1939 and fought against the Nazis during the Battle of France. Others went directly to Great Britain, or went there after France capitulated. They played an important role during the Battle of Britain and in the subsequent air campaigns, especially in the years before the US entered the war. Other Polish pilots ended up in Soviet gulags and came to Britain later, after the Soviet Union was attacked by Germany. The book covers not just the military endeavors of the Poles, but also their adjustment to life in Great Britain and how they interacted with the RAF and civilians.
For many of the men, just getting out of Poland was an adventure worthy of a movie or a novel. They snuck through Romania, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and France. They flew, walked, and sailed. One man “worked out that the 18 Poles with whom he went on a training course in Torquay had between them been in 65 different camps, received a dozen death-sentences and been condemned to a total of more than 350 years’ hard labour.”
The book begins with this dedication, which both sets the tone for the narrative and sums is up: “To the men and women of the Polish Air Force who fought so long and so hard for so little.” So little for their country, perhaps, but so much for those fighting Hitler from the west.
A few quotes of interest:
On Polish airplane mechanics: “Such is the unwritten but immutable law, that the machine belongs not to God, nor to the king, nor to the government, but to him, and only him, an oil-smeared scarecrow in blue overalls.”
About a posting to a Scottish coastal base for patrol duty: “Only a couple of weeks after their arrival they sighted what they took to be a U-boat, and bombed the guts out of an unsuspecting shark.”
An account that shows both the bravery of the Polish airmen and how the war effected them and their families: “On 16 September 1942 Wellington ‘Ela’ was set upon by no fewer than six German fighters near the Spanish coast, but managed to shoot down one, damage a second, and shake off the remaining four. The pilot, Stanislaw Targowski, was recommended for the DFC, and the signal that he had been awarded it came through two weeks later, while he was again out on patrol. His comrades prepared a surprise party—which was to be a double celebration, as news had also come through that his wife, whom he had heard nothing of since 1939, was safe and would soon be arriving in England. But Wellington ‘Ela’ did not return from patrol.”
How not to shoot down V-1 rockets: “He approached a bomb from behind and, in Polish fashion, waited until he was close—100 metres—before opening up. As he hit the bomb, it exploded. The blast tore off his propeller, bent both wings, shattered the steering-gear, and he had to bale out. After that, pilots were instructed not to open fire at less than 200 metres.”
On the difficulty of watching the Warsaw Uprising from afar: “‘As we sat around the radio, we died a little during each of those 63 days of the rising,’ one pilot of 316 said. ‘I’m a Warsaw man, born and bred, and my wife and children were there.’”
One of the big tragedies of WWII was that the Poles fought very hard and very bravely for the winning side. But in the end, they lost. Their country was never liberated (the Red Army doesn’t count), and they spent 40 years in the shadow of the Soviet Union. But this account contained a spot of hope: “One squadron leader [now stationed at an air field in Germany in spring 1945] stopped a little girl who was wandering among the planes. He told her in German that it was too dangerous a place to play, but she replied in Polish that her mother had been killed and that she was looking for her father, who was an airman. He asked what his name might be, and heard his own in reply. He had last seen his daughter in Poland, aged two.”
I enjoyed learning more about Poland and its sacrifices during WWII. There were so many times when I wished the author would have gone into more detail about someone mentioned in the text. This book did a good job of showing the big picture and whetting my appetite for some memoirs that tell more detailed accounts of individuals.
For many of the men, just getting out of Poland was an adventure worthy of a movie or a novel. They snuck through Romania, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and France. They flew, walked, and sailed. One man “worked out that the 18 Poles with whom he went on a training course in Torquay had between them been in 65 different camps, received a dozen death-sentences and been condemned to a total of more than 350 years’ hard labour.”
The book begins with this dedication, which both sets the tone for the narrative and sums is up: “To the men and women of the Polish Air Force who fought so long and so hard for so little.” So little for their country, perhaps, but so much for those fighting Hitler from the west.
A few quotes of interest:
On Polish airplane mechanics: “Such is the unwritten but immutable law, that the machine belongs not to God, nor to the king, nor to the government, but to him, and only him, an oil-smeared scarecrow in blue overalls.”
About a posting to a Scottish coastal base for patrol duty: “Only a couple of weeks after their arrival they sighted what they took to be a U-boat, and bombed the guts out of an unsuspecting shark.”
An account that shows both the bravery of the Polish airmen and how the war effected them and their families: “On 16 September 1942 Wellington ‘Ela’ was set upon by no fewer than six German fighters near the Spanish coast, but managed to shoot down one, damage a second, and shake off the remaining four. The pilot, Stanislaw Targowski, was recommended for the DFC, and the signal that he had been awarded it came through two weeks later, while he was again out on patrol. His comrades prepared a surprise party—which was to be a double celebration, as news had also come through that his wife, whom he had heard nothing of since 1939, was safe and would soon be arriving in England. But Wellington ‘Ela’ did not return from patrol.”
How not to shoot down V-1 rockets: “He approached a bomb from behind and, in Polish fashion, waited until he was close—100 metres—before opening up. As he hit the bomb, it exploded. The blast tore off his propeller, bent both wings, shattered the steering-gear, and he had to bale out. After that, pilots were instructed not to open fire at less than 200 metres.”
On the difficulty of watching the Warsaw Uprising from afar: “‘As we sat around the radio, we died a little during each of those 63 days of the rising,’ one pilot of 316 said. ‘I’m a Warsaw man, born and bred, and my wife and children were there.’”
One of the big tragedies of WWII was that the Poles fought very hard and very bravely for the winning side. But in the end, they lost. Their country was never liberated (the Red Army doesn’t count), and they spent 40 years in the shadow of the Soviet Union. But this account contained a spot of hope: “One squadron leader [now stationed at an air field in Germany in spring 1945] stopped a little girl who was wandering among the planes. He told her in German that it was too dangerous a place to play, but she replied in Polish that her mother had been killed and that she was looking for her father, who was an airman. He asked what his name might be, and heard his own in reply. He had last seen his daughter in Poland, aged two.”
I enjoyed learning more about Poland and its sacrifices during WWII. There were so many times when I wished the author would have gone into more detail about someone mentioned in the text. This book did a good job of showing the big picture and whetting my appetite for some memoirs that tell more detailed accounts of individuals.
July 4, 2019
The Forgotten Few – The Honourable Few
I have to declare an interest before carrying on with the review, in that my Grandfather was Polish, and he too came here during the Second World War. Whereas he was an infantry man, the Polish Airforce was part of the Polish Army and he always saw them as, a) fellow Poles and proud countrymen, b) honourable soldiers.
This book has been reprinted by Pen and Sword from the 1995 original. It is a thought provoking book, especially for those who do not know about the Poles who fought under British command during the Second World War.
What has been forgotten is that 17,000 men and women passed through the ranks of the Polish Airforce while it was stationed on British soil. They played a crucial part in the Battle of Britain, one of the ‘few’ that Churchill referred too. At the same time they contributed significantly to the allied war effort, shooting down around 745 enemy aircraft, shot down over 150 flying bombs aimed at sites in London. Dropped over 13.206 tons of bombs and laid over 1,502 mines. Sank 3 enemy ships, 8 miniature submarines and 2 U-Boats and putting out of action another 30.
Flying over 102,486 sorties, with over 290,895 operational flying hours and took part in every type of RAF operation. All this came with a cost of 1,973 killed and 1,388 wounded. They won 342 British gallantry awards as well as 15 American ones.
What this book does, is not give a comprehensive or pretend to assess the exact contribution of the men and women of the Polish Airforce. What it does well is give an idea of who they were, where they came from, how and why they came here and what they actually did. It does not shy away from the sometime strained relations, but ultimately successful collaborations with the RAF. While not forgetting that their sometimes difficult but eventually happy relationship with the people of Britain.
Real recognition has bypassed those that served with great honour in the defence of freedom. As Zamoyski says ‘It rarely falls to heroes to receive their reward’, this book goes some way in doing that.
I have to declare an interest before carrying on with the review, in that my Grandfather was Polish, and he too came here during the Second World War. Whereas he was an infantry man, the Polish Airforce was part of the Polish Army and he always saw them as, a) fellow Poles and proud countrymen, b) honourable soldiers.
This book has been reprinted by Pen and Sword from the 1995 original. It is a thought provoking book, especially for those who do not know about the Poles who fought under British command during the Second World War.
What has been forgotten is that 17,000 men and women passed through the ranks of the Polish Airforce while it was stationed on British soil. They played a crucial part in the Battle of Britain, one of the ‘few’ that Churchill referred too. At the same time they contributed significantly to the allied war effort, shooting down around 745 enemy aircraft, shot down over 150 flying bombs aimed at sites in London. Dropped over 13.206 tons of bombs and laid over 1,502 mines. Sank 3 enemy ships, 8 miniature submarines and 2 U-Boats and putting out of action another 30.
Flying over 102,486 sorties, with over 290,895 operational flying hours and took part in every type of RAF operation. All this came with a cost of 1,973 killed and 1,388 wounded. They won 342 British gallantry awards as well as 15 American ones.
What this book does, is not give a comprehensive or pretend to assess the exact contribution of the men and women of the Polish Airforce. What it does well is give an idea of who they were, where they came from, how and why they came here and what they actually did. It does not shy away from the sometime strained relations, but ultimately successful collaborations with the RAF. While not forgetting that their sometimes difficult but eventually happy relationship with the people of Britain.
Real recognition has bypassed those that served with great honour in the defence of freedom. As Zamoyski says ‘It rarely falls to heroes to receive their reward’, this book goes some way in doing that.
July 29, 2021
Disappointing as a little too subjective. A high school essay rather than an historian's analysis
October 24, 2021
I would have loved this book as a teenage WWII buff--doesn't hurt that it mentions my grandfather's brother-in-law, a Polish-American and the US's top fighter ace in the European theater of war. I learned a great deal about the complicated interactions among the Polish, British, and Soviet governments; the series of events that set the Poles back again and again; and how impressively they fought in the circumstances. Written for a British and non-specialist audience, but with a degree of historical detail that makes it too heavy for the "pop non-fiction" genre.
February 28, 2009
The book is good, but I have to say that A Question of Honor The Kosciuszko Squadron Forgotten Heroes of World War II by Lynne Olson is far better.
September 17, 2016
Interesting read for a history book
Very good book about the Polish Air Force. I've never read anything about them before so it was very informative. A few too many statistics for me. It is always so sad to see a xenophobic attitude is so prevalent everywhere you go.
Very good book about the Polish Air Force. I've never read anything about them before so it was very informative. A few too many statistics for me. It is always so sad to see a xenophobic attitude is so prevalent everywhere you go.
February 8, 2015
this was one of the best books of this type that i have read for a very long time it was very well writen and informative
February 15, 2018
It's a sad fact of life that when those that served, & were praised when they assisted in the IInd World War were later forgotten & written off as if they never existed. This has been the tragedy of that war. A great deal of Nations contributed to the Allied efforts in this war but eventually were to be discarded as irrelevant after Victory & at the end of their ordeals. Be that as it may, I leave that to History to record these injustices meted out to the Forgotten 'Many' who sacrificed so very much for a war that was not of their making nor of their choice.
I wish to compliment Mr. Adam Zamoyski for turning a very difficult & dry subject into an extremely interesting & patriotic read. I admit that while I was aware of Polish Pilots during the war, I was not fully aware of their courage nor their tenacity to bring about a measure of justice for the atrocities perpetrated upon their Country of birth... for this ignorance, I plead forgiveness.
I wish to compliment Mr. Adam Zamoyski for turning a very difficult & dry subject into an extremely interesting & patriotic read. I admit that while I was aware of Polish Pilots during the war, I was not fully aware of their courage nor their tenacity to bring about a measure of justice for the atrocities perpetrated upon their Country of birth... for this ignorance, I plead forgiveness.
April 8, 2018
Excellent and highly readable account of the substantial- surprisingly substantial- and truly heroic contribution of Polish airmen to the preservation and eventual victory of Britain in WW2. Sadly it also documents, without rancour, the very shabby treatment of former ground and air combatants and the surprising xenophobia of the working classes and the intellectual left in Britain after the war. Still, that turned out to be better than the criminal and malicious manner that the ones who chose to return to the country for whom they had fought so hard.
December 28, 2018
It's probably safe to say England would not have survived the Battle of Britain without the contributions of the thousands of Polish airmen who had escaped their own defeated country and arrived in Britain with one goal: kill Nazis. Besides shooting German planes from the sky, the Polish pilots charmed British women, were hailed by the British press, and were the toast of every town where they were stationed. At the end of the war, though, they did not have that which they most wanted: a free homeland. An incredible, and ultimately bittersweet story, well told by Zamoyski.
April 19, 2020
A Heroic History
Though not forgotten, the history of the Polish Air Force, operating from England and Scotland during WWII is little known. The thorough preparation for flight and aerial combat brought rewards to the allies beyond the numbers of Poles. While barely mentioned, these men greatly aided the decoding of enigma machines. Well told history of remarkable people.
Though not forgotten, the history of the Polish Air Force, operating from England and Scotland during WWII is little known. The thorough preparation for flight and aerial combat brought rewards to the allies beyond the numbers of Poles. While barely mentioned, these men greatly aided the decoding of enigma machines. Well told history of remarkable people.
August 20, 2023
Insightful
Very detailed account of the actions amongst the displaced airmen of the Polish Air Force. Immense perseverance in very chaotic situations.
Very detailed account of the actions amongst the displaced airmen of the Polish Air Force. Immense perseverance in very chaotic situations.
October 22, 2016
Quite enjoyable. Great stories of different Polish airmen. Showed how attitudes changed from pre-war all the way to post-war.
January 17, 2017
I really couldn't get into The Forgotten Few by Adam Zamoyski. I like reading about WWII, the battles, the soldiers/sailors, etc, but this book didn't get my attention. I felt like the story didn't move ahead. It was like I kept reading the same things over & over again and the date stayed the same. I wanted to like the book, but I didn't.
December 19, 2010
Według mnie książka trochę spóźniona i odgrzana za sprawą sporo wcześniejszej popularności innej książki o polskich lotnikach w Wielkiej Brytanii w czasie II Wojny Światowej - Sprawa honoru. Dywizjon 303 Kościuszkowski. Co prawda dzieło Lynne Olson opowiada tylko o pewnej grupie z całej rzeszy polskich pilotów (lub ogólnie żołnierzy - w końcu w UK stacjonowało nie tylko lotnictwo, ale powstała też 1 Samodzielna Brygada Spadochronowa czy 1 Dywizja Pancerna).
October 23, 2015
Very readable story of the Poles in WW II. Accurate portrayal of Polish cultural sensibilities. Bittersweet in closing as the West has turned its back on Poland several more times since Yalta.
The author's well researched book had me smiling as I read about the wartime antics of the Polish military. Through all sorts of adversity, Polish determination shines through. Still, the outcome for Poland and her people at war's end remained bleak with little support from the countries the Poles fought so valiantly for. I liked this book very much.
The author's well researched book had me smiling as I read about the wartime antics of the Polish military. Through all sorts of adversity, Polish determination shines through. Still, the outcome for Poland and her people at war's end remained bleak with little support from the countries the Poles fought so valiantly for. I liked this book very much.
October 6, 2012
A timely reminder. Too often the media overlook the role played by these people in WW2.
September 8, 2015
Of interest
But way too many statistics, after a while you become numb. It was interesting the difficulties that they had in keeping together their air force.
But way too many statistics, after a while you become numb. It was interesting the difficulties that they had in keeping together their air force.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews