Author: Marek Celt
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786474602
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 221
Book Description
This firsthand account, never before published in English, details a secret World War II mission in 1944 called Operation Salamander, in which Tadeusz Chciuk (writing as Marek Celt) parachuted into German-occupied Poland with the enigmatic political adviser Dr. Jozef Retinger. The goal of the mission was to persuade the Polish underground forces and political leadership to accept that it was imperative to start negotiating with the Soviets right away, as they were now to be considered Poland's allies and had the full support of the British and Americans. The story culminates in Operation Wildhorn III, in which Chciuk and Retinger were picked up in Poland by a British plane that landed just a short distance from a significant detachment of German forces, and flew them to safety.
Parachuting into Poland, 1944
Author: Marek Celt
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786474602
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 221
Book Description
This firsthand account, never before published in English, details a secret World War II mission in 1944 called Operation Salamander, in which Tadeusz Chciuk (writing as Marek Celt) parachuted into German-occupied Poland with the enigmatic political adviser Dr. Jozef Retinger. The goal of the mission was to persuade the Polish underground forces and political leadership to accept that it was imperative to start negotiating with the Soviets right away, as they were now to be considered Poland's allies and had the full support of the British and Americans. The story culminates in Operation Wildhorn III, in which Chciuk and Retinger were picked up in Poland by a British plane that landed just a short distance from a significant detachment of German forces, and flew them to safety.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786474602
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 221
Book Description
This firsthand account, never before published in English, details a secret World War II mission in 1944 called Operation Salamander, in which Tadeusz Chciuk (writing as Marek Celt) parachuted into German-occupied Poland with the enigmatic political adviser Dr. Jozef Retinger. The goal of the mission was to persuade the Polish underground forces and political leadership to accept that it was imperative to start negotiating with the Soviets right away, as they were now to be considered Poland's allies and had the full support of the British and Americans. The story culminates in Operation Wildhorn III, in which Chciuk and Retinger were picked up in Poland by a British plane that landed just a short distance from a significant detachment of German forces, and flew them to safety.
Freely I Served
Author: Stanislaw Sosabowski
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473831539
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
“A remarkable combat memoir by an underappreciated World War Two commander . . . powerfully written.” —Argunners After serving with the Austrian Army in World War I, Stanislaw Sosabowski joined the newly created Polish Army in 1918. By September 1939 he was commanding 21st Infantry Regiment in the Battle of Warsaw against overwhelming German forces. Taken prisoner, he made a daring escape to join the Polish Army in France before evacuating to England together with 3,000 fellow countrymen. In 1941 he formed the First Polish Independent Parachute Brigade which he trained and commanded for the next three years. Although created for the liberation of Poland, the Brigade, led by the author, parachuted into Arnhem in September 1944 and fought with great courage. Sosabowski provides a unique insight into this ill-fated operation. At the time his frank style and determined views resulted in confrontations with his British senior officers, “Boy” Browning in particular, and he was forced to resign. Many felt that he was made a scapegoat. While Freely I Served records the author’s wartime experiences, it is more than a memoir. The author, ever a true patriot, intended it to be a tribute to the many brave Polish soldiers who fought to regain their country from Nazi occupation and, in this aim, he undoubtedly succeeds. Readers will find it an inspiring and revealing account. “This superb book is a chance for the author to set the record straight . . . a thoroughly enjoyable and fast-paced book written by one of the most fascinating characters of the story of the North-West Europe campaign.” —War History Online
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473831539
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
“A remarkable combat memoir by an underappreciated World War Two commander . . . powerfully written.” —Argunners After serving with the Austrian Army in World War I, Stanislaw Sosabowski joined the newly created Polish Army in 1918. By September 1939 he was commanding 21st Infantry Regiment in the Battle of Warsaw against overwhelming German forces. Taken prisoner, he made a daring escape to join the Polish Army in France before evacuating to England together with 3,000 fellow countrymen. In 1941 he formed the First Polish Independent Parachute Brigade which he trained and commanded for the next three years. Although created for the liberation of Poland, the Brigade, led by the author, parachuted into Arnhem in September 1944 and fought with great courage. Sosabowski provides a unique insight into this ill-fated operation. At the time his frank style and determined views resulted in confrontations with his British senior officers, “Boy” Browning in particular, and he was forced to resign. Many felt that he was made a scapegoat. While Freely I Served records the author’s wartime experiences, it is more than a memoir. The author, ever a true patriot, intended it to be a tribute to the many brave Polish soldiers who fought to regain their country from Nazi occupation and, in this aim, he undoubtedly succeeds. Readers will find it an inspiring and revealing account. “This superb book is a chance for the author to set the record straight . . . a thoroughly enjoyable and fast-paced book written by one of the most fascinating characters of the story of the North-West Europe campaign.” —War History Online
The Soviet Airborne Experience
Author: David M. Glantz
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428915826
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Contents: The Prewar Experience; Evolution of Airborne Forces During World War II; Operational Employment: Vyaz'ma, January-February 1942; Operational Employment: Vyaz'ma, February-June 1942; Operational Employment: On the Dnepr, September 1943; Tactical Employment; The Postwar Years.
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428915826
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Contents: The Prewar Experience; Evolution of Airborne Forces During World War II; Operational Employment: Vyaz'ma, January-February 1942; Operational Employment: Vyaz'ma, February-June 1942; Operational Employment: On the Dnepr, September 1943; Tactical Employment; The Postwar Years.
The Polish Underground Army, the Western Allies, and the Failure of Strategic Unity in World War II
Author: Michael Alfred Peszke
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476610274
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 255
Book Description
This military history covers the attempts of General Wladyslaw Sikorski and his successor (General Kazimierz Sosnkowski) to integrate Polish forces into Western strategy, and to have their clandestine forces declared an allied combatant. It addresses such topics as Poland's part in the Norwegian and French campaigns, the Battle of Britain, Polish intelligence services, Polish radio communications, the Polish Parachute Brigade, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Bomber Offensive, the Katyn graves, Polish air crews in the RAF Transport Command, the Tehran Conference, Polish Wings in the 2nd Tactical Air Force, the Bardsea Plan, the invasion of Normandy, the Pierwsza Pancera, the Warsaw Uprising, Operation Freston, the disbanding of the Polish Home Army, and the Yalta Conference.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476610274
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 255
Book Description
This military history covers the attempts of General Wladyslaw Sikorski and his successor (General Kazimierz Sosnkowski) to integrate Polish forces into Western strategy, and to have their clandestine forces declared an allied combatant. It addresses such topics as Poland's part in the Norwegian and French campaigns, the Battle of Britain, Polish intelligence services, Polish radio communications, the Polish Parachute Brigade, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Bomber Offensive, the Katyn graves, Polish air crews in the RAF Transport Command, the Tehran Conference, Polish Wings in the 2nd Tactical Air Force, the Bardsea Plan, the invasion of Normandy, the Pierwsza Pancera, the Warsaw Uprising, Operation Freston, the disbanding of the Polish Home Army, and the Yalta Conference.
No Greater Ally
Author: Kenneth K. Koskodan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 178096241X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 303
Book Description
An in-depth history of the Polish soldiers who served in World War 2, with previously unpublished first-hand accounts and rare photographs. There is a chapter of World War II history that remains largely untold; the monumental struggles of an entire nation have been forgotten, and even intentionally obscured. This book gives a full overview of Poland's participation in World War II. Following their valiant but doomed defence of Poland in 1939, members of the Polish armed forces fought with the Allies wherever and however they could. Full of previously unpublished accounts, and rare photographs, this title provides a detailed analysis of the devastation the war brought to Poland, and the final betrayal when, having fought for freedom for six long years, Poland was handed to the Soviet Union.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 178096241X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 303
Book Description
An in-depth history of the Polish soldiers who served in World War 2, with previously unpublished first-hand accounts and rare photographs. There is a chapter of World War II history that remains largely untold; the monumental struggles of an entire nation have been forgotten, and even intentionally obscured. This book gives a full overview of Poland's participation in World War II. Following their valiant but doomed defence of Poland in 1939, members of the Polish armed forces fought with the Allies wherever and however they could. Full of previously unpublished accounts, and rare photographs, this title provides a detailed analysis of the devastation the war brought to Poland, and the final betrayal when, having fought for freedom for six long years, Poland was handed to the Soviet Union.
Station 43
Author: Ian Valentine
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752495372
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206
Book Description
Audley End House in Essex - or Station 43 as it was known during the Second World War - was used as the principal training school for SOE's Polish Section between 1942 and 1944. Polish agents at the stately home undertook a series of arduous training courses in guerilla warfare before being parachuted into occupied Europe. In 1943, Audley End was placed exclusively under polish control, a situation unique within SOE. The training was tough and the success rate low, but a total of 527 agents passed through Audley End between 1942 and 1944. Ian Valentine has consulted a wide range of primary sources and interviewed Polish instructors and former agents who trained at Audley End to write the definitive account of this Essex country house and the vital but secret part it played in defeating Hitler. He examines the comprehensive training agents at Audley End and describes the work undertaken by Station 43's agents in Europe, set against the background of Polish wartime history. He also covers the vital link with the RAF's Special Duties squadrons, whose crews risked their lives dropping agents into occupied Europe. Station 43 breaks new ground in telling the hitherto until story of Audley End house and its role as a vital SOE training school.
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752495372
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206
Book Description
Audley End House in Essex - or Station 43 as it was known during the Second World War - was used as the principal training school for SOE's Polish Section between 1942 and 1944. Polish agents at the stately home undertook a series of arduous training courses in guerilla warfare before being parachuted into occupied Europe. In 1943, Audley End was placed exclusively under polish control, a situation unique within SOE. The training was tough and the success rate low, but a total of 527 agents passed through Audley End between 1942 and 1944. Ian Valentine has consulted a wide range of primary sources and interviewed Polish instructors and former agents who trained at Audley End to write the definitive account of this Essex country house and the vital but secret part it played in defeating Hitler. He examines the comprehensive training agents at Audley End and describes the work undertaken by Station 43's agents in Europe, set against the background of Polish wartime history. He also covers the vital link with the RAF's Special Duties squadrons, whose crews risked their lives dropping agents into occupied Europe. Station 43 breaks new ground in telling the hitherto until story of Audley End house and its role as a vital SOE training school.
Poland and the Second World War, 1938–1948
Author: Evan McGilvray
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473889723
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 426
Book Description
A detailed chronicle of Poland’s efforts during World War II from beginning to end, by the author of Narvik and the Allies. The invasion of Poland by German forces (quickly joined by their then-allies the Soviets) ignited the Second World War. Despite determined resistance, Poland was quickly conquered but Poles continued the struggle to the very last day of the war against Germany, resisting the occupier within their homeland and fighting in exile with the Allied forces. Evan McGilvray, drawing on intensive research in Polish sources, gives a comprehensive account of Poland’s war. He reveals the complexities of Poland’s relationship with the Allies (forced to accept their Soviet enemies as allies after 1941, then betrayed to Soviet occupation in the post-war settlement), as well as the divisions between Polish factions that led to civil war even before the defeat of Germany. The author narrates all the fighting involving Polish forces, including such famous actions as the Battle of Britain, Tobruk, Normandy, Arnhem, and the Warsaw Rising, but also lesser known aspects such as Kopinski’s Carpathian Brigade in Italy, Polish troops under Soviet command, and the capture of Wilhelmshaven on the last day of the war.
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473889723
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 426
Book Description
A detailed chronicle of Poland’s efforts during World War II from beginning to end, by the author of Narvik and the Allies. The invasion of Poland by German forces (quickly joined by their then-allies the Soviets) ignited the Second World War. Despite determined resistance, Poland was quickly conquered but Poles continued the struggle to the very last day of the war against Germany, resisting the occupier within their homeland and fighting in exile with the Allied forces. Evan McGilvray, drawing on intensive research in Polish sources, gives a comprehensive account of Poland’s war. He reveals the complexities of Poland’s relationship with the Allies (forced to accept their Soviet enemies as allies after 1941, then betrayed to Soviet occupation in the post-war settlement), as well as the divisions between Polish factions that led to civil war even before the defeat of Germany. The author narrates all the fighting involving Polish forces, including such famous actions as the Battle of Britain, Tobruk, Normandy, Arnhem, and the Warsaw Rising, but also lesser known aspects such as Kopinski’s Carpathian Brigade in Italy, Polish troops under Soviet command, and the capture of Wilhelmshaven on the last day of the war.
The Eagle Unbowed
Author: Halik Kochanski
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674068165
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 783
Book Description
World War II gripped Poland as it did no other country. Invaded by Germany and the USSR, it was occupied from the first day of war to the last, and then endured 44 years behind the Iron Curtain while its wartime partners celebrated their freedom. The Eagle Unbowed tells, for the first time, the story of Poland’s war in its entirety and complexity.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674068165
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 783
Book Description
World War II gripped Poland as it did no other country. Invaded by Germany and the USSR, it was occupied from the first day of war to the last, and then endured 44 years behind the Iron Curtain while its wartime partners celebrated their freedom. The Eagle Unbowed tells, for the first time, the story of Poland’s war in its entirety and complexity.
Poland's Holocaust
Author: Tadeusz Piotrowski
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9780786403714
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 456
Book Description
With the end of World War I, a new Republic of Poland emerged on the maps of Europe, made up of some of the territory from the first Polish Republic, including Wolyn and Wilno, and significant parts of Belarus, Upper Silesia, Eastern Galicia, and East Prussia. The resulting conglomeration of ethnic groups left many substantial minorities wanting independence. The approach of World War II provided the minorities' leaders a new opportunity in their nationalist movements, and many sided with one or the other of Poland's two enemies--the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany--in hopes of achieving their goals at the expense of Poland and its people. Based on primary and secondary sources in numerous languages (including Polish, German, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Russian and English), this work examines the roles of the ethnic minorities in the collapse of the Republic and in the atrocities that occurred under the occupying troops. The Polish government's response to mounting ethnic tensions in the prewar era and its conduct of the war effort are also examined.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9780786403714
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 456
Book Description
With the end of World War I, a new Republic of Poland emerged on the maps of Europe, made up of some of the territory from the first Polish Republic, including Wolyn and Wilno, and significant parts of Belarus, Upper Silesia, Eastern Galicia, and East Prussia. The resulting conglomeration of ethnic groups left many substantial minorities wanting independence. The approach of World War II provided the minorities' leaders a new opportunity in their nationalist movements, and many sided with one or the other of Poland's two enemies--the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany--in hopes of achieving their goals at the expense of Poland and its people. Based on primary and secondary sources in numerous languages (including Polish, German, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Russian and English), this work examines the roles of the ethnic minorities in the collapse of the Republic and in the atrocities that occurred under the occupying troops. The Polish government's response to mounting ethnic tensions in the prewar era and its conduct of the war effort are also examined.
Waiting to be Heard
Author: Bogusia J. Wojciechowska
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1449013716
Category : Oral biography
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
Waiting to be Heard is the voice of the persecuted, the brave, the hopeful, the betrayed and the determined. It is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and to a generation that did not see itself as 'victims, ' but as 'survivors.' Studies of the War and post-War years have traditionally focused on political and military history. In recent years there has been a greater interest in the social consequences of the War. Nevertheless, discussions relating to the displacement of the Polish-born usually focus on the Holocaust interpreted as a Jewish-only phenomenon. Yet, in the years 1939-45, Poland lost 6,029,000, or 22%, of its total population, including approximately 3 million of its Christian residents. Many of those who survived the War, at its conclusion, were scattered all over the world; by the end of 1945, 249,000 members of the Polish Armed Forces were under British command, with 41,400 dependants in the United Kingdom, Italy, East and South Africa, New Zealand, India, Palestine, Mexico and Western Germany. These refugees have long sought a voice for their experiences. The website, www.PolishDiaspora.net, was created in 2006 by Dr. Wojciechowska as a forum for their voices. The international deluge of interest in the project resulted in Waiting to be Heard. While some participants had talked and written about their experiences before, the majority had not discussed their experiences with anyone outside their immediate social circle. And the memories are still painful, as exemplified by one participant who said, "God, I askyou; allow me to forget those days and weeks when I lay on piles of corpses in the hope of finding a tiny bit of warmth; allow me to forget the licking of ice from the walls of the cattle wagons; allow me to lose my memory of those years "
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1449013716
Category : Oral biography
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
Waiting to be Heard is the voice of the persecuted, the brave, the hopeful, the betrayed and the determined. It is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and to a generation that did not see itself as 'victims, ' but as 'survivors.' Studies of the War and post-War years have traditionally focused on political and military history. In recent years there has been a greater interest in the social consequences of the War. Nevertheless, discussions relating to the displacement of the Polish-born usually focus on the Holocaust interpreted as a Jewish-only phenomenon. Yet, in the years 1939-45, Poland lost 6,029,000, or 22%, of its total population, including approximately 3 million of its Christian residents. Many of those who survived the War, at its conclusion, were scattered all over the world; by the end of 1945, 249,000 members of the Polish Armed Forces were under British command, with 41,400 dependants in the United Kingdom, Italy, East and South Africa, New Zealand, India, Palestine, Mexico and Western Germany. These refugees have long sought a voice for their experiences. The website, www.PolishDiaspora.net, was created in 2006 by Dr. Wojciechowska as a forum for their voices. The international deluge of interest in the project resulted in Waiting to be Heard. While some participants had talked and written about their experiences before, the majority had not discussed their experiences with anyone outside their immediate social circle. And the memories are still painful, as exemplified by one participant who said, "God, I askyou; allow me to forget those days and weeks when I lay on piles of corpses in the hope of finding a tiny bit of warmth; allow me to forget the licking of ice from the walls of the cattle wagons; allow me to lose my memory of those years "