Artipresse & FrRom

Les Aviateurs Polonaise En France En 1940

Reviewed by Mark Davies

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This review is about a book covering the history of Polish airmen who escaped their occupied homeland to continue their fight against NAZI Germany by joining the Armee de l’Air. It is published by Artipresse in conjunction with FrRom of France (the same FrRom who release kits under the Azur-FrRom brand).

The text is in French, a language I have only a marginal comprehension of thanks to attending primary school in England in the 1960’s. I will therefore share information provided me by Gilles Fontaine of FrFrom and gleaned through Google’s translate function, as well as providing my own opinion about the book.

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This is a very complete and in-depth study, with additions on the Polish version dating from 15 years ago. The book’s realisation is somewhat late, having been announced 14 years ago, but at least it is finally in print, with previously unpublished photos and colour scheme illustrations.

The book describes not only the history of the pilots who were integrated into French squadrons, but also pre-war Franco-Polish liaison, the organisation of the new Polish Air Force, discussions between the Allies (UK, France, Poland), Polish servicemen’s escape from Poland, their training in France, I/145 “Warsaw” and other units, and escape from France and North Africa after the armistice with Germany to continue the fight with the RAF.

Numerous Polish air and ground crew are mentioned, along with the French units they served in. The units are dealt with in sections depending on their role - fighters, bombers, reconnaissance etc.  There are tables of aircraft flown, victories and losses, individual accidents, personnel lists giving their Polish and French ranks and military trade, and all manner of other information.

There are hundreds of excellent photos throughout which feature individual portraits, numerous aircraft, plus letters and documents; whilst at the end of the book are numerous colour-printed pages illustrating various aircraft types and their colours and markings. Several maps are also interspersed throughout to support the narrative.

My language limitations prevent me from doing more than scratch the surface of what is obviously a most informative book reflecting considerable research. Likewise, I cannot comment on how it reads, although one translated French review I read suggested that the text was not as fluid as it could be due to translation of Polish and English sources to French.

This is clearly an excellent book that will, perhaps sadly, be limited to readers of French. Its price, whilst no doubt reasonable, will place it beyond the budgets of most others who can only appreciate the photos and colour illustrations.

Despite my very limited comprehension of the wealth of information provided, I feel confident in recommending this book to those with a strong interest in the Polish airmen who served with the Armee de l’Air after their homeland fell.

Thanks to FrRom for the review sample

Review Copyright © 2015 by Mark Davies
This Page Created on 21 September, 2015
Last updated 23 September, 2015

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