Out in Front: A Polish Fighter Pilot's Dramatic Air War

by Witold ‘Lanny’ Lanowski

Fighting High Publishing

Reviewed by Michael Dobrzelecki

SAAB 37 Viggen Walk Around is available online from Squadron.com
 

For the first time, the remarkable war-time story of Witold ‘Lanny’ Lanowski, written by the legendary rebellious Polish Ace, himself, is now available for purchase.  Most of the biographies and autobiographies of Polish aces are published in the Polish language.  This one makes its debut in English, however, which should delight all non-Polish speaking aviation history enthusiasts. 

The book includes 25 chapters, with appendices covering his combat claims, decorations and flight record, all capped off by an Index. There are no footnotes, though. The text is supported by a total of 34 wartime black and white photos, illustrating his service and combat career, with two additional more recent black and white photos of his uniform and flight jacket, with his famous personal insignia of Mailed Fist crushing a Luftwaffe Bf-109 set on a Polish Air Force red and white chessboard background. The Appendix on his Combat Claims and the wartime photos will be of keen interest to aviation historians and enthusiasts alike.   Lanowski, unlike other aggressive score-minded aces, was very generous in sharing his successes, even to the point of allowing other pilots to claim full credit for an obvious shared kill. He did not even bother to claim some individual victories.  He seemed more interested in killing Germans than racking up a score on official records.   Some of the other highlights include Lanowski discussing the attributes of Polish PZL P.7 and P.11c gull-winged fighters in some detail in the earlier chapters and the many anecdotes about other famous Polish pilots, both in the air and on the ground.  From all appearances, it looks like it will be an enjoyable read. 

On the surface the general arc of Lanny’s story is similar to that of other Polish pilots of World War II.  He joined the prewar Polish Air Force as a commissioned Flight Officer in 1938, escaped with the other Polish aviators who survived the September Campaign in 1939 to France, served in the Polish units flying with the French Air Force, then with the Poles serving in Polish Squadrons with the RAF and finally his ‘unofficial’ attached service with ‘Gabby’ Gabreski in the USAAF 61st F.S., 56th F.G., flying P-47 Thunderbolts, along with the other poles - Tadeusz Sawicz, Tadeusz Andersz, Boselslaw Gladych, K.Rutkowski , Gabszewicz and Z.Janicki (who was killed in action with the 56th).

It was Lanowski’s rebellious nature, however, that stood him apart from most Polish pilots.  It got him into serious trouble on several occasions during his military career, from his cadet days through his service career with pre-war Polish Air Force and the Polish Squadrons serving with the French Air Force and RAF. In late 1939/early 1940, when the Polish Air Force was being reconstituted in France, he was arrested by the Polish Authorities, court martialed, imprisoned and threatened with execution for gross insubordination. His reputation for having a problem with rigid authority figures dogged him for most of his career. His skills as a fighter pilot could not be ignored, however.   He served in both 302 and 317 Polish Squadrons, flying Spitfires, but ran afoul of the Polish brass once again.  He seemed to finally find his groove with the similarly independent-minded American pilots, when he was recruited by Gabreski to fly with the 56th in 1944, after serving for a short stint in the Mustang-equipped 354th F.G. When he was with the 56th he had no official status at that time in the PAF or USAAF, and was not receiving any pay.  Schilling used to pass the hat amongst the 56th F.G. pilots and officers at payday during those months in order to get some money into Lanny’s pockets.  A cursory review of the text indicates that he addresses these troubling issues head on, at least explaining the circumstances from his point of view.  Another Polish ace, Witold Urbanowicz, also had has run-ins with the brass in both the Polish Air Force and the RAF, and, like Lanowski, wound up flying on attached service with a USAAF outfit, in his case the 75th F.S. of the 23rd F.G. in China, as the only Polish fighter pilot who fought against the Japanese in WWII. 

The book does not cover Lanny’s post-war career.  He served as an RAF ferry pilot for a while and was almost killed in the crash of an RAF 147th Squadron Venom FB.1 WE385 on May 13th 1955 at Fassberg in Germany.   Caught in a vicious, freak, crosswind, the Venom crashed on take-off and cartwheeled down the runway into a grassy area.  The crash crew did not even rush to the scene because they thought he was surely killed. They were appropriately amazed when he emerged from the wreckage – one tough pilot, if you ask me.  In 1962 he was recruited by another Polish World War II ace, Jan Zumbach, to fly as a mercenary pilot taking part in the civil war in Katanga, a rebel province of Zaire.  He flew for two dangerous years in the Katangan Air Force during this nasty little conflict and never received any money for his service.  Lanny settled in Essex England after this last hurrah, and remained an enthusiastic supporter of preserving the history of the Polish Air Force until passing on September 16, 1993. 

This book would not have become a reality without the dedication, enthusiasm and hard work by his son, Krys, who wrote the forward to this book.  I have corresponded with Krys from time to time and he was always very generous with his time and material regarding his father’s service.  You can tell he is very proud of his father, and rightfully so. Colorful and courageous, Witold ‘Lanny’ Lanowski, is one of the most famous Polish pilots that ever lived and this book is a fitting tribute to his legacy.

Highly recommended!

Review Copyright © 2014 by Michael Dobrzelecki
This Page Created on 4 December, 2014
Last updated 5 December, 2014

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