303 Squadron The Legendary Battle of Britain Fighter Squadron

by Fiedler, Arkady; Garlinski, Jarek

• ISBN13: 9781607720058
• ISBN10: 1607720051
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-16
• Publisher: Aquila Polonica

Summary

The summer of 1940 and the Battle of Britain—the darkestdays of World War II. France, Poland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands,Luxembourg and Norway had all been crushed by the powerful Nazi German warmachine. Great Britain stood alone, fighting for its life.

303 Squadron is the thrilling storyof the celebrated squadron of Polish fighter pilots whose superb skill in theair helped save England during its most desperate hours. They were thehighest-scoring Allied fighter squadron in the Battle of Britain, downing threetimes the average RAF score while incurring only one-third the averagecasualties. Dashing and gallant 303 Squadron was lionized by the British press,congratulated by the King, and adored by the British public.

With an immediacy that vividly brings to life those harrowing days, Fiedlerpaints the bravery, the poignancy, the breathtaking gambles with death riskeddaily by this exceptional group of young men far from home, who fought topreserve freedom for all.

“Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polishsquadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcomeof the battle would have been the same.”
— British Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding

Translated from the Polish; identifies the pilots by their real names for thefirst time in English. Nearly 200 black & white photos, maps andillustrations; contextualizing historical material; nine appendices.


Selection of the History Book Club and theMilitary Book Club.

Winner:
GOLD Award for History, 2011 Benjamin Franklin Awards
SILVER Award for Interior Design, 2011 Benjamin Franklin Awards


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Author Biography

Author ARKADY FIEDLER (1894-1985), was born in Poznan,Poland, educated at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, in Poznan and at theUniversity of Leipzig.

A best-selling travel writer researching in Tahiti when WWIIbegan, Fiedler made his way back to Europe and joined the Polish Army in Franceafter Poland had fallen to the Germans.

His 32 books have been translated into 23 languages sellingover 10 million copies. 303 Squadron is his most famous andpopular book.



Translator JAREK GARLINSKI, born in London, England, grew upbilingual in English and Polish. Hisfather, noted historian and author Jozef Garlinski, and his mother EileenShort-Garlinska, one of only a few Britons who spent WWII in Warsaw, bothserved in the Polish Underground Army during the war.
Educated at the University of Nottingham, the University ofGrenoble, and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at theUniversity of London, Garlinski is fluent in French, Russian, English andPolish, with a distinguished career in education. He has translated numerous books of Polishliterature and history, specializing in the WWII era.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xxi
A Note About…	p. xxv
Translator's Note	p. xxix
Author's Preface	p. xxxiii
The Battle of Britain 1940	p. l
The Fighter Pilot	p. 14
31st August: The First Battle	p. 21
2nd September: Comradeship	p. 32
When the Ammunition Ran Out	p. 41
5th-6th September: You Win Some, You Lose Some	p. 49
7th September: A Tasty Morsel-Dorniers	p. 64
Pain	p. 77
A Smile Through the Blood	p. 84
The Cloud	p. 93
11th September: The Greatest Victory	p. 100
The Enemy's Dance of Death	p. 113
A Brave Czech	p. 119
The Colorless Roots of Brilliant Flowers	p. 128
A Fearless, Flawless Airman	p. 141
The Myth of the Messerschmitt 110	p. 152
Tricks	p. 164
15th September: Fate in the Balance	p. 172
15th September: Fate Decided	p. 183
'We Are Beginning to Understand the Poles'	p. 191
Historical Horizon
The Road to Britain for the Polish Air Force A Brief Overview	p. 203
Appendices
Glossary of English, Polish, German and French Terms and Acronyms	p. 221
Polish Air Force Ranks and their Royal Air Force Equivalents During World War II	p. 227
303 Squadron Personnel in the Battle of Britain	p. 231
Pilot Biographies	p. 237
Tadeusz Andruszków	p. 239
Michal Brzezowski	p. 241
Arsen Cebrzynski	p. 243
Jan Daszewski	p. 245
Miroslaw Feric	p. 247
Athol Forbes	p. 249
Josef Franti¿ek	p. 251
Zdzislaw Henneberg	p. 254
Stanislaw Karubin	p. 257
Ronald Kellett	p. 259
John Kent	p. 261
Zdzislaw Krasnodebski	p. 264
Witold Lokuciewski	p. 266
Ludwik Paszkiewicz	p. 269
Marian Pisarek	p. 271
Eugeniusz Szaposznikow	p. 274
Witold Urbanowicz	p. 276
Stefan Wójtowicz	p. 280
Kazimierz Wünsche	p. 282
Jan Zumbach	p. 285
303 Squadron Claimed Victories During the Battle of Britain	p. 289
Brothers In Arms: The 303 Squadron Badge and the Original Kosciuszko Squadron	p. 297
The Song of 303 Squadron	p. 313
Against All Odds: The Creation of the Polish Air Force Colour	p. 319
Operational Units of the Polish Air Force in Great Britain during World War II	p. 327
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