303 Squadron: The Legendary Battle of Britain Fighter Squadron

by Arkady Fiedler, Jarek Garlinski (Translator)

Overview

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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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607720263
Publisher:	Aquila Polonica
Publication date:	11/10/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	376
File size:	36 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

800x600 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.
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Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . xxi
A Note About... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv
Translator's Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxix
Author's Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxiii


Chapter 1 - The Battle of Britain 1940 . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 2 - The Fighter Pilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 3 - 31st August: The First Battle . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chapter 4 - 2nd September: Comradeship . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 32
Chapter 5 - When the Ammunition Ran Out... . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 41
Chapter 6 - 5th–6th September: You Win Some, You Lose Some .. 49
Chapter 7 - 7th September: A Tasty Morsel—Dorniers . . . . .. . . . 64
Chapter 8 - Pain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter 9 - A Smile Through the Blood . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 84
Chapter 10 - The Cloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Chapter 11 - 11th September: The Greatest Victory . . . . .. . . . . . . . 100
Chapter 12 - The Enemy's Dance of Death . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 113
Chapter 13 - A Brave Czech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Chapter 14 - The Colourless Roots of Brilliant Flowers . . .. . . . . . 128
Chapter 15 - A Fearless, Flawless Airman . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 141
Chapter 16 - The Myth of the Messerschmitt 110 . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 152
Chapter 17 - Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Chapter 18 - 15th September: Fate in the Balance . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 172
Chapter 19 - 15th September: Fate Decided . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 183
Chapter 20 - ‘We Are Beginning to Understand the Poles' . .. . . . . 191

HISTORICAL HORIZON
The Road to Britain for the Polish Air Force:
A Brief Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 203

APPENDICES
Appendix 1 - Glossary of English, Polish, German and French
Terms and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 221


Appendix 2 - Polish Air Force Ranks and their Royal AirForce
Equivalents During World War II . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 227


Appendix 3 - 303 Squadron Personnel in the Battle of Britain. . . . 231


Appendix 4 - PilotBiographies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
TadeuszAndruszków . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Michał Brzezowski. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Arsen Cebrzyński. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Jan Daszewski . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Mirosław Ferić .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Athol Forbes . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Josef František .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
ZdzisławHenneberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Stanisław Karubin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Ronald Kellett .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
John Kent . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Zdzisław Krasnodębski. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
WitoldŁokuciewski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
LudwikPaszkiewicz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Marian Pisarek .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
EugeniuszSzaposznikow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Witold Urbanowicz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Stefan Wójtowicz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Kazimierz Wünsche. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Jan Zumbach . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285


Appendix 5 - 303 Squadron Claimed Victories During the
Battle of Britain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 289

Appendix 6 - Brothers In Arms: The 303 Squadron Badge
and the Original Kościuszko Squadron . . . . . . . . . . . .297

Appendix 7 - The Song of 303 Squadron . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 313

Appendix 8 - Against All Odds: The Creation of the Polish
Air Force Colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 319

Appendix 9 - Operational Units of the Polish Air Force
in Great Britain during World War II . . . . . . . . . . . .. 327
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Editorial Reviews

"Deserves five stars for every single one of its pages. Vivid and thrilling almost beyond measure."

Waterstone's Bookseller Review

"Compelling."

March 2011 Flying Magazine

"A lively epic. Readers feel they’re in those planes."

February 2011 Polish American Journal

Published an excerpt from 303 Squadron — read the excerpt at: http://www.polandww2.com/images/MEDIA_ROOM/NewsAndReviews/2011/airspaceexcerpt2011nov.pdf

November 2011 Smithsonian's Air & Space Magazine

"Vividly captures the drama, the danger, and the spirit of the times."

April 2011 College & Research Libraries News

"About as exciting as it gets. A must read."

The Washington Times

"Does a terrific job bringing to life an extraordinary moment in the history of the war. Exceptionally high quality."

January 2011 Sarmatian Review

"Superb. A riveting read."

Spring 2011 Cosmopolitan Review

Thrilling action story of the famous squadron of Polish fighter pilots whose superb aerial combat skills helped save Britain during the most desperate days of WWII. Underdog heroes who rose to defend against the deadliest German Luftwaffe attacks, the pilots of 303 Squadron were lionized by the British press, congratulated by the King, and adored by the British public. Wonderful account.

Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud

"A story of heroic pilots who know no fear."

The Polish Review

"A story of heroic pilots who know no fear."

Polish Review